Meeting documents

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 4 February 2019 recommend revenue estimates and the district and parish elements of Council tax levels for 2019/20.

 

Full Council is required to consider the Revenue Estimates and the district and parish elements of Council tax levels for 2019/20 and then to set out the full Council tax.

 

Details relating to the precept for Bucks County Council, the Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner and Bucks and Milton Keynes Fire Authority are awaited. The full report containing these details together with the full Council tax details across the district is therefore to follow.

 

Members are reminded that they must have regard to the Chief Financial Officer`s report when setting the Council tax.

 

In accordance with Standing Order 16.5 a recorded vote shall take place on decisions relating to the setting of the budget and Council tax.

 

 

The meeting then specifically turned to the recommendations outlined in minute number 81 of the Cabinet Minutes of 4 February 2019 (Revenue Budget & Council Tax Setting 2019/20) along with the supplement issued to the item in advance of the meeting. 

 

The Chairman explained the process that would be followed.

 

The Leader of the Council in introducing the Cabinet Member for Finance to make the Budget presentation, explained that this would probably be the last full budget for Wycombe District Council and the next year Councillors would not be approving a Wycombe District Council budget, but a budget for the new unitary authority.

 

The Leader was proud that in Wycombe District, Council tax was raised very infrequently. Yet again Wycombe was one of a very few number of councils who were not proposing an increase this year. Wycombe District had a proud record of fiscal prudency whilst regenerating the District and working hard for its residents to provide a uniquely appealing and attractive destination with a thriving economic centre and a high-quality public realm.

 

It was acknowledged that the Council could always do more, the Leader believed excellent value for money was given to the residents through the work done and services provided. The improvements made during the last four years included the new and improved leisure centre, Park and Ride, the children’s nursery and gym and now a hotel, all at Handy Cross. In the town there was a new Aldi, Desbox and a new car park in Baker Street. New housing at Bassetsbury Triangle, Ashwells, Gomm Valley and Abbey Barn was underway. The Extra Care Home and Royal Star and Garter Home in Hughenden together with new homes and workspaces in the upper site are being provided. What a huge list of projects were being delivered for residents and there was still more to come. The Council was delivering for all. From affordable housing, open market housing and older people housing. Places for businesses from start-up businesses, artists workspaces and new retail, were being provided; the list went on and on.

 

Wycombe District Council under the current administration was ensuring that Wycombe District was economically strong, and the place to live, work and visit. The Council was delivering for its residents and ensuring a legacy to take forward into the new council.

 

Before handing over the Leader wished to put on record her thanks to the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Executive along with all the Senior Management team and other officers involved in the preparation of the budget. The Leader acknowledged that many hours of work went into preparing it and it was as always a challenging task that Members probably didn’t really appreciate as they only saw the finished product.

 

The Leader also thanked the Budget Task and Finish Group for their intense scrutiny. They were a cross party group who had given their time to drill down into the detail of the budget and present their report to Cabinet, and again had provided an excellent report.

 

The Leader then asked her Cabinet Member for Finance; Cllr David Watson to present the budget.

 

The Cabinet Member noted that as local council tax payers all had an interest in the continued provision of high standard public services across the District at the lowest long-term cost. This budget, the 45th and final such budget which this Council would consider, sought to address the key challenges and risks facing the authority and how it planned to fund both the Revenue and Major Projects expenditure during the year ahead.

There were a number of financial challenges facing the council namely uncertainty about the future of business rates, to what extent would the Council see negative revenue support grant in the coming years and the impact of inflation.

There were also a number of financial risks which faced the Council during the year ahead, which included a possible increase in homelessness, the continued roll out of Universal Credit, the rising costs of the disposal of plastics, the potential volatility in retail rentals and the possible need for interim staff. There were also other risks, some of which were known about but were difficult to quantify, whilst others were yet to arise. On top of that there was the challenge of managing the Council through whatever Brexit decision emerged during the next 36 days.     

             

For only second time this council had published a draft budget which had been reported at the December 17^th Cabinet meeting – a detailed initial look at the budget had enabled members to reflect upon the year ahead and in particular allowed the Improvement and Review Commission Task and Finish Group the opportunity to scrutinise the numbers, and also discuss them with the Cabinet Member for Finance and the S151 officer. A series of one on one meetings between Cabinet Members, the relevant Heads of Service, the S151 officer and the Cabinet Member for Finance had also taken place during the past months and, as a consequence, the December draft had been amended in one or two respects.

As Members considered the financial future of the Council, the Cabinet Member first reminded members of what had gone before  - notably during the period since the Tenant Led Transfer of the Housing stock to Red Kite, the Council had not had to borrow and had become accustomed to being in a financially advantageous situation and this had meant that neither interest costs nor any Minimum Revenue Provision had had to be charged to Revenue  – the benefit of not having any borrowing costs had served to keep the Council Tax flat for most of the previous decade. A new tool had been introduced this year in order to assist in the prioritisation of competing capital expenditure proposals and this had been used to prepare the ambitious £134.3M major projects budget for 18-19 and 4 years thereafter. Expenditure of £51.8M was planned for the year ahead and the emphasis would need to be on project delivery during the last year of the Council. The underlying financial strategy was to control major project expenditure within the council’s capital funding envelope and thus avoid a return to borrowing and all the additional costs that would bring. The objective was to invest in the District to enable the locality to remain economically strong and generate future revenue streams. In order to keep within the projected capital envelope; £88.3 M of projects were planned to be funded from capital receipts and reserves whilst £46.0 M of projects were to be funded from external Grant from both Central Government and from Community Infrastructure Levies and Section 106 Contributions.

Some of the areas identified for future years investment included:

·           £6.2m investment in community facilities including, cemeteries, community and sports premises – notably the Princes Risborough Springs Sports Centre and Court Garden Leisure Centre in Marlow.

 

·           £48.1M for Planning including Strategic Acquisitions and Investments; the Princes Risborough relief road, Abbey Barn Lane realignment and the High Wycombe Town Centre Master Plan.

o    £34.8m investment in Economic Development including town centre investment and the regeneration in order to develop the public realm and develop an increased income stream to fund council services in the future - land at Ashwells and a number of Strategic Acquisitions.

·         £14.9M investment in Housing – includes Temporary Accommodation, a development of park homes at the Bassetbury Triangle, the use of Disabled Facilities Grants and the delivery of Affordable Housing.

 

·         £0.9M on Digital First (down from previous years) – with the planned migration to the cloud the majority of IT expenditure will be mainly revenue in the future.

 

·         £7.7M Environment – Swan St Car Park Major Works, Waste Fleet and Parking Equipment refresh.

Moving onto the revenue side; the background to the Revenue budget was that over the past years the Council had worked hard to deliver the efficiencies required through fostering a culture of innovation and a focus on continuous improvement, engaging in shared services with other councils and obtaining the optimum return from the cash and investments that were held. Meanwhile the number of council employees had been reduced from over 600 to just over 250 during the past decade. This had enabled the Council to deliver savings for its 176,000 residents through a range of initiatives including more efficient structures, improved commercialisation, the pro-active use of council assets and the delivery of economic regeneration projects. With regards to 2019/20 the Council had set aside revenue budget for a number of additional purposes including the following:

1.    £1,150K for Feasibility studies to support the ambitious Major projects programme, to ensure the Capital Projects previously outlined were feasible

2.    A £3M contribution towards the total county unitary Transition Costs

3.    £105K for Street Wardens

4.    £61K for the Prevent programme no longer funded by central government.

5.    £1,230k for Economic Development Grants – additional funding arising from the successful business rates pooling pilot bid

6.    £78K for Youth mentoring project

In order to finance the above growth in expenditure the council expected to raise additional revenues from car parking charges, increase fees and charges, utilise the expected income stream from the new Crematoria, receive additional estate rental income, along with the application of earmarked reserves and the implementation of a number of service efficiencies. It was to be noted that the increase in car parking charges would be the first increase in ten years and the distribution of the increases was mainly weighted towards long stay parking.

