Agenda item

(a)            (Business Support Services Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report.

 

(b)            To hold a recorded vote on the recommendations contained within the report, in accordance with the Council Procedure Rule 17.6 ‘Voting at Budget Decision Council 18 February 2016 5 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 C Whitbread, on behalf of the Business Support Services Portfolio Holder

 

Councillor C Whitbread presented a report on the Council Budget and Council Tax Declarations for 2019/20 and thanked all officers involved in the process.

 

There voted for the recommendations (44) namely: N Avey, R Baldwin, R Bassett, P Bolton, R Brookes, L Burrows, K Chana, D Dorrell, R Gadsby, A Grigg, I Hadley, S Heap, S Heather, B Jennings, J Jennings, H Kane, S Kane, H Kauffman, P Keska, J Knapman, Y Knight, J Lea, A Lion, M McEwen, L Mead, R Morgan, S Murray, S Neville, M Owen, A Patel, J Philip, C C Pond, C P Pond, B Rolfe, M Sartin, S Stavrou, D Stocker, D Sunger, B Vaz, C Whitbread, H Whitbread, J H Whitehouse, J M Whitehouse and D Wixley.

 

There voted against the recommendations (0).

 

Abstentions (0).

 

Report as first moved ADOPTED

 

            RESOLVED:

 

            Budget

 

(1)  That the list of CSB growth and savings for the 2019/20 budget (set out in Annex 1) be approved;

 

(2)    That the list of District Development Fund and Invest to Save items for the 2019/20 budget (set out in Annexes 2 and 3) be approved;

 

(3)    That the revenue estimates for 2019/20 and the draft Capital Programme for 2019/20 be approved as set out in Annexes 4, 5 (a-i) and 6 including all contributions to and from reserves as set out in the attached Annexes;

 

(4)    That the Medium Term Financial Strategy be approved as set out in Annexes 9 a and 9 b;

 

(5)    That the 2019/20 HRA budget be approved on the basis that a contribution to the self-financing reserve of £500,000 was made, and that the application of rent  decreases resulting in an average decrease of 1% from £95.57 to £94.61, be approved;

 

(6)    That the Council's policy of retaining revenue balances at no lower than £4.0M or 25% of the net budget requirement whichever was the higher for the four year period to 2021/22 be amended to no lower than £4.0M or 25% of the net budget requirement whichever was the higher during the four year period up to and including 2022/23;

 

(7)    That the report of the Chief Financial Officer on the robustness of the estimates for the purposes of the Council’s 2019/20 budgets and the adequacy of the reserves (set out in Annex 10) be noted;

 

(8)    That the Capital Strategy (sent out in Annex 11) for the period 2018/19 to 2022/23 be adopted.

 

Declaration of Council Tax

 

(9)    That it be noted that under delegated authority the Assistant Director of Resources, in consultation with the Business Support Services Portfolio Holder, calculated the Council Tax Base 2019/20:

 

(a)       for the whole Council area as 54,159.4 (Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended); and

 

(b)          for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a Parish precept relates           

as set out below and in Annex 7.

 

Tax Base

                                                                                                                                                     

Abbess, Beauchamp & Berners Roding                                                                       227.4

Buckhurst Hill                                                                                                              5,238.9

Chigwell                                                                                                                      6,191.9

Epping Town                                                                                                               5,319.1

Epping Upland                                                                                                                413.6

Fyfield                                                                                                                             415.7

High Ongar                                                                                                                     562.6

Lambourne                                                                                                                     895.4

Loughton Town                                                                                                         12,580.6

Matching                                                                                                                         450.9

Moreton, Bobbingworth and The Lavers                                                                        591.3

Nazeing                                                                                                                       2,089.4

North Weald Bassett                                                                                                  2,550.6

Ongar                                                                                                                          2,730.3

Roydon                                                                                                                        1,364.8

Sheering                                                                                                                      1,356.9

Stanford Rivers                                                                                                              365.6

Stapleford Abbotts                                                                                                         523.2

Stapleford Tawney                                                                                                           85.0

Theydon Bois                                                                                                              2,002.7

Theydon Garnon                                                                                                              86.4

Theydon Mount                                                                                                              117.4

Waltham Abbey Town                                                                                                7,763.4

Willingale                                                                                                                        236.3

 

 

(10)That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2018/19 in accordance with sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:

 

(a)        £116,208,277 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)        £104,300,368 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act;

 

(c)        £11,907,909 being the amount by which the aggregate at 10 (a) above exceeds the aggregate at 10 (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)        £219.87 being the amount at 10 (c) above (Item R), all divided by Item T (the amount at 9 (a) above), 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)        £3,650,767 being the aggregate amount of all special items (Parish precepts) referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act (as per the attached Annex 7);

 

(f)         £152.46 being the amount at 10 (d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at 10 (e) above by Item T (9 (a) 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.

 

(11)That it be noted that the County Council, the Police Authority and the Fire Authority had issued precepts to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 for each of the category of dwellings in the Council’s area as shown in Annex 8;

 

(12) That the Council, in accordance with Sections 30 and 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the aggregate amounts in Annex 8 Part B as the amounts of Council Tax for 2019/20 for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings.

 

(13) That in accordance with section 52ZB of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, Council determines that the amount of Council Tax shown at (9) (f) of £152.46 for 2019/20, being an increase of 0% from 2018/19 was not excessive and therefore there was no need to hold a local referendum.