Agenda item

1. To note the Minutes of the Budget Cabinet Meeting held on the 14 February 2022 and to consider the recommendations of Cabinet in relation to the Budget for 2022/23 further to the following attached reports:

 

a)    Housing Revenue Account Estimates for 2022/23 to 2026/27 and Proposed Outturn for 2021/22

b)    Capital Strategy and Capital Programme 2022/23 to 2026/27

c)    Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2022/23

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

e)    Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2022/23

f)     Revenue Budget 2022/23

g)    Medium Term Financial Strategy 2022/23 to 2026/27

h)    Liberal Democrats Budget Amendment Proposals 2022/23

i)     Conservatives Budget Amendment Proposals 2022/23

And if thought fit, pass the following resolutions:

1. That it be noted that on 24 January 2022, the following amounts were approved by the Cabinet as the Council's Council Tax Base for the financial year 2022/23:

 

a)    57,450 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)    8,833 for dwellings in the Saddleworth Parish area to which a Parish precept relates

c)    5,548 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 2022/23 (excluding Parish precepts) as being £102,932,016

 

3. That the following amounts be calculated by the Council for the year 2022/23 in accordance with sections 31A to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:

a) £636,570,589	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) £533,324,589	being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in section 31A(3) of the Act.
c) £103,246,000	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) £1,797.15	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) £313,984	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) £1,791.68	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) £1,815.99	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 the basic amounts of its council tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate.
h) £1,809.57	Shaw & Crompton 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(c) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 34(3) of the Act, as the basic amounts of its council tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate.

4. That it be noted that for the year 2022/23 the Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept and the Mayoral General Precept (including Fire Services) for Greater Manchester have been issued 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 as indicated in the table below.

 

5. That the Council, in accordance with sections 30 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the aggregate amounts shown in the tables below as the amounts of Council Tax for 2022/23 for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings.

 

 

Authority/Parish	Council Tax Bands (£)
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Oldham Council	1,194.45	1,393.52	1,592.60	1,791.68	2,189.83	2,587.98	2,986.13	3,583.36
Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept	152.20	177.56	202.93	228.30	279.03	329.76	380.50	456.60
Mayoral General Precept (including Fire Services)	68.63	80.07	91.51	102.95	125.82	148.70	171.58	205.90
Saddleworth Parish Precept	16.20	18.90	21.60	24.31	29.71	35.11	40.51	48.62
Shaw and Crompton Parish Precept	11.92	13.91	15.90	17.89	21.86	25.84	29.81	35.78

 

AGGREGATE OF COUNCIL TAX REQUIREMENTS

Authority/Parish	Council Tax Bands (£)
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Saddleworth Parish Area	1,431.48	1,670.05	1,908.64	2,147.24	2,624.39	3,101.55	3,578.72	4,294.48
Shaw & Crompton Parish Area	1,427.20	1,665.06	1,902.94	2,140.82	2,616.54	3,092.28	3,568.02	4,281.64
All other parts of the Council’s Area	1,415.28	1,651.15	1,887.04	2,122.93	2,594.68	3,066.44	3,538.21	4,245.86

 

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 her contribution in moving the Administration Budget to 15 minutes with a 30 second extension and the seconder Councillor Jabbar 6 minutes, the Deputy Leaders of the Main Opposition Groups in moving the opposition budget, a time limit of 7 minutes 30 seconds if required, with a right of reply of 6 mins, those Members seconding the main opposition budgets a time limit of 4 minutes and the Minority opposition 4 minutes in moving and seconding the amendment with 4 minutes right of reply. All other speakers would be limited to 4 minutes.

 

The Mayor requested and it was RESOLVED to amend the order of business in the summons to enable the debate on the amendments to take place after the moving and seconding the Administration budget in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.4 (c). The order of business would be, Item 4 (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (g) then Items 4(f), (h), (i) and the minority opposition amendment.

 

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 14^th February 2022.

 

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

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 14^th February 2022 be noted.

