Agenda item

The Chairman invited Councillor M Tett, Leader of Buckinghamshire Council, to introduce the report to Members on the proposed 2023/24 revenue budget and capital programme for Buckinghamshire Council.  It was noted that the Council Tax Resolution (Appendix 4) was found in the supplementary agenda pack. The following key points were highlighted:

 

·               Councillor Tett thanked all those who had helped shape the budget, this included majority members of the Portfolio Challenge groups, Cabinet Members, the cross-party Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group, the Chief Executive and her Senior Leadership Team as well as the Section 151 Officer.

·               That a lack of continuity in central Government in the last year (3 Prime Ministers, 4 Chancellors and 4 Secretaries of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) had created uncertainty for Council budget setting.

·               That the Council had focussed on delivering ‘front line’ services, alongside the ongoing improvement journey, despite the many challenges faced in the past year.

·               That external influences such as the war in Ukraine and significant increases in inflation and fuel prices had a major impact during the last year on the Council’s finances, as well as imposing cost of living pressures on a significant number of residents.

·               That the Helping Hands service had taken near 14,000 calls this year. Working with the voluntary sector the Helping Hands programme had provided critical help to those in need, with a crisis fund with the Heart of Bucks having raised over £180K to date.

·               That while there would be continued pressures from the war in Ukraine and economic uncertainty, there was a prospect of some economic and social recovery during 2023 although it was still unclear what the new ‘normal’ would be.  However, the Buckinghamshire Council would be there to support that recovery for all.

·               That while the Council had set a Revenue Budget for 3 years last February, the continuing financial uncertainty meant that the Budget this year was now a one-year Revenue plan.

·               That the Council was impacted by the current Government’s strategy of moving funds away from the South East as part of the Levelling Up programme.

·               That, as set out last year, Reserves would be used this year to help balance the budget.

·               That the Council was in a better financial position than many other Councils, some of whom were on the edge of bankruptcy through heavy expenditure, lost income, deferred savings, lack of financial control or poor governance.

·               On the budget building principles – one-year revenue budget, 4-year capital budget to provide investment in key schemes and to support local economic recovery and growth, whilst also identifying and mitigating risk and always remembering that this was taxpayers’ money.

·               On the Revenue Budget principles and the Council’s Core Spending Power.

·               On the revenue budget trends for individual portfolios, which highlighted the main growth areas / expenditure for Health and Wellbeing, Education and Children’s Services, and for Transportation.  The budgets for Accessible Housing and Resources and Homelessness and Regulatory Services were also increasing as a result of pressures in housing supply and the rising need to support temporary accommodation requirements.  While the Climate Change and Environment portfolio was showing a fall in expenditure, this position actually reflected additional income from the sale of electricity from the Energy from Waste plant.

·               On how the Council was funded through Council tax, Business Rates, the Adult Social Care precept, plus some grants monies.  

 

Partway through the budget introduction the Leader was unwell and left the meeting.  Following a short break, the meeting resumed and Councillor G Williams, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, completed introducing the report to Members on the proposed 2023/24 budget and capital programme for Buckinghamshire Council.  The following key points were highlighted:

·               That it was planned to use £1.36m to balance the budget, as agreed in last year’s budget.

·               That, as mentioned by the Council’s Section 151 Officer, the level of General Fund Reserves was expected to be 9.5% of net revenue expenditure.

·               A high-level breakdown was given of the £500m earmarked for major capital programme expenditure 2023-2027.  This included £106m for roads, £91m for Strategic Infrastructure, £33.7m for Town Centre regeneration, £20m for Housing and homelessness, £8.6m for pavements and £8m for drainage.

·               Information on how the capital programme was being funded.

·               That the budget included for a basic increase in Council tax of 2.99% for 2023/24 and a 2% increase in the Adult Social Care precept.  This would be the equivalent of an increase of £1.61 per week for a Band D property.

·               The risks and uncertainties faced in setting the proposed budget.

 

Councillor Williams commended the budget to Council and moved the recommendations as per the report. This was seconded by Councillor A Macpherson.

 

The Chairman informed Members that an amendment on the budget had been received that he intended to deal with next.  The amendment was proposed by Councillor G Williams, seconded by Councillor S Broadbent.  The amendment wording was:

 

“This council notes that the prolonged period on incessant rain, combined with the extended freezing weather, has resulted in a significant deterioration in the condition of roads across the country, including within Buckinghamshire. The Budget already proposes a record level of expenditure upon repair and resurfacing of our roads with the current £100m+ four-year programme now being extended into a 5th year with over £5m of additional expenditure to continue the member led rolling maintenance programme.  Nevertheless, since this Budget was proposed, it has become apparent that further action is required to address the immediate need. 

