Agenda item

Budget 2019/20 and Medium Term Financial Plan

To review the draft Budget and Medium Term Financial Plan for 2019/20 and to consider making recommendations to Cabinet on 6 February 2019.

 

Cabinet Members and their Deputies; and the following Officers have been invited to attend the meeting, as have all Members:

 

Chief Executive; Director of Regeneration; Chief Financial Officer; Head of Property; Head of Commissioning, Environment and Leisure;  Head of Policy, Communications and Customer Services; Head of Planning Services; and Head of Housing, Economy and Community Services.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Members, Cabinet Members, Deputy Cabinet Members and officers to the meeting, and invited the Committee to consider the proposals for the draft revenue budget for 2019/20, and the proposed Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP).  The Chairman reminded Members that any recommendations would be considered by the Cabinet on 6 February 2019.

 

The Cabinet Member for Performance and Finance presented the MTFS and draft budget and spoke of the hard work that had been undertaken to ensure the Council had a strong financial base for the years ahead.  The Council was in a good position to deal with the uncertainty ahead in respect of local government finance, whilst also continuing to provide high quality services and regenerate the Borough.

 

The Chief Financial Officer drew attention to the tabled paper which gave an update on the impact of the Settlement (including New Homes Bonus (NHB)), which left a budget gap of £264k.  In response to a question, he explained that an assumption had been made that NHB would continue after 2019/20, but this was uncertain.

 

Cabinet Members and Deputy Cabinet Members were then given an opportunity to introduce the budget proposals for their respective areas.

 

The Leader thanked the Cabinet Member, the Chief Financial Officer and his team for their work in ensuring the Council was in the position it was in.

 

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Safer Communities explained that there had been some changes to the way in which some budgets had been presented, in that some budgets had been split into separate categories.  He drew attention to Appendix II and referred to car park maintenance (vandalism and maintenance), car parks (road lining and parking adjudication fees), and penalty charge notices (car parks and on-street car parking).  He also outlined the reasons for the need for growth items which included an amount for General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) compliance and VAT treatment for Swale Car Parks.

 

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Rural Affairs advised that the majority of his budget was spent on street cleansing and grounds maintenance.  He referred to the substantial investment in playgrounds, the Heritage Lottery Fund project in Faversham, and the ongoing work to improve air quality.

 

Members then considered the report page-by-page, and asked questions.  A summary of the response to questions is set out below.

 

·        Paragraph 2.8 – the Chief Financial Officer clarified the make-up of the shared fund.

 

·        Paragraph 2.15 – the Chief Financial Officer clarified that there were three vacant posts, but the Full Time Equivalent to be deleted from the establishment was 13.

 

·        Paragraph 2.16 – the Head of Commissioning, Environment and Leisure explained that the Retail Price Index would continue to apply as the Leisure Contract had been extended rather than renewed.

 

·        Paragraph 2.17 – the Chief Executive explained that the local pay award was negotiated by the Head of Paid Service, Human Resources and Unison, but was benchmarked against the National Pay Award.

 

·        Page 35 – Princes Street Retail Park operational running costs – the Chief Financial Officer explained that this was a new item in the budget.

 

·        Page 37 – Footway Lighting Kent County Council (KCC) contract – the Head of Commissioning, Environment and Leisure agreed to find out whether there was any impact on parish councils, and outlined what the footway lighting contract was for.  He confirmed that there was an asset list of street lights which showed which were owned by SBC and KCC.

 

·        Page 38 – Spatial Planning – Salaries – the Deputy Cabinet Member for Planning and the Head of Planning Services explained the role of the new Urban Designer/Landscape Officer post and the need to provide additional support in the team, due to the significant number of ‘major’ planning applications being submitted.  It was suggested that the post-holder should also consider areas such as biodiversity, environmental and ecological design, in addition to the appearance of the development.

 

·        Page 38 – Increased Contract CCTV Partnership cost – the Cabinet Member for Housing and Safer Communities explained that this growth item was due to an anticipated price increase on the amount SBC contributed to the partnership.

 

·        Page 39 – SBC Publications – the Head of Policy, Comms and Customer Services clarified that these costs were in relation to the printing and distribution of the Inside Swale magazine.  The Head of Property clarified that around £12k of income was received each year from external printing; this included printing parish newsletters for some parish councils.  It was suggested that parish councils could be encouraged to use this service.

 

·        Page 40 – Loss of income for Gambling Licences – the Deputy Cabinet Member for Regeneration advised that there had been a change to the way in which the budget was presented, in that gambling had previously been included in the whole licensing budget.  The Chief Financial Officer advised it was likely that the loss of income referred to could be absorbed in the budget, but he would respond to the Member as to what proportion £18k was in relation to the whole budget and the reason for the reduction in income.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance expressed his thanks for the way in which the papers had been presented, the support given by Officers and Members, and the professional way in which the Scrutiny Committee had conducted its business. The Chairman concluded the meeting by echoing these sentiments and thanking those present for attending the meeting.

 

Resolved:

 

(1) That the report be noted.

(2) That no recommendations be made to the Cabinet.

 

Supporting documents: