Agenda item
Corporate Plan 2012 -15, Revenue and Capital Budget 2012/13 and Proposed Council Tax Levels
- Meeting of City Council, Monday 27 February 2012 2.00 pm (Item 119.)
- View the background to item 119.
Cabinet Members: The Leader (Councillor Mrs Pengelly) and Councillor Bowyer
The City Council will be asked –
· to consider the report of the Chief Executive and the Director for Corporate Services on the corporate plan 2012-15, the revenue and capital budget 2012/13 and the proposed Council tax levels;
· to adopt the corporate plan 2012 -15
· to approve the proposed net revenue budget requirement;
· to approve the capital programme;
· to approve the Treasury Management Policy Statement, the Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2012/13 and the Investment Strategy 2012/13;
· to approve the Council tax for 2012/13.
The following Cabinet minutes of the meeting held on 7 February 2012 refer –
· minute 115 - Budget and Corporate Plan Scrutiny Report 2012/13);
· minute 116 – Corporate Plan 2012 -15
· minute 117a - New Capital Schemes for Investment;
· minute 118a - Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy 2012/13;
· minute 119 – 2012/13 Updated Draft Budget (Revenue and Capital) allocated to corporate priorities.
Minutes:
The Chief Executive and the Director for Corporate Services submitted written reports on the Corporate Plan 2012 -15, the revenue and capital budget 2012/13, the treasury management strategy statement and annual investment strategy and the proposed Council tax levels.
The City Council considered -
(a) |
the updated draft Corporate Plan 2012-2015 (following Cabinet on 7 February 2012) (appendix A);
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(b) |
Cabinet minute 116 (of 7 February 2012) on the Corporate Plan 2012 - 2015 (appendix B);
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(c)
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Cabinet minute 117a (of 7 February 2012) on new capital schemes for investment from the performance and finance report (appendix C);
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(d)
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the Medium Term Capital Programme 2011/12 -14/15 (appendix D);
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(e) |
Cabinet minute 115 (of 7 February 2012) on the Budget and Corporate Plan Scrutiny Report 2012/13 including Cabinet’s response to the recommendations (appendix E);
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(f) |
the Budget and Corporate Plan Scrutiny Report 2012/13 (appendix F);
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(g) |
Cabinet minute 119 (of 7 February 2012) on the 2012/13 updated draft budget (revenue and capital) allocated to corporate priorities (appendix G);
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(h) |
the Cabinet report on the 2012/13 updated draft budget (revenue and capital) allocated to corporate priorities (appendix H);
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(i) |
Cabinet minute 118a (of 7 February 2012) on Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy 2012/13 (appendix I);
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(j) |
the Cabinet report (of 7 February 2012) on Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy 2012/13 (appendix J). |
The Leader (CouncillorMrs Pengelly) moved, and Councillor Bowyer (Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and People) seconded, the recommendations in the updated written report of the Chief Executive and the Director for Corporate Services circulated today and commended to the City Council, for approval, the 2012/13 Council Tax levels.
In presenting the proposals, Councillor Mrs Pengelly referred to –
(a) |
the achievements of the Council in the past year in the light of the economic downturn, reduced funding, reducing income and increasing demand for some services;
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(b) |
the proposals that would deliver the necessary savings, prioritise front line services to customers, had the needs of the families at its heart and focused on delivering Plymouth’s priorities;
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(c) |
future investments that included -
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? |
£1.5m new homes bonus funding for growth; |
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£168m regeneration in North Prospect; |
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£3.1m investment in Operation Upgrade to improve roads and surfaces, in particular to tackle the city’s pot hole problem;
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(d)
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plans for a new materials recycling facility;
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(e) |
consideration being given to an application for grant for weekly bin collections to support new initiatives around glass and garden waste collection;
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(f) |
an early intervention grant of £12m to support vulnerable families and children;
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(g) |
apprenticeships being offered by the Council in response to worklessness;
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(h) |
the completion of the Plymouth Life Centre;
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(j) |
plans for the North Prospect library;
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(j) |
£6m of health social care funding to continue the adult social care transformation;
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(k) |
the development of the customer contact centre to provide a single point of contact;
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(l)
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the capital programme investment of £173m in the city to include - |
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improving roads, |
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a major transport programme to improve walking, cycling and bus links between the east and the west of the city; |
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the launch of a pilot glass collection scheme; |
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the refurbishment of the Armada Way toilets |
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the refurbishment of key parts of the waterfront such as West Hoe Pier and Smeaton’s Tower |
Councillor Evans responded and indicated that -
(m) |
the achievements listed by the Leader had been funded by the former Labour government;
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(n) |
the Conservative government had reduced money for schools;
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(o)