 

This council therefore resolves to amend the Budget proposals as follows:

·               Amend Appendix 2 (Buckinghamshire Council Capital Programme) Transport Expenditure 2023/24 by leaving out ‘£47,430’ and replacing it with ‘£52,430’.  Also, insert an additional line “Funding from General Fund Balance “£5,000” in column 2023/24.  This will amend the Budget by releasing £5m from General Fund Reserves and adding this to the 2023/24 Revenue for Highways road maintenance.

 

As a consequence, Council is asked to further approve additional resolutions to those on page 27 of the Council papers, namely that:

·               The Cabinet Member for Transportation should begin immediately planning for the urgent deployment of this funding.

·               The Leader to write to the Secretary of State for Transport stating the need to increase capital funding for roads given the recent weather impacts.”

 

Councillor Williams highlighted that the severe weather experienced over the winter had damaged many local roads.  It was proposed on adding in £5m from reserves for additional highways road maintenance in 2023/24, which would be a 20% in-year increase to £30m.  This would still leave the General Fund Reserves in a good position at 8.5% of net revenue expenditure.

 

During debate of the amendment, Members commented that they were in favour of the additional expenditure on roads maintenance although they would like to see a clear plan on how the additional monies would be spent.  It was also mentioned:

- that the amendment had been raised very recently which had meant that there hadn’t been an opportunity to scrutinise the issue.

- that a strategic plan for fixing roads might avoid the annual pressures experienced every winter to fix potholes.

 

In seconding the amendment, the Cabinet Member for Transport highlighted the record investment in the current MTFP on roads and provided statistics on the large increase in the number of road repairs/maintenance and additional road gritting required in January 2023 when compared to January 2022.  The Cabinet Member stated that he would ensure that the additional road maintenance work was incorporated into the new highways contract arrangements, and through the supply chain when it is the right time to do road repairs in April.

 

The amendment was then put to the meeting and was CARRIED.

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rules, the Chairman then invited Councillor Morgan, as Deputy Leader of the Alliance Group (main opposition group), and in the absence of the Group Leader of the Alliance Group, to comment on the budget proposals.  The following main points were noted:

·               that the budget savings in Appendix 3 added up to £9.675m and not £10.1m, as stated, which included a missing £13K savings in climate change.

·               That the savings could be split into 3 categories – efficiency savings (£7.985m), better Buckinghamshire Programme (£1.26m) and contract savings (£520K).  It was stated that efficiency savings were a smoke screen to cut staff and Departments and to outsource services to help balance the budget.

·               That the £580K reduction in costs for grass cutting and weed spraying would require Town and Parish Councils to provide these services, that in turn would see local precepts increased.

·               The £160k efficiency savings in SEND transport provision were questioned, including the reduced demand for SEND transport (£100k) and reduction in Personal Transport budgets (£210k)

·               That the Equalities Impact Assessment should have included more information on possible positive and negative impacts rather than stating that the details of the impact of changes would not be known until the projects were delivered. 

·               That while there were plans to devolve 3 services to the Aylesbury Town Council, the Council needed to go further and, where possible, look to devolve services to other Town and Parish Councils.

·               That more should be done to maintain sports pitches and their associated facilities such as changing rooms.

·               That her Group could not support further cuts in the funding to Community Boards, including to Aylesbury and High Wycombe.

·               That it was regrettable that the Aylesbury eastern link road would not be built until 2025/26.

·               That as well as additional expenditure on road maintenance, the Council should also be investing more to maintain footways and pathways.

·               That there were concerns that some of the £41m in unspent Section 106 funding and £172m in HIF funding would not be spent in time and could be at risk of being paid back to developers or the Government.

 

The Chairman thanked Councillor Morgan for her comments and invited Councillor Wilson to speak on behalf of the IMPACT Alliance grouping. The following main points were noted:

-             Councillor Wilson thanked the Officers and the Budget Scrutiny Inquiry for their hard work on the budget and on budget scrutiny. 

-             That the Council needed to develop a Strategy to look at long term solutions to systemic issues such as children’s and adult services, address the dearth of key workers and social housing accommodation, and deliver the Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy.  This could be done by having a long-term revenue strategy linked to the Capital and Investment Strategy.

-             That important issues the Council also needed to look at included affordable housing, temporary accommodation, and the aging population, managing surplus assets and the repurposing of assets to generate income. 

-             That the budget was lacking details on how £15.5m in contingencies were being planned for and allocated against risks.

-             That there were concerns that the budget was highly dependent on income from the Energy from Waste plant (net of energy producer levy), and of the financial resilience of education and children’s services.

-             That savings were mostly made up of cuts.

 

At the conclusion, the Chairman thanked Councillor Wilson for his comments. The Chairman then opened up debate on the budget and invited questions and comments from Members, who highlighted the following:

(i)                 Looking at access arrangements and parking for the planned woods in Wing.

(ii)               Concerns that the £10.1m savings were actually cuts in core funding that would increase the risks in delivering services in areas including adults’ services and for education and children’s services.

(iii)              Concerns on the further cuts in the funding to Community Boards.

(iv)              That it would be important for the Council to deliver Opportunity Bucks and to reduce entrenched systemic inequalities.

