The Leader gave a short history of previous budgets at SBC and praised the first budget from the coalition.  He praised the efficiency and good management from the Chief Financial Officer, the Financial Services Manager, the Finance Team and the Management Team.

The Leader spoke of the restraints in the current economic environment and reduction in levels of Government support and looking forward, the limitations in tax revenue and the loss of the New Homes Bonus.  He said that SBC needed to be cautious about its own finances with uncertainty of income from the Sittingbourne Town Centre project and there might be financial pressures from waste and other services contracts which needed to be improved.  The Leader spoke of the increase in levy from the Lower Medway Internal Drainage Board and his belief and support of other authorities who considered that the charge should be set as a separate precept.

The Leader was critical of the increased reserves managed by the previous administration and he drew attention to paragraph 3.13 on page 60 of the report. He said that the base budget was balanced without making a transfer from the General Fund and said it was necessary to increase the Swale part of the Council Tax by £4.95 per year for a Band D property to avoid making cuts to services and would endanger the viability of the budget for future years without the increase.

In referring to the detailed budget proposals in Appendix II on page 63, the Leader highlighted some significant and beneficial changes to the budget which included £30k on security services to ensure the safety of staff; £26k for hire of an electric vehicle/hybrid vehicle for the Mayor, £90k for the reinstatement of free car parking to two leisure centres; £26k running costs for new toilets at Milton Regis and Minster; £50k savings on the CCTV contract; £40k on a new health promotion post; £74k for staff to tackle homelessness; and £68k for the Real Living Wage.  The Leader said that the changes reflected some of the administration’s priorities without too much burden on the budget.

The Leader said that the budget needed to be as realistic as possible and that previous budgets had led to significant variances over the course of a financial year.  He said that a realistic level of funding had now been set to tackle homelessness for this year.  The Leader said that other administration priorities would be met by one-off funding from reserves.  He outlined the projects that had already been allocated funding, said that grant funding would be available for each of the next three years and he encouraged Councillors to promote bids in the interests of their communities.

The Leader said he had welcomed the Scrutiny Committee’s recommendation to increase the funding to tackle the climate emergency and said that £50k would be allocated for two years from the Special Projects Fund.  He said he would also be recommending to Cabinet that a one-off £20k grant be allocated from the Communities Fund to the Citizens Advice Service Swale, in addition to their customary grant, and he hoped they would consider a service to assist long-term European citizens seeking to be settled in the UK.

In concluding, the Leader said that the Council were required to have a clear Capital Strategy and could not borrow to deliver the base budget.  He said that some Councils had risked borrowing to invest in commercial property, hoping to provide an income stream that compensated for cuts in Government funding.  He said that the next priority for the administration was to borrow for identifiable improvements for local people, in particular to kick-start more affordable housing provision within the Borough.  The Leader stressed that borrowing would be cautious and as low-risk as possible, as set out paragraph 2.13, and unlike the previous administration, the current administration would not make a provision to borrow money or purchase land without a specific purpose.

The Leader said that the current administration would endeavour to deliver good services to local people and where finance allowed, improve their facilities and environment, and he hoped to encourage local people to have a positive view of the Borough.

The Leader proposed the recommendations and encouraged Members to support the budget.

This was seconded by the Deputy Cabinet Member for Finance.

In response, the Deputy Leader of the Conservative group highlighted that the previous Cabinet Member for Finance was prudent which enabled a freeze on Council Tax.  He thanked the Chief Financial Officer, the Financial Services Manager and the Financial Services Team and thanked the Leader and Cabinet for attending the Scrutiny Committee meeting to discuss the budget proposals.  The Deputy Leader of the Conservative group praised the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee for his effective chairing of the meeting.

In the debate that followed Members made points including:

·         Priorities had been reordered but Council Tax had increased;

·         how much input into the budget setting had individual groups in the coalition had?;

·         residents were not properly being consulted;

·         supported £250k for the Heritage Strategy;

·         needed long-term stability;

·         spending not efficient - £100k for Murston Church was not a priority;

·         budget was built on growth in Council Tax and Business rates, but there was a lack of infrastructure to assist the business community;

·         if SBC were promoting sustainable communities, what was happening with the Bell Centre, Sittingbourne and why were the artisan markets being discontinued?;

·         funding to subsidise car parking at the leisure centres was not ‘green’ and did not promote health and well-being if users drove to the facility; and

·         acknowledged the previous administration’s prudence.

In response, the Leader said that the previous administration were wrong to keep such high reserves and the coalition had achieved much more than the previous administration who had still not put forward ideas or policies.

In accordance with SI 2014 No.165, a recorded vote was taken, and voting was as follows:

For:  Bonney, Carnell, S Clark, Darby, Davey, Ellen, Gibson, Gould, Harrison, Jackson, Jayes, Knights, MacDonald, Benjamin A Martin, Ben J Martin, McCall, Palmer, Perkin, Rowles, Saunders, P Stephen, S Stephen, Tatton, Thomas, Truelove, Valentine, Whelan, Winckless, Woodford. Total= 29.

Against:  Beart, Bowen, R Clark, Dendor, Fowle, A Hampshire, N Hampshire, Hunt, Neal, Nissanga, Simmons, Whiting. Total = 12.

Abstain: Ingleton (Mayor), Marchington, Pugh. Total = 3.

Resolved:

(1)  That Members note the Chief Financial Officer’s opinion on the robustness of the budget estimates and the adequacy of reserves.

(2)  That Minute Number 515/02/20 approved by the Cabinet on 12 February 2020 on the report on the Medium Term Financial Plan and the 2020/21 Revenue and Capital Budgets be approved.

(3)  That the resolutions contained in Appendix I be approved.

(4)  That in accordance with the proposals contained within SI 2014 No. 165 that a recorded vote be taken on the 2020/21 Budget and Council Tax.