Agenda and minutes

This meeting is to be webcast. Members are reminded of the need to activate their microphones before speaking. The Democratic and Electoral Services Team Manager will read the following announcement:

“The Chairman would like to remind everyone present that this meeting will be broadcast live to the internet (or filmed) and will be capable of repeated viewing (or another use by such third parties).

If you are seated in the lower public seating area it is likely that the recording cameras will capture your image and this will result in the possibility that your image will become part of the broadcast.

This may infringe your human and data protection rights and if you wish to avoid this you should move to the upper public gallery.”

The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager reminded everyone present that the meeting would be broadcast live to the Internet, and that the Council had adopted a protocol for the webcasting of its meetings.

To declare interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes of the Council meeting held on 20 December 2022 and the Extraordinary Council meeting held on 17 January 2023 as attached.

            RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 20 December 2022 and 17 January 2023 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(a)        Chairman’s Announcements

(a)        Announcements by the Chairman of the Council

Councillor Brian Rolfe

It was with much sadness that the Chairman informed the Council of the death of Councillor Brian Rolfe.

Councillor Brian Rolfe had been a District Councillor since 2007, representing the Lambourne Ward of the District as a Conservative Councillor. He had served on the Cabinet as the Leisure and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder for the 2010/11 municipal year and had been Chairman of Council for the 2012/13 municipal year. During his time on the Council, he had served on many of the Council’s member bodies.

Members stood for a minute’s silence then paid tribute to the memory of Councillor Brian Rolfe.

To answer questions asked after notice in accordance with the provisions contained within Part 4 of the Council Rules of the Constitution on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the District:

(a)        to the Leader of the Council;

(b)        to any Portfolio Holder; or

(c)        to the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Questions, if any, will follow if not received in time to be incorporated into the agenda.

The Council noted that no public questions had been received for consideration at the meeting.

To answer questions asked after notice in accordance with the provisions contained within the Council’s rules in Part 4 of the Constitution on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the District:

(a)                  to the Chairman of the Council;

(b)                  to the Leader of the Council;

(c)                  to any Member of the Cabinet; or

(d)                  the Chairman of any Committee or Sub-Committee.

The Council’s rules provide that answers to questions under notice may take the form of:

(a)             direct oral answer;

(b)             where the desired information is in a publication of the Council or other published work, a reference to that publication; or

(c)             where the reply cannot conveniently be given orally, a written answer circulated later to the questioner.

Answers to questions falling within (a) and (b) above will be made available to the member asking the question one hour before the meeting. Answers to questions falling within (c) above will be circulated to all councillors.

Questions, if any, will follow if not received in time to be incorporated into the agenda.

The Council noted that there were no questions by members under notice that had been submitted for consideration at this meeting.

To receive reports and any announcements from the Leader and members of the Cabinet on matters falling within their area of responsibility:

(a)        Report of the Leader of Council (verbal);

(b)        Report of the Place Portfolio Holder (attached);

(c)        Report of the Finance Portfolio Holder (attached);

(d)        Report of the Housing & Community Portfolio Holder (attached);

(e)        Report of the Wellbeing & Community Partnerships Portfolio Holder (attached);

(f)         Report of the Customer Portfolio Holder (attached);

(g)        Report of the Contracts & Commissioning Portfolio Holder (attached);

(h)        Report of the Technical Services Portfolio Holder (attached);

(i)         Report of the Internal Resources Portfolio Holder (attached);

The Council received written reports from Portfolio Holders. The Chairman invited the Leader of Council to provide an oral report and the opportunity for other members of the Cabinet to give updates on matters concerning their relevant portfolios.

(a)        Leader of Council

Councillor C Whitbread advised that he had been busy attending meetings covering a range of issues. He advised he had attended a meeting in Westminster regarding East of England Leaders followed by an all-party group meeting looking at levelling up and thereby making sure that the Epping Forest District was being heard in all the right places.

He stated that he had also been actively engaged in discussions around devolution. This decision was mainly for the upper tier authorities who had to agree any devolution ask of government, he believed it was a way of getting more for the County and the Districts and was keeping Epping Forest actively engaged in the discussions.

It was now known that the Inspectior had found the Epping Forest District Local Plan to be sound and an important part of the Local Plan was the Harlow and Gilston Garden town communities, to which he advised that he had also been attending regular meetings on behalf of the Council, making sure that he was looking after the interests of Epping Forest first and foremost.

He stated that there were a lot of meetings going on at this time which would shape the future and it was important that Epping Forest District Council was heard at every level.

The Council’s rules provide for questions by any member of the Council to the Leader or any Portfolio Holder, without notice on:

(i)            reports under the previous item; or

(ii)           any other matter of a non operational character in relation to the powers and  duties of the Council or which affects all or part of the District or some or all of  its inhabitants.

The Council’s rules provide that answers to questions without notice may take the form of:

(a)            a direct oral answer from the Leader or, at the request of the Leader, from another member of the Cabinet;

(b)            where the desired information is in a publication of the Council or other published work, a reference to that publication;

(c)            where the reply cannot conveniently be given orally, a written answer circulated later to the questioner; or

(d)            where the question relates to an operational matter, the Leader or a member of the Cabinet will request that a response be given direct to the questioner by the relevant Service Director.