(v)                That the Council should be doing more to devolve services to Town/Parish Councils and to not cut grant to third sector partners.

(vi)              That the Client Services transport budget had been increased from £33m to £38m as a part of the budget proposals.  It was highlighted that some of the efficiency savings identified area were related to schemes that boosting the independence of children moving into adulthood and was not moving money out of budgets.

(vii)            Concerns that attainment gaps in Bucks were some of the biggest in the country.

(viii)          Concerns for High Wycombe relating to CIL and Community Board funding and to the level of temporary accommodation.

(ix)              That the Council’s Helping Hands initiative continued to help local people with heating and household bills, buying or accessing food, and with benefits, debt, and money advice.

(x)                That it had been particularly difficult to put together a budget this year in the face of the continued pressures from the war in Ukraine, economic uncertainty, and significant increases that inflation and fuel prices had on the Council’s finances.

(xi)              The Cabinet Member for Communities stated that the Council remained fully committed to devolving assets identified in the first trance of projects.  He also stated that Community Boards had funded 841 projects, invested £5.6m in local projects and total spending with contributory funding was approximately £9m.  

 

In seconding the budget proposals, Councillor A Macpherson spoke in support of the budget proposals, which she stated sought to protect the most vulnerable in society.  Councillor Williams then responded to provide clarification on some of the concerns and issues that had been raised during the main debate.  This included that Appendices 1 and 3 did add up in terms of savings as Appendix 1 included some multi-year items, that 450 personal transport budgets had been agreed to date, that Section 106 monies were closely monitored and had never been returned to developers (although £23m of it had yet to be allocated), that there was a Corporate Risk Register and Directorate Risk Registers that were regularly scrutinised by the Audit and Governance Committee, that the EfW income was supported by a significant contingency reserve, agreed that it was important to deliver Opportunity Bucks, and mentioned about town centre regeneration in High Wycombe.   

 

The Chairman thanked everyone for their questions and comments and reminded members that there was a legal requirement for a recorded vote to be taken on the budget. The Chairman also informed Members that he intended to take a recorded vote, en bloc, for all 7 budget recommendations, which were the 5 recommendations in the main agenda plus the additional 2 recommendations resulting from the amendment.

 

The vote was recorded as follows:

 

FOR (94): Councillors Adoh, Alam, Anthony, Ashman, Ayub, Bagge, Barnes, Barrett, Birchley, Blamires, Bond, Bowles, Bracken, Brazier, Broadbent, Broom, Brown, Butcher, Caffrey, Carington, Carroll, B Chapple OBE, S Chapple, Chaudry, Chhokar, Chilver, Cornell, Cranmer, Culverhouse, Darby, Dhillon, Drayton, Egleton, Etholen, Flys, Gaffney, Gaster, Gemmell, Gomm, Goss, Green, Hall, Harker OBE, G Harris, C Harriss, Heap, Hollis, A Hussain, Mahboob Hussain JP, Jackson, Jordan, King, A Macpherson, I Macpherson, Marshall, Martin, R Matthews, W Matthews, Mohammed, Mordue, Naylor, Newcombe, Ng, Oliver, Osibogun, Poll, S K Raja, Rana, Rand, Rouse, Rush, Sandy, L Smith BEM, Sir B Stanier, Strachan, Sullivan, Thomas, Thompson, Town, Towns, A Turner, M Turner, P Turner, Waite, Wallace, L Walsh, M Walsh, Waters, Wheelhouse, Whyte, Williams, Wilson, Winn and A Wood.

 

AGAINST (14): Councillors Cooper, Dixon, Hunter-Watts, N Hussain, T Hussain, Khan BEM, Knight, Lambert, Lewin, Morgan, Poland-Goodyer, W Raja, M Smith and Wassell.

 

ABSTENTIONS (10): Councillors Baughan, Guy, D Hayday, O Hayday, I Hussain, Majid Hussain, Johncock, Kayani, Stuchbury and Watson

 

RESOLVED –

 

(1)               That the Revenue Budget and Capital Programme (Appendices 1-3), as amended earlier, be APPROVED.

(2)               That the Council Tax Resolution (Appendix 4) be APPROVED.

(3)               That the ‘Special Expenses’ budgets, precepts and associated services for Aylesbury Town, High Wycombe Town and West Wycombe Church Yard (Appendices 5 & 6) be APPROVED.

(4)               That Cabinet be delegated authority to make decisions to add up to £100m to the capital programme, to be funded by Prudential Borrowing, subject to a robust business case being APPROVED.

(5)               That the Council Tax Reduction Scheme Policy (Appendix 7) be APPROVED.

(6)               That the Cabinet Member for Transport should begin planning immediately for the urgent deployment of the additional 2023/24 Revenue for Highways road maintenance.

(7)               That the Leader of the Council would write to the Secretary of State for Transport stating the need to increase capital funding for roads given the recent weather impacts.