?

consider the updated report of the Chief Executive on delivering the co-operative vision within a four year sustainable budget and the proposed Council Tax levels for 2015/16; 

?

approve the proposed net revenue budget requirement for 2015/16;

?

approve the capital budget 2014/18;

?

approve the Treasury Management Strategy and Annual  Investment Strategy 2015/16;

?

note the mid-year review of the 2014/15 Treasury Management Strategy;

?

approve the appointment of an interim Section 151 officer;

?

note the capital and revenue monitoring report 2014/15;

?

approve the Council Tax for 2015/16.

Appendix 1

Minute 125

Delivering the co-operative vision within a three year sustainable balanced budget.   

Appendix 2

For information: Cabinet’s response to the scrutiny recommendations and the scrutiny report.

Appendix 3

Minute 126

Treasury Management Strategy and Annual Investment Strategy 2015/16 and mid-year review of the 2014/15 Treasury Management Strategy;.

Appendix 4

Minute 127

Capital and revenue monitoring report 2014/15

(a)

Cabinet minute 125 (of 10 February 2015) and the Cabinet report on delivering the co-operative vision within a four year budget;

(b)

Cabinet minute 124 (of 10 February 2015) on Cabinet’s response to the Scrutiny Recommendations together with the Budget Scrutiny Report 2015/16;

(c)

Cabinet minute 126 (of 10 February 2015) on the Treasury Management Strategy and Annual Investment Strategy 2015 /16 (together with the mid-year review of the Treasury Management Strategy;

(d)

the Capital and Revenue Monitoring Report 2014/15;

(e)

recommendations following confirmation that the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority had agreed to increase the precept on the Council by 1.99% and from the Chief Officers Appointments Panel with regard to the appointment of David Northey as interim Assistant Director for Finance S151 Officer pending the appointment of a permanent replacement.

(f)

thanked Councillor Lowry and the officers in the finance team for their hard work in enabling the recommendations for such a forward looking budget in very difficult circumstances and delivering last year’s budget almost on target;   

(g)

thanked Malcolm Coe (Assistant Director for Finance) for his work as this was his last meeting and wished him well in his new role with another Council;  

(h) 

indicated that the government had cut funding for local services in Plymouth this year from £62m to £44m;

(i)

referred to the discrepancy in government funding which was being called the ‘missing millions’ particularly with regard to public health funding, roads and train services and pledged to continue to lobby for a fair deal for the city;     

(j)

reported that with the proposed budget, the Council would be prioritising jobs, skills and opportunities for young people, homes,  cleaner and safer streets and care for vulnerable adults and children; 

(k)

referred to the transformation programme which would enable the Council to change the way it delivered services by making it more efficient and joining with partners to protect and improve services;

(l)

highlighted forthcoming developments such as the new coach hub in the City Centre, the transformation of the Bretonside site and the History Centre;  

(m)

thanked Councillor Coker (Cabinet Member for Transport) for his leadership and negotiating skills in securing funding for Plymouth.  The Council was advised that an extra £4.8m would be spent on roads and pavements in 2015/16, in addition to the existing £5m revenue budget and transport improvements schemes would be implemented in the north of the city and for the Forder Valley Link Road;        

(n)

gave a commitment to keep weekly rubbish collections;

(o)

referred to the work of each of the Cabinet Members and thanked them for their work;

(p)

indicated that the Council would continue to improve schools for example at Pennycross Primary School;

(q)

reported that adult social care continued to put pressures on budgets due to rising demands and costs and that the service would undergo a radical change as the Council worked co-operatively with Plymouth Community Health Care to create an integrated health and social care provider from 1 April 2015;  

(r)

advised Council that following the Ofsted inspection this year, the Council would continue with their plans to deliver improvements in social care and would support and protect from harm more than 400 vulnerable children;

(s)

indicated that the Council had delivered its 100 pledges given in 2012 and that, of a further 50, over half had already been delivered with the remainder on target to be delivered by the end of next year.

‘This administration is committed to equality and supporting the most vulnerable and needy residents within our city and the importance of the West End of the city centre as a place to go.

We therefore propose the following amendment to the revenue budget: 

(a)

amend our current contractual terms with Pertemps  by paying our agency staff at least the Living Wage  from day one of their contract;

(b)

extend our discretionary rate relief policy to offer ‘one off’ rates relief to organisations  to cover the administrative cost of becoming accredited with the Living Wage Foundation; relief of up to a maximum of £5,000 per organisation.

The revenue cost of implementing our two Living Wage amendments is circa £200,000 which will be prioritised and funded through the Discretionary Rate Relief budget which this administration created in 2013.

And propose the following amendment to the Capital Programme: 

(c)

we will pledge and prioritise further capital investment of £3.555m in the West End to include a major refurbishment of the City Market and a City Centre ‘Shop Front’ scheme to improve the physical appearance of retail buildings. This will increase the Capital Programme from £237.405m to a revised £240.960m.’

