Agenda and minutes

(Budget), Council - Wednesday, 25th February, 2015 6.00 pm

Venue: Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Oldham, West Street, Oldham, OL1 1NL

Items
No. Item

1.

To receive apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were submitted from Councillors Dawson and Shah.

2.

To receive declarations of interest in any matter to be determined at the meeting

Minutes:

The Mayor informed the meeting that the Standards Committee had granted a dispensation to allow Members who had an interest arising from ownership or occupation of property in Oldham, to participate and vote on the setting of the Council Tax and matters directly related to such decisions including the budget calculations. All Members declared a disposable pecuniary interest in Item 3 – Budget Proposals, but the dispensation was applicable allowing Members to participate and vote on Item 3.

In accordance with the Code of Conduct the following Councillors declared an interest in the item indicated:

 

Councillor Roberts – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of her appointment to Positive Steps Oldham Board of Trustees.

Councillor Dean – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of his appointment to Unity Partnership Board.

Councillor Harrison – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of her appointment to Oldham Care and Support at Home, Oldham Care and Support Board and Oldham Community Leisure Board.

Councillor Qumer – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of his appointment to MAHDLO Board of Trustees.

Councillors Garry – Resolution 4 pecuniary interest by virtue of her husband’s employment with Greater Manchester Police.

Councillor Chadderton – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of her appointment to Positive Steps Oldham Board of Trustees.

Councillor Williams – Item 3 p.111 of the report by virtue of his appointment to Chair of Governors in New Bridge School and the building of a new special academy.

Councillor Jabbar – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of his appointment to Unity Partnership Board.

Councillor Chauhan – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of his appointment to Oldham Care and Support at Home and Oldham Care and Support Board.

Councillor Wrigglesworth – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of her appointment to Positive Steps Oldham Board of Trustees.

Councillor Brownridge – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of her appointment to Oldham Care and Support at Home, Oldham Care and Support Board and Oldham Community Leisure Board.

Councillor Akthar – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of his appointment to Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale and 6th Form College Governor.

Councillor Sheldon – Item 3 (p. 111 of the report) pecuniary interest by virtue of his appointment to Saddleworth School Board.

Councillor McCann  - Item 3 personal interest by virtue of his appointment to Oldham Care and Support at Home, Oldham Care and Support Board,  Unity Partnership Board and Unity Joint Venture Board.

Councillor Williamson – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of her appointment to Positive Steps Oldham Board of Trustees.

Councillor Harkness – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of his appointment to Oldham Community Leisure Board.

Councillor Sykes – Item 3 personal interest by virtue of his appointment to Groundwork Trust.

3.

To note the Minutes of the Budget Cabinet Meeting held on the 16th February 2015 and to consider the recommendations of Cabinet in relation to the Budget for 2015/16 further to the following attached reports: pdf icon PDF 73 KB

 

 

a)    Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2015/16

b)    Capital Strategy and Capital Programme 2015/2020

c)    Housing Revenue Account Estimates for 2014/15 to 2018/19

d)    Statement of the Financial Officer on Reserves, Robustness of the

Estimates and Prudence of Capital Investments

e)    Budget Report 2015/16

f)     Opposition Budget Report 2015/16

g)    Medium Term Financial Strategy 2015/16 to 2019/20

 

 

 

And if thought fit, pass the following resolutions:

 

1  That it be noted that on 26 January 2015, the following amounts were approved

    by the Cabinet as the Council's Council Tax Base for the financial year 2015/16:

 

 

 

(a) 53,401 for the whole Council area [Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the   

     Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the "Act")]

 

 

 

(b) 8,237 for dwellings in the Saddleworth Parish area to which a Parish precept

       relates

 

 

 

       5,270 for dwellings in the Shaw and Crompton Parish area to which a Parish

       precept relates

 

 

2  That the Council Meeting approve the Council Tax Requirement for the Council’s

    own purposes for 2015/16 (excluding Parish precepts) as being £74,384,923                  

 

 