Wycombe was the third largest District Council in terms of tax base, but 27^th out of 201 in terms of council tax collected. In order to fund the budget for 2019/20, the Council was proposing to maintain the current level of Council Tax for a band D tax payer (and any other band, the Cabinet Member hastened to add). This meant that Council Tax would have only been increased twice during the past eight years. Wycombe District by freezing its council tax was bucking the national trend.

The Cabinet Member was pleased to say that the Wycombe Council Tax would remain the lowest amongst the four Buckinghamshire district councils and would also remain amongst the lowest 25% in the country – (176/201).

The Cabinet Member was grateful to past and present councillors and officers who had run this council in a ‘’small c conservative’’ manner for many years and thus we had inherited healthy financial reserves which could, if needs be, be called upon in time of economic uncertainty – the Council did not want to be in a similar position to a number of struggling councils.

The Cabinet Member remarked that he had with him a copy of the 1928 Borough of Chepping Wycombe Year End accounts and it made interesting reading when compared with today – the breadth of the former responsibilities of that council was of note and how the responsibilities have been narrowed over time was striking – e.g. the ‘’poor rate’’, water, education libraries, assisted and council housing and much more – it was amazing what they could do without computer technology.

Wycombe District Council was founded in 1974 and had been a well- run council on which the Cabinet Member had, along with many other councillors, been proud to serve their local community. He knew that at least one councillor here that evening was first elected in 1978.

The Council left with a legacy of the leisure facilities at Handy Cross, a nursery and mini gym, new shopping facilities, Eden with a footfall of 14 million visitors a year and new homes at Bassetsbury and Ashwells in the pipeline. With regard to the planned unitary council this authority would continue to be run on a professional basis up until the end of 19/20 and would hand over a council with well-run and sustainable services, a strong revenue stream, a strong balance sheet, no debts and a well thought out and ambitious major projects plan – to the Cabinet Members mind the financially strongest of all five Buckinghamshire councils – something that the Councillors could all be rightfully proud of.

Wycombe District Council was in a financially strong position and, as the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, he recommended this 45^th and final budget.

Deputy Leader of the Council; Councillor Dominic Barnes seconded the Council Tax Setting recommendations and reserved his right to speak until later.

 

Leader of the Labour Group: Councillor Rafiq Raja responded noting the considerable work put into the papers before the Meeting by the Cabinet Member and his team of officers. He had served for a 3^rd time on the Budget Task and Finish Group this year and had enjoyed this invaluable input into the process scrutinising the accounts and proposed budget.

 

Unfortunately he could not pack the Cabinet Member on the back for his prudence in not putting Council Tax up. Consequences of this approach were all too apparent across the District:

 

·         Food Bank usage increase

·         No or few children’s services

·         Pot holes

·         Poor roads and footpaths

He realised that the majority group’s response would be that these were County Council responsibilities, but were they not run by the same majority party group.

 

He emphasised that little resources were spent for the people of High Wycombe; ANPR had been a fiasco with an over £1m loss. A third of children in the east side of Wycombe were living in poverty. Boasts of excellent school services did not relate to the lower attaining schools, the attainment gap was not being addressed. Affordable housing was being delivered but was it ever truly affordable?

 

The River project provided a key initiative to re-invigorate the town he hoped the Cabinet would be able to support it whole-heartedly.

 

Deputy Leader of the East Wycombe Independents Party: Ms Andrea Baughan then responded, thanking all hercolleagues and the officers for all the work they have done in putting together such a complex document and budget; an enormous task. The observations of the East Wycombe Independents were simply that the budget proposed a freeze overall and a reduction for HW residents of £5 per household to reduce the £553k reserves currently held in Special Expenses. Recognising that some residents may well welcome this freeze and reduction, it could be also be interpreted by High Wycombe residents that a freeze essentially equals a cut in funding to services at a time when there is more pressure than ever on these services, particularly those tackling homelessness and supporting those most impacted by the ongoing austerity that had been faced, particularly those in our society who were most vulnerable.

 

In terms of the £5 reduction in the Special Expenses precept - residents were concerned about the state of the Town Centre, and the surplus funds that had built up could be spent on further investment, and as had been discussed, possible subsidising of parking charges or further improvements to parking facilities for those residents working locally, shopping and visiting our town centre or for major improvements such as works and initiatives to encourage footfall in the High Street and Frogmore.

