Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting - //htpp://oldham.gov.uk/livemeetings

Contact: Liz Drogan 

Items
No. Item

1.

To receive apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Alexander, Haque, Hudson and Salamat.

2.

To receive communications relating to the business of the Council

Minutes:

The Deputy Mayor made reference to the recent deaths of a former Member of the Council, Brian Lund, two former Mayoresses Kathleen Hudson and Pauline Crowther and a former Chief Executive Colin Smith.

 

Councillors Sykes and Dean paid tribute to former Mayoress Pauline Crowther.

 

Councillors Dean, Garry and Sykes paid tribute to former Councillor Lund.

 

Councillors Ahmad and Sykes paid tribute to former Chief Executive Colin Smith.

 

Councillors Sheldon, Sykes, Roberts and Byrne paid tribute to former Mayoress Kathleen Hudson.

 

The Council held a minute’s silence in memory of those lost.

3.

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 decision including the budget calculations.  All members declared a pecuniary interest in Item 4 – Budget Proposals, but the dispensation was applicable allowing members to participate and vote on Item 4.

 

Councillor Ahmad declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in the GMB Trade Union.

Councillor Akhtar declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in the UNITE Trade Union.

Councillor Ali declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in the GMB Trade Union.

Councillor Alyas declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in the CWU Trade Union.

Councillor Ball declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of her membership in the UNITE Trade Union.

Councillor M. Bashforth declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of her membership in the GMB Trade Union.

Councillor S. Bashforth declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in the GMB Trade Union.

Councillor Briggs declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in the UNITE Trade Union.

Councillor Brownridge declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of her membership in the GMB Trade Union.

Councillor Chadderton declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of her membership in the UNISON Trade Union.

Councillor Chauhan declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in a Trade Union.

Councillor Cosgrove declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of her membership in the UNITE Trade Union.

Councillor Curley declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in a Trade Union.

Councillor Davis declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in the UNITE Trade Union.

Councillor Dean declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in the GMB Trade Union.

Councillor Fielding declared a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of his membership in the GMB and UNISON Trade Unions.

Councillor E. Garry declared a pecuniary interest by virtue of her husband’s employment with Greater Manchester Police and a personal interest at Item 4g by virtue of her membership in the USDAW and ANGU Trade Union.

Councillor C. Gloster declared a pecuniary interest by virtue of his receipt of an occupational pension from Greater Manchester Police.

Councillor H. Gloster declared a pecuniary interest by virtue of her husband’s receipt of an occupational pension from Greater Manchester Police.

Councillor Goodwin declared a personal interest by virtue of his membership in the UNITE Trade Union.

Councillor Harkness declared a personal interest by virtue of his membership of an Employers Community Trade Union.

Councillor Hewitt declared a personal interest by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

qTo note the minutes of the Budget Cabinet Meeting held on 23rd February 2021 and to consider the recommendations of Cabinet in relation to the Budget for 2021/22 and further to the following attached reports; pdf icon PDF 352 KB

a)    Housing Revenue Account Estimates for 2021/22 to 2025/26 and Proposed Outturn for 2020/21

b)    Capital Strategy and Capital Programme 2021/22 to 2025/26

c)    Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2021/22

d)    Statement of the Chief Financial Officer on Reserves, Robustness of Estimates and Affordability and Prudence of Capital Investments

e)    Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2021/22

f)     Revenue Budget 2021/22 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2021/22 to 2023/24

g)    Liberal Democrats Budget Amendment Proposals 2021/22

And if thought fit, pass the following resolutions:

  1. That it be noted that on 14 December 2020, the following amounts were approved by the Cabinet as the Council's Council Tax Base for the financial year 2021/22:

 

a)    57,200 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)    8,699 for dwellings in the Saddleworth Parish area to which a Parish precept relates

c)    5,479 for dwellings in the Shaw and Crompton Parish area to which a Parish precept relates

 

  1. That the Council Meeting approve the Council Tax Requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2021/22 (excluding Parish precepts) as being £98,552,168

 

  1. That the following amounts be calculated by the Council for the year 2021/22 in accordance with sections 31A to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:

a) £607,320,700

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) £508,468,848

being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in section 31A(3) of the Act.

 

c) £98,851,852

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) £1,728.18

 

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) £299,684

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) £1,722.94

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) £1,746.45

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  ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Mayor requested and it was RESOLVED that Council Procedure Rule 14 (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 with a 30 second extension and the Deputy Leader of the Main Opposition Group in moving the Main Opposition Budget, a time limit of 10 minutes with a 30 second extension.  All other speakers would be limited to 4 minutes with a 30 second extension.

 

The Mayor requested and it was RESOLVED to amend the order of business in the summons to enable the debate on the Capital Programme and the Revenue Budget to take place at the same time in accordance with Council Procedure 12.4(c).  The order of business would be Item 4(a), Item 4(d), Item 4(e), Items 4(b) and (f) at the same time, Item 4(g) and then Item 4(c).

 

The Mayor informed members that regulations had been implemented which required recorded votes on specific decision at the Budget Council meeting.  Members would be advised when a recorded vote was required.

 

Prior to the consideration of the Budget Proposals, the Mayor asked the Council to note the draft minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 23rd February 2021.

 

On a vote being taken, the recommendation was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 23rd February 2021 be noted.

 

a)           Housing Revenue Account Estimates for 2021/22 to 2025/26 and Proposed Outturn for 2020/21

 

Councillor Roberts MOVED and Councillor Jabbar SECONDED a joint report which set out the latest Housing Revenue Account (HRA), the detailed budget estimates for 2021/22, the strategic estimates for the four years 2022/23 through to 2025/26 and outturn estimate for 2020/21. The report also set out the recommended dwelling, nondwelling rents and service and concierge charges to be applied from April 2021.

It was noted that HRA activities were a key element of the Council’s Housing Strategy (approved by Council on 10 July 2019) which aimed to provide a diverse Oldham housing offer that was attractive and met the needs of different sections of the population at different stages of their lives.

After taking all relevant issues into account, the projected financial position for 2020/21 was estimated to be a £1.384m positive variance when compared to the original budget forecast for 2020/21 approved at the Budget Council meeting, 26 February 2020. Most of the variance was attributable to the re-profiling of HRA funded capital schemes into later years due to revisions to planned spending profiles. The balance at the end of 2020/21 was projected at £19.614m.

The financial position for 2021/22 showed an estimated HRA closing balance of £17.463m which was sufficient to meet future operational commitments and the potential financial pressures identified in the risk assessment.

The 2021/22 position had been presented after allowing for an increase in dwelling rents of 1.5%, an increase in non-dwelling rents in line with individual contracts, the freezing of all service charges  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.