In accordance with the Council’s rules, a time limit of thirty minutes is set for questions. Any question not dealt with within the time available will receive a written reply. The Chairman may extend this period by up to a further ten minutes at their discretion.

The Chairman informed members that as this was the budget meeting and would like to give emphasis to the budget she would therefore allow only 30 minutes for questions.

(a)        Dangerous Structures

Councillor R Brookes referred to the Technical Services Portfolio Holders report and asked under the heading ‘Dangerous Structures’ why the Chigwell Lane to Torrington Drive path had been closed for over a year and could he give an update as to the way forward and when this path might be opened again.

Action: Councillor K Williamson advised that he could not give any further updates this evening and that he would speak to officers and report back to Councillor Brookes.

(b)        Council Housebuilding and Regeneration Programme

Councillor J Parsons asked if there were any updates to the Council Housebuilding and regeneration programme around the district.

Councillor H Whitbread stated that members would be aware from previous Cabinet meetings that they were reviewing the Councils Housing Revenue Account (HRA) business plan to meet the present climate. We were facing new challenges in terms of the cost of living crisis and the cost of building, as a result of inflation, due to the war in the Ukraine.

She went on to assure members that the Council was committed to both Council house building and regeneration in the district. Recently, Harveyfields in Waltham Abbey, had £114,000 investment into regenerating that estate which included, also work was being undertaken in Limes Farm, Chigwell and Shelley in Ongar.

(c)        Progress update on the waste management collections

Councillor J McIvor asked if the Leader of Council could give an update on the disruption to the waste management collections and to thank the residents of the district for their patience.

Councillor C Whitbread apologised to the residents of the district for the disruption that had been experienced over the winter months. Council officers and members have had constructive discussions with Biffa, and improvements were being introduced. He took this opportunity to pay tribute to the Council officers who had been instrumental in the discussions and had put in a lot of hard work into getting these issues addressed as quickly as possible. He also thanked the call centre staff have been inundated with complaints during this time and had put so much effort into trying to resolve issues for residents.

He advised, going forward, the Council were looking at finding a place to park the waste lorries with a view to making plans for the future.

(d)        New Chairman of Qualis

Councillor S Heap stated that at a recent meeting of Overview and Scrutiny he requested that the new chairman of Qualis be invited to the next Full Council meeting and asked when this would happen.

Councillor J Philip advised that he was not in charge of Overview and Scrutiny and therefore not the correct person to ask. There was a procedure to get things onto the Overview and Scrutiny agenda, by filling in a pick form and Councillor Heap should follow that process.

(e)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

To consider any motions, notice of which has been given under the Council’s rules.

Motions, if any, will follow if not received in time to be incorporated into the agenda.

The Chairman reported that there were no motions to be considered at the meeting.

(Finance Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report of the Council Budget 2023/24.

Notes

That a recorded vote is held on the recommendations contained within the report, in accordance with the Council Procedure Rule V3 ‘Voting at Budget Decision Council 18 February 2016 Meetings’ which directs Members to comply with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, immediately after any vote is taken at a budget decision meeting there must be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of that meeting the names of the persons who cast a vote for the decision or against the decision or who abstained from voting.

“Budget decision” means a meeting at which:

(a)        a calculation is made (whether originally or by way of substitute) in accordance with any of the Sections 31A, 31B, 34 to 36A, 42A, 42B, 45 to 49, 52ZF, 52ZJ of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended; or

(b)        a precept is issued under Chapter 4 of Part 1 of that Act and includes a meeting where making the calculation or issuing the precept as the case may be was included as an item of business on the agenda for that meeting.

References to a vote are references to a vote not only on the substantive budget motions agreeing the budget, setting council taxes or issuing precepts, but also on any amendments proposed at the meeting.

Mover: Councillor J Philip, Finance Portfolio Holder

Councillor J Philip presented a report of the Budget for 2023/24 (including Medium-Term Financial Plan, Capital Programme and Fees and Charges). He thanked Mr A Small, Strategic Director and S151 Officer and Mr C Hartgrove, Interim Chief Financial Officer for an excellent budget and for their sound financial advice. He also thanked members of the Audit and Governance Committee.

There voted for the recommendations (42) namely: Councillors  I Allgood, N Avey, R Balcombe, R Baldwin, N Bedford, P Bolton, H Brady, L Burrows, E Gabbett, S Heap, S Heather, J Jogia, H Kane, S Kane, H Kauffman, P Keska, J Lea, J Leppert, J Lucas,  T Matthews, J McIvor, L Mead, R Morgan, C Nweke, J Parsons, A Patel, J Philip, C C Pond. C P Pond, R Pugsley, S Rackham, K Rizvi, M Sartin, P Stalker, D Stocker, D Sunger, B Vaz, C Whitbread, H Whitbread, K Williamson, D Wixley and S Yerrell.

There voted against the recommendations (5) namely: Councillors C Amos, C McCredie, S Murray, J H Whitehouse and J M Whitehouse.