Various Members then made the following remarks and received clarification of queries as follows:

 

·         The state of the High Street in High Wycombe remained of concern to a considerable number of Members, a particular Member queried the out of town Members commitment to genuine improvements of such;

 

·         A Member involved with Budgets for a considerable number of years both previously as an officer and more recently as a Member congratulated the Cabinet Member for Finance on his preparation of the Budget and remarked on the zero-council tax rise present for residents as a final farewell from the Council;

 

·         A Member remarked on the opportunity under the new Unitary Council for Women Members;

 

Deputy Leader of the Council then took his opportunity to speak as seconder of the recommendations remarking that the zero increase in Council Tax represented money in the resident’s pockets but the Cabinet did care about the vulnerable in the District and were always striving to improve and deliver services. He was delighted to whole-heartedly support the budget before Members.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance closed the debate making the following points:

 

·         There were very big financial questions and decisions ahead next year for District and County Councillors who may return as members of the new Authority;

 

·         The £5 cut in the High Wycombe Unparished area was following a decision of the High Wycombe Town Committee;

 

·         Work was going on behind the scene in respect of accessing renewal funds for the High Street;

 

·         He could not agree with the disappointment voiced by a number of opposition Members, Wycombe District had much to be proud of; and

 

·         A lot of the reserves were being utilised in the future year, some £51.8m to ask officers to do more projects was not feasible; this appeared to be the right level of commitment for the Council’s last year.

He then asked Members to support his proposed recommendations. The Budget was the put to the recorded vote.

 

In accordance with subsection (5) of the Council’s Standing Order 16 (Voting) the voting of the Members in respect of these Council Tax setting decision was recorded as follows:

 

In favour of the recommendations:-

 

Councillors Mrs J Adey, Ms S Adoh, Z Ahmed, M Appleyard, D Barnes, S Broadbent, D Carroll, Mrs L Clarke OBE, M Clarke, C Etholen, R Farmer, R Gaffney, A Green, G Hall, M Harris, A Hill, A Hussain, Maz Hussain, D Johncock, Mrs G A Jones, D Knights, Mrs J Langley, T Lee, Mrs W Mallen, N Marshall, H McCarthy, R Newman, G Peart, S Raja, J Savage, D Shakespeare, Mrs J Teesdale, N  Teesdale, A Turner, D Watson, R Wilson and Miss K Wood.

 

Against:-

 

Councillors Ms A Baughan & Ms J Wassell

 

Abstentions:-

 

Councillors K Ahmed, M Asif, S Graham and R Raja.

 

In Favour:- 37

Against:- 2

Abstention:- 4

 

(Councillor B Pearce had left the meeting when the above vote was taken.)

 

 

Council RESOLVED that:

                       i.   the recommendations contained in Minute 81 of the Cabinet Meeting held on 4 February 2019 be approved and adopted;

 

                      ii.   the formal Council Tax Resolution as set out in Appendix A (and set out below) be approved;

 

                    iii.   the statement by the Chief Finance Officer regarding the robustness of the budget estimates and level of reserves as set out in Appendix B be noted; and

 

                    iv.   the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for the Council attached at Appendix C.  The rules of the 2019/20 scheme remain unchanged and are the same as what was originally approved in 2013/14.

 

 

1.

 

a)    69,104.75 being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992, as its Council Tax Base for the year.

 

 

The amounts calculated by the Council, in accordance with regulation 6 of the Regulations, as the amount of its Council Tax Base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items (i.e. Parish precepts) relate, are shown above.

 

 

2.            That the Council calculates the following amounts for 2019/20 in accordance with Sections 31A, 31B and     34 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended by the Localism Act 2011):

 

a)    £92,079,785 being the aggregate expenditure which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (2) (a) to (f) of the Act (including the General Fund and Parish Precepts).

The estimated gross revenue expenditure (including transfers to reserves) for the General Fund, Special Expenses account, other General Fund revenue reserves and parish precepts.

 

b)    £79,577,822 being the aggregate income which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (3) (a) to (d) of the Act.