 

 

              3  That the following amounts be calculated by the Council for the year 2015/16 in

                  accordance with sections 31A to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:

 

 

    

 (a) £645,305,404

 

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 any Precepts for the Saddleworth

and Shaw & Crompton Parish areas

 

 

                          

(b) £572,681,435

 

being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council

estimates for the items set out in section  31A(3) of the

Act

 

 

 

(c)   £72,623,969

 

being the amount by which the aggregate at 3(a) above

exceeds the aggregate at 3(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)       £1,397.43

 

being the amount at 3(c) above, all divided by Item T

(1(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)        £239,046

 

being the aggregate amount of all special items referred

to in section 34(1) of the Act, being the Saddleworth and

Shaw & Crompton Parish precepts.

 

 

 

(f)       £1,392.95

 

being the amount at 3(d) above less the result given by

dividing the amount at 3(e) above by the amount by Item

T (1(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 special item relates.

 

 

 

(g)      £1,412.30

 

Saddleworth Parish area

being the amounts given by adding to the amount at 3(f)

above the amounts of the special item or items relating

to dwellings in those parts of the Council's area

mentioned at 3(e) above divided by the amount at 1(b)

above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with

section 34(3) of the Act, as  ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Mayor requested and it was RESOLVED that Council Procedure Rule 10.7, Rules of Debate, be suspended to enable the Leader of the Council to exceed the time limit for his contribution in moving the Administration budget to 15 minutes and the Leader of the Opposition Group in moving the opposition budget, a time limit of 10 minutes. Both the Deputy Leader of the Council in seconding the Budget motion and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in seconding the subsequent amendment be given 5 minutes to speak with a 30 seconds extension. All other speakers would be limited to 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

The Mayor informed the Council that recent regulations had been implemented which would require recorded votes on specific decisions at the budget meeting; Members would be advised when a recorded vote was required.

Prior to considering the budget proposals, the Mayor asked the Council to note the draft Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 16th February 2015 as circulated around the chamber with a slight amendment at Item 13 Budget 2015/16 3rd paragraph should read “budget gap for 2015/16 of £35.229m “ not £39.229m. The minutes were AGREED.

 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 16th February 2015 be noted.

 

a)    Treasury Management Strategy Statement Report 2015/16

 

Councillor McMahon MOVED and Councillor Jabbar SECONDED the report of the Interim Borough Treasurer, which presented the strategy for 2015/16 Treasury Management activities including the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement, Annual Investment Strategy and Prudential Indicators.

 

Councillors McCann and Heffernan spoke on this item. Councillor McMahon exercised his right of reply.

 

RESOLVED that:

1.    The Capital Financing Requirement Projection as per paragraph 2.2.3 of the report be approved;

2.    The Minimum Revenue Provision policy and method of calculation as per section 2.3 of the report be approved;

3.    The projected treasury position as at 31/03/2015 as per paragraph 2.5.3 of the report be approved.

4.    The Treasury Limits for 2015/16 to 2017/18 as detailed in sections 2.6.2 and 2.6.3 of the report be approved;

5.    The Borrowing Strategy for 2015/16 as per section 2.9 of the report be approved;

6.    The limits to interest rate exposures as set out in section 2.10.2 of the report be approved;

7.    The upper and lower limits on fixed rate debt maturity structure as set out in Section 2.10.3 of the report be approved;

8.    The Annual Investment Strategy, as per section 2.14 of the report, including the investment credit rating criteria and the level of investment in non-specified investments, be approved.

b)    Capital Strategy and Capital Programme 2015/2020

 

Councillor McMahon MOVED and Councillor Jabbar SECONDED the report of the Interim Borough Treasurer which set out the Capital Strategy for 2015/16 to 2019/20 and thereby the proposed 2015/16 Capital Programme including identified capital investment priorities, together with the indicative programme for 2016/20, having regard to the resources available for the five year life of the programme.

 

Councillor McCann spoke on this item. Councillor McMahon did  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.