 

a)            Housing Revenue Account Estimates for 2021/22 to 2025/26

 

      Councillor Roberts MOVED and Councillor Jabbar SECONDED a joint report which set out for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), the detailed budget estimates for 2022/23, the strategic estimates for the four years 2023/24 through to 2026/27 and outturn estimate for 2021/22. The report also set out the recommended dwelling, nondwelling rents and service and concierge charges to be applied from April 2022.

      The report set out the HRA proposed 2022/23 original budget and the forecast outturn for 2021/22. The opportunity was also taken to present the provisional strategic budgets for 2023/24 through to 2026/27.

Members were informed 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 2021/22 was estimated to be a £4.828m positive variance when compared to the original budget forecast for 2021/22 approved at the Budget Council meeting, 4 March 2021. Of this variance, £1.756m was attributable to a higher than anticipated brought forward balance from 2020/21 and the remaining £3.072m was as a result of the re-profiling of HRA funded capital schemes into later years due to revisions to planned spending profiles. The estimated balance at the end of 2021/22 was projected to be £22.291m. The closing financial position for 2022/23 showed an estimated HRA closing balance of

      £20.483m which was sufficient to meet future operational commitments and the potential financial pressures identified in the risk assessment.

      The 2022/23 position had been presented after allowing for an increase in dwelling rents of 2.1%, an increase in non-dwelling rents in line with individual contracts, the freezing of all service charges and the setting of Extra Care Housing concierge charges to fully recover costs.

      The current Government policy guidance for the period 2020-2025 was that all rents were calculated based on a maximum of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate at September of the preceding year plus 1%. Oldham’s projections for the 2022/23 budget had been set assuming rental increases of 2.1% which was 2% lower than if it were to follow the maximum uplift (September 2021 CPI rate being 3.1% plus 1%). The Council had opted to propose this reduced rate given the current healthy levels of HRA balances and the ongoing pressures, including inflation, on household incomes.

The financial projections for the HRA over the period 2021/22 to 2026/27 showed an overall reduction in the level of balances from £22.291m at the end of 2021/22 to £8.123m at the end of 2026/27. HRA resources were to be used to support several major approved housing capital projects including development within the town centre and on smaller sites around the borough. There was also a commitment to purchase currently empty properties owned by private sector landlords to increase the number of Council owned housing stock.

The HRA detailed budget for 2022/23 and strategic estimates for the four years 2023/24 to 2026/27 and the outturn estimate for 2021/22 were presented to the Policy Overview Scrutiny Committee on 27 January 2022. The Committee was content to commend the report to Cabinet without amendment. Cabinet duly considered and approved the report at its meeting on 14 February 2022 and commended the report to Council.

 

No members spoke on this item.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.         The Forecast HRA outturn for 2021/22, as outlined at Appendix A of the report, be approved.

2.         The Proposed HRA budget for 2022/23, as outlined at Appendix B of the report, be approved.

3.         The strategic estimates for 2022/23 to 2026/27, as outlined at Appendix D of the report, be approved.

4.         The proposed increase to dwelling rents for all properties of 2.1% be approved.

5.         The proposed increase to non-dwelling rents as per individual contracts be approved.

6.         The proposal that service charges were unchanged be approved.

7.         The proposal to set Extra Care Housing concierge charges to fully recover actual costs be approved.

 

b)            Capital Strategy and Capital Programme 2022/23 to 2026/27

 

Councillor Jabbar MOVED and Councillor Shah SECONDED a report of the Director of Finance which set out the Capital Strategy for 2022/23 to 2026/27 and thereby the proposed 2022/23 capital programme, including identified capital investment priorities, together with the indicative capital programme for 2023/24 to 2026/27, having regard to the resources available over the life of the programme.

The Capital Strategy

Embers were informed that the Council’s Capital Strategy and capital programme were set over a five year timeframe.

The proposed Capital Strategy and programme for 2022/23 to 2026/27 took the essential elements of the 2021/22 to 2025/26 and previous years’ strategies and programmes and moved them forward in the context of the financial and political environment for 2022/23.

The Strategy included a longer-term vision, a forward look at those projects that were likely to run beyond the five year strategy and programme period or be initiated subsequently. This covered a timeframe for the 10 years from 2027/28 to 2036/37.