 

 

The estimated gross revenue income (Including the transfer of the surplus on the collection fund, formula grant and transfers from reserves) for the same funds as mentioned above.

 

c)    £12,501,963 as its council tax requirement for the year including Parish Precepts being the amount by which the aggregate expenditure at 2(a) above exceeds the aggregate income at 2(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act.

 

The net funding requirement for the General Fund and Special Expenses accounts plus the parish precepts issued for the year.

 

d)    £180.91 as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year, being the council tax requirement at 2(c), divided by the Council Tax Base for the year  69,104.75 at 1(a) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B(1) of the Act.

The average Band D tax across the district inclusive of parish precepts and Special expenses but exclusive of Bucks County Council, the Police and Fire authorities.  It is not actually charged anywhere in the district but has to be calculated by law as part of the Council Tax setting process.

 

e)    £3,035,296 being the aggregate amount of all special items referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act.

The total of parish precepts received for the year and the net Special expenses.

 

f)     £136.99 as the basic amount of its Council Tax for dwellings in its area, excluding Parish Precepts, being the amount at 2(d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at 2(e) above by the amount at 1(a) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act.

 

 

This is the band D Council Tax for the District Council only.

 

g)    The amounts given by adding to the amount at 2(f) above the amounts of the Parish Precepts for the relevant Parish divided in each case by the Council Tax Base for the Parish at 1(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(3) of the Act, as the basic amounts of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in each Parish is as follows:

 

 

This is the sum of the District Council’s Band D tax and the individual Parish/ Town/ Special Expenses Band D taxes for each parish area. Hedsor and Fawley parishes issue nil precepts.

 

 

a)    The amounts given by multiplying the basic amounts for each Parish 2(g) above by the number which, in the proportion set out in Section 5(1) of the Act, is applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band divided by the number which in that proportion is applicable to dwellings listed in valuation band D, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 36(1) of the Act, as the amounts to be taken into account for the year in respect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuation bands.

 

 

 

This refers to the following table.  It shows the combined Wycombe District Council element of the Council Tax and the Parish/ Town/ Special Expenses element for each band of property in each parish area.

 

 

3.    That it be noted that for the year 2019/20 the main precepting authorities have stated the following amounts in precepts issued to the Council, in accordance with s40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

 

	Bucks County Council £	Police & Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley £	Bucks & Milton Keynes Fire Authority £	Total Preceptors £
Band A	886.43	137.52	43.05	1,067.00
Band B	1,034.16	160.44	50.22	1,244.82
Band C	1,181.90	183.36	57.40	1,422.66
Band D	1,329.64	206.28	64.57	1,600.49
Band E	1,625.12	252.12	78.92	1,956.16
Band F	1,920.59	297.96	93.27	2,311.82
Band G	2,216.07	343.80	107.62	2,667.49
Band H	2,659.28	412.56	129.14	3,200.98

 

 

 

4.    That, having calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts of the District’s and preceptors requirements, in accordance with s30(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets amounts of the council tax for the year 2019/20 for each category of dwelling as follows:

 

2019/20 Council Tax £
	WDC & Parishes	Total Preceptors	Total Council Tax
Band A	120.61	1,067.00	1,187.61
Band B	140.71	1,244.82	1,385.53
Band C	160.81	1,422.66	1,583.47
Band D	180.91	1,600.49	1,781.40
Band E	221.11	1,956.16	2,177.27
Band F	261.31	2,311.82	2,573.13
Band G	301.52	2,667.49	2,969.01
Band H	361.82	3,200.98	3,562.80

 

 

 

 

The council tax for each category of dwelling by parish is as follows:

 

 

 

 

5.    Determine that the Council’s basic amount of Council Tax for 2019/20 is not excessive, in accordance with principles approved under Section 52ZB of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has determined a set of principles which state that for an authority such as Wycombe District Council, the relevant basic amount of Council Tax is excessive if the amount for 2019-20 is 3%, or more than 3%, greater than its relevant basic amount of Council Tax for 2018-19; and more than £5 greater than its relevant basic amount of Council Tax for 2018-19. Since this authority is proposing a reduction of £1.58 then the above regulations have no impact for 2019-20.