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a report had been recently published indicating that children in academies performed less well than in local authority maintained schools;
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(p) |
he was concerned about children leaving school as the Leader had not addressed jobs or prospects for future other than the employment of apprentices by the Council;
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(q) |
17 per cent of the retail centre was empty and that growth should be the top priority for the city;
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(r) |
recycling was no longer a priority in Plymouth, recycling figures were not published at Council tips and the Council was going to import rubbish and burn it at Devonport;
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(s) |
with regard to roads a change of approach was required. There would be increased lorry movements carrying waste and operation upgrade had been necessary as a result of neglect in previous years;
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(t) |
the £12m early intervention grant was not new money for vulnerable families and children;
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(u) |
the funding for the North Prospect regeneration had been achieved by the former Labour Council;
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(v) |
there would be a series of consequences arising from the impact of the welfare reform changes with costs for the local authority;
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(w) |
the freeze on the Council tax was supported but the money would be used differently if the Labour Group were in control of the Council. |
Councillor Evans moved and Councillor Lowry seconded an amendment to add a further bullet point to recommendation (5) in the officer’s report –
‘the Leader from 2012/13 is recommended to reduce the number of cabinet members from ten to eight, achieving a saving of £51,000 in a full year, that saving to be used to create a community economic development trust for the benefit of the St Budeaux, Budshead, Southway and Honicknowle wards’
During the debate on the amendment, the following issues were raised –
(x) |
with the changes to the delivery of services and the reduced senior management team, the remaining services could be delivered by eight Cabinet Members;
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(y) |
the impact of the Wolseley and Millfields Community Economic Development Trusts on aspiration;
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(z) |
that people were losing jobs and needed immediate assistance;
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(aa) |
the Leader would make the decision on Cabinet Members, following the elections in May 2012;
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(bb) |
it was hoped that Plymouth would gain private sector jobs as the city had bucked the downward trend in the last unemployment figures. |
During the debate, the Lord Mayor reminded Councillor Lock about his behaviour and the Lord Mayor accepted an apology from Councillor Lock.
In response to a query, the Assistant Director for Democracy and Governance advised that the decision about the number of Cabinet Members was for the Leader to take but that it was in order for the Council to make a recommendation to the Leader.
Following a vote, the amendment was lost.
The debate continued on the main motion and the following issues were raised -
(cc) |
the lack of financial data provided to councillors leading to a lack of confidence with the proposals;
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(dd) |
the need for additional funding to address the health inequality gap. Councillors were advised that representations had been made to government in relation to funding for public health;
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(ee) |
the work undertaken and current position on apprenticeships in the City Council. Councillor James undertook to provide Councillor Evans with a copy of the briefing note he had received from Mark Grimley (Assistant Director for Human Resources and Organisational Development);
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(ff) |
the increases in the recycling rates, the reductions in waste and the best customer satisfaction levels for waste collection;
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(gg) |
a proposal to designate part of Central Park as the Queen Elizabeth II fields;
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(hh) |
the lack of provision in the budget to address the consequences from the welfare reforms;
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(ii) |
the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board following scrutiny of the corporate plan and the budget, which were not accepted by Cabinet;
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(jj) |
the Council had funded the change in the shape of the authority whilst funding reductions in spending and service improvements;;
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(kk) |
it was felt that there was no commitment by the Council to the wording in the corporate plan. |
The Leader in summing up the proposal, thanked all the directors and finance officers for their hard work during the year and specifically referred to Malcolm Coe (Assistant Director for Finance, Technology, Assets and Efficiencies), David Northey (Head of Finance) and Chris Randall (Finance Client Manager (Capital and Major Projects).
Following a vote, it was agreed –
Supporting documents:
- Updated report on Corporate Plan 2012-15, revenue and capital budget 2012.13 and proposed Council tax levels, item 119. PDF 140 KB
- Corporate Plan 2012.15, Revenue and Capital Budget 2012.13 and proposed Council tax levels, item 119. PDF 75 KB
- Appendix A - Updated draft Corporate Plan 2012-15 ), item 119. PDF 438 KB
- Appendix B - Cabinet minute 116 - Corporate Plan 2012.15, item 119. PDF 91 KB
- Appendix C - Cabinet_minute_117a_-_New_Capital_Schemes_for_Investment, item 119. PDF 89 KB
- Appendix D - Medium Term Capital Programme 2011.12 - 2014.15, item 119. PDF 32 KB
- Appendix E - Cabinet minute 115 - Budget and Corporate Plan Scrutiny Report 2012.13, item 119. PDF 212 KB
- Appendix F - Budget and Corporate Plan Scrutiny Report 2012, item 119. PDF 187 KB
- Appendix G - Cabinet minute 119 - 2012.13 Updated Draft Budget (Revenue and Capital) allocated to corporate priorities, item 119. PDF 92 KB
- Appendix H - 2012.13 updated draft budget(revenue and capital) (Cabinet report), item 119. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix I - Cabinet minute 118a - Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy, item 119. PDF 96 KB
- Appendix J -Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Stategy 2012.13, item 119. PDF 435 KB