(t)

the lack of notice given to the opposition about the amendment and the lack of detail on the implications of the proposals;

(u)

the lack of a proper debate on the development of the West End;

(v)

the opportunity to use the Plymouth Plan for a debate on the redevelopment of and regeneration of the city centre;

(w)

the benefits of the payment of the living wage including the treatment of all staff equally and the benefits to employers and the city generally.

(x)

inflation which was close to or at zero; 

(y)

total public spending which had only fallen modestly since 2010; 

(z)

no account had been taken of specific grants;

(aa)

the need to ensure that provision had been made to implement the improvements recommended by Ofsted; 

(bb)

the lack of information on Clinical Commissioning Group spending;

(cc)

the budget scrutiny by the Co-operative Scrutiny Board.

(dd)

salaries and benefits had not increased;

(ee)

no bids had been submitted for schools; 

(ff)

alternative sources of income had not been sought.

(1)

that the additional one-off resources as determined through the December 2014 Settlement are deployed to the 2015/16 revenue budget and allocated to the provision of social care within the People Directorate;

(2)

to approve an increase of 1.99% in Council Tax for 2015/16;

(3)

to approve the proposed net revenue budgetrequirement for 2015/16 of £193.009m, subject to the following amendments with a revenue cost of circa £200,000 which will be prioritised and funded through the Discretionary Rate Relief budget which this administration created in 2013 –

(a)

to amend the Council’s current contractual terms with Pertemps by paying the Council’s agency staff at least the Living Wage  from day one of their contract;

(b)

to extend the Council’s discretionary rate relief policy to offer ‘one off’ rates relief to organisations  to cover the administrative cost of becoming accredited with the Living Wage Foundation; relief of up to a maximum of £5,000 per organisation;

(4)

to approve the total capital budget of £240.960m for 2014 to 2018 to include prioritising further capital investment of £3.555m in the West End to include a major refurbishment of the City Market and a City Centre ‘Shop Front’ scheme to improve the physical appearance of retail buildings.  Any changes to the overall capital funding available to be sanctioned by the Council’s Section 151 Officer;

(5)

to agree that all newly approved capital schemes are incorporated within regular public finance reporting;

(6)

to agree that using the Council tax base for 2015/16 as 68,460.0  [Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the “Act”)]; calculate that the Council tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2015/16 is £90,406,907;

(7)

to agree that the following  amounts are calculated for the year 2015/16 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Act:

(a)

£541,135,291being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for  the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act (Gross Expenditure and Transfers to Reserves);

(b)

£450,728,384 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for  the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act (Gross Income and Transfers from  Reserves);

(c)

£90,406,907 being the amount by which the aggregate at 7(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 7(b) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act as its Council tax requirement for the year. (Item R in the formula in section 31B of the Act);

(d)

£1,320.58 being the amount at 7(c) above (Item R), all divided by Item T (6 above), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council tax for the year;

 (8)

to note that the Office of the Devon and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Police Commissioner has issued precepts to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 for each category of dwellings in the Council’s area. These are included in the tables below, reflecting a 1.99% increase;

(9)

to note that the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority has agreed precepts to the Council of 1.99% increase;

(10)

in accordance with Sections 30 and 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, to set the indicative aggregate amounts shown in the tables below as the amounts of Council Tax for 2015/16 for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings -

Plymouth City Council after 1.99% increase

A

B

C

D

£880.38

£1,027.12

£1,173.85

£1,320.58

E

F

G

H

£1,614.04

£1,907.50

£2,200.96

£2,641.15

Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner after 1.99% increase

A

B

C

D

£112.98

£131.81

£150.64

£169.47

E

F

G

H

£207.13

£244.79

£282.44

£338.93

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority after 1.99% increase

A

B

C

D

£52.28

£60.99

£69.71

£78.42

E

F

G

H

£95.85

£113.27

£130.70

£156.84

Aggregate of Council Tax Requirements 2015/16

A

B

C

D

£1,045.64

£1,219.92

£1,394.19

£1,568.46

E

F

G

H

£1,917.01

£2,265.56

£2,614.11

£3,136.93

(11)

that in accordance with the principles approved under 52ZB of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, the Council’s relevant basic amount of council tax for 2015/16 is not more than 2% higher than the relevant basic amount of council tax for 2014/15 and that it is therefore determined that the Council’s relevant basic amount of Council Tax for 2015/16 is not excessive and for this reason a referendum will not be required;

(12)

to agree the annual Treasury Management Strategy and Annual Investment Strategy   2015/16 (incorporating the authorised limits, operational boundaries and prudential indicators) as submitted;

(13) 

to note the mid-year review of the 2014/15 Treasury Management Strategy;

(14)

to note the Capital and Revenue Monitoring Report 2014/15;

(15)

to approve the recommendation from the Chief Officer’s Appointments Panel to appoint the existing Deputy S151 Officer (David Northey) as the Council’s interim Assistant Director for Finance S151 Officer pending the appointment of a permanent replacement.