Abstentions (1) namely: Councillor R Brooks.

Report as first moved ADOPTED.

            RESOLVED:

(1)        That the draft General Fund Revenue and Housing Revenue Account budgets for 2023/24 as presented in Attachment 1a, be approved.

(2)        That the draft General Fund and Housing Revenue Account Capital programmes for 2023/24 to 2027/28 presented in Attachment 1b, be approved.

(3)        That the proposed Fees and Charges for 2023/24, including an average Housing Rent increase of 7.0% on Council Dwellings, presented in Attachment 1c, be approved.

(4)        That the updated General Fund Medium-Term Financial Plan for 2023/24 to 2027/28 presented in Attachment 1d, be approved.

(5)        That the Section 151 Officer’s report – in accordance with Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003 – on the robustness of the estimates for the purposes of the Council’s 2023/24 budgets and the adequacy of the reserves, presented in Attachment 2, be noted.

(6)        That the Section 151 Officer’s recommendation to maintain a minimum £4.0 million contingency balance in the Council’s General Fund Reserve in the medium-term, including a contribution to the Reserve as part of the General Fund revenue budget proposals for 2023/24, be approved.

(7)        That the Treasury Management Outturn report 2021/22 considered by the Audit & Governance Committee on 29th September 2022, presented in Attachment 3, be noted.

(8)        That the Treasury Management Mid-Year Update report 2022/23 considered by the Audit & Governance Committee on 28th November 2022, presented in Attachment 4, be noted.

(9)        That the draft Treasury Management Strategy 2023/24 considered by the Audit & Governance Committee on 13th February 2023 and recommended for Council approval, presented in Attachment 5, be approved; and

(10)     That the draft Capital Strategy 2023/24 to 2025/26, considered by the Audit & Governance Committee on 13th February 2023, presented in Attachment 6, be approved.

Mover: Councillor J Philip, Finance Portfolio Holder

Councillor J Philip submitted a report regarding the Council Tax Setting for 2023/24. he advised that the Cabinet had recommended a District Council Tax increase based on Band D properties of £4.69 (2.98%) a year. The report on page 225 of the agenda also included the Town and Parish precepts and the Essex precepts for Essex County Council, Essex Police and Crime Commissioner and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service.

It was noted that Appendix C on page 232 of the agenda was incorrect and a supplementary agenda with the correct Appendix C on page 10 had been published.

Report as first moved ADOPTED

            RESOLVED:

That the revised Local Council Tax Support Scheme 2023/24 recommendations be approved.

(1)     To note that under delegated authority, the Strategic Director and Section 151 Officer, has calculated the Council Tax Base for 2023/24 for the whole Council area as 54,883.6 (Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended) and for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a Parish Precept relates as set out in Appendix A

(2)     That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2023/24 in accordance with sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:

(a)     £116,839,907 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by Parish Councils

(b)     £103,758,904 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act

(c)     £13,081,003 being the amount by which the aggregate at 2(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 2(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)     £238.34 being the amount at 2(c) above (Item R), all divided by Item T (the amount at (1) above, the tax base), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year (including Parish precepts)

(e)     £4,181,627 being the aggregate amount of all special items (Parish Precepts) referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act

(f)      £162.15 being the amount at 2(c) above less the result given by dividing the amount at 2 (e) above by Item T (1) above), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no Parish precept relates

(g)     That it be noted that Essex County Council, Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner and Essex Fire & Rescue Service have issued precepts to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 for each of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

(Finance Portfolio Holder) The Cabinet recommend that Council note that the Local Council Tax Support scheme for 2022/23 will continue unchanged for 2023/24.

Mover: Councillor J Philip, Finance Portfolio Holder

Councillor J Philip submitted a report regarding the Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2023/24, which remained unchanged.

Report as first moved ADOPTED

            RESOLVED:

            That the revised Local Council Tax Support Scheme 2023/24 be approved.

(Internal Resources Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report from Cabinet recommending the Pay Policy Statement to Council.

Mover: Councillor S Kane, Internal Resources Portfolio Holder

Councillor S Kane presented a report regarding the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2023/24, which was required by Section 38 (1) of the Localism Act 2011 and set out details of the Council’s current practices and policies. This specifically included the Council’s approach to its highest and lowest paid employees.

Report as first moved ADOPTED.

            RESOLVED:

That the Council’s Pay Policy Statement for 2023/24 be adopted.

To receive the report of the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and to answer any questions without notice asked in accordance with Council Rules.

Councillor H Kane presented her progress report for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 31 January 2023. She advised members that this had been omitted, in error, from the Council agenda but was published as a supplementary document.

RESOLVED:

That the progress report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on the 31 January 2023 be noted.

(a)          To receive from Council representatives the reports (attached - if any) on the business of joint arrangements and external organisations and to receive answers to any questions on those bodies which may be put without notice; and

(b)               To request written reports from representatives on joint arrangements and external organisations for future meetings.

The Chairman noted that there were no verbal reports for this meeting.

Councillor Janet Whitehouse requested that members who served on outside bodies brought regular reports to Council to update members on the work that these organisations were doing.