The format of the Capital Strategy reflected the latest Prudential and Treasury Management Codes issued by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). The strategy therefore presented:

·         A high-level long-term overview of how capital expenditure, capital financing and treasury management activity contributed to the provision of services.

·         An overview of how the associated risk was managed; and

·         The implications for future financial sustainability.

The Capital Strategy was presented at Appendix 1. It was prepared in 15 sections and ensured that Members were presented with the overall long-term capital investment policy objectives and resulting Capital Strategy requirements, governance procedures and risk appetite.

The Strategy was aligned with the Creating a Better Place programme which was focused on building more homes for the borough’s residents, creating new jobs through regeneration and ensuring Oldham was a great place to visit with lots of family friendly and accessible places to go. This also incorporated the Medium-Term Property Strategy and Housing Strategy and aimed to deliver its ambition in ways that contributed to a reduction in carbon

emissions in support of the Council’s Green New Deal strategy.

Section 1 of the Capital Strategy highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on programme delivery, summarised the recently announced revisions to Prudential and Treasury Management Codes of Practice and described how the Capital Strategy was shaped by the ethos of being a Co-operative Council, the Corporate Plan and COVID-19 Recovery Strategy. This section of the report also described more fully the Creating a Better Place programme (encompassing the Medium-Term Property Strategy and Housing Strategy) which accounted for around 2/3rds of planned Capital Expenditure over

the five-year period 2022/23 to 2026/27.

The National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) published alongside the Chancellor’s 2020 Spending Review had, in the last year, overseen the launch of the UK Infrastructure Bank; confirmed a further 15 Towns Deals worth £335 million (including Oldham’s worth £24.4m) to revitalise towns across England; and provided £1.2 billion up to 2024/25 for gigabit broadband rollout across the UK.

The Council would aim to access the maximum level of NIS resources to support projects in Oldham and the wider Greater Manchester region, working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and other GM Authorities as necessary

Annex C of Appendix 1 set out the proposed capital expenditure and financing for the period covered by the Capital Strategy, 2022/23 to 2026/27.

The Strategy also advised that the Council was proposing to continue the use the flexibility provided by the Government to use capital receipts to fund the revenue cost of transformation. The 2022/23 revenue budget would rely on up to £2.500m of such funding from capital receipts. Annex D of Appendix 1 presented the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy.

Capital Programme 2021/22 to 2025/26

The 2021/22 month 8 capital monitoring position presented alongside the report included expenditure projections that were a key determinant of the 2022/23 programme. As many schemes spanned more than one year, the anticipated level of reprofiling between years set the underlying position.

The projected outturn spending position for 2021/22 was £52.558m. The People and Place Directorate which managed all of the major regeneration projects, constituted the main area of expenditure. Grants and Other Contributions (£19.850m) followed by Prudential Borrowing provided the main source of financing (£26.294m).

Actual expenditure to 30 November 2021 was £23.801m (45.29% of the forecast outturn).

This spending profile was lower than in previous years, however the position would be kept under review and budgets would continue to be managed in accordance with forecasts.

Capital Programme 2022/23 to 2026/27

The Council had set out its capital programme for the period 2022/23 to 2026/27 based on the principles of the Capital Strategy. The Capital Programme and Capital Strategy had been influenced by the level of resources considered available. The level of prudential borrowing included reflected the financing available in the revenue budget,

capital receipts aligned with forecasts and grant funding and other contributions were based on already notified allocations or best estimates at time of preparation. If additional resources became available, projects that met the Council’s strategic capital objectives

would be brought forward for approval.

As at the month 8 capital monitoring position, the anticipated expenditure over the five year life of the 2021/22 to 2025/26 strategy was £368.705m, taking 2021/22 aside (£52.558m) left £316.147m for the remainder of the approved 2022/23 to 2025/26 capital programme. Following the refresh of existing strategies and the Creating a Better

Place programme, and moving forward the planning period by one year, the Capital Strategy for 2022/23 to 2026/27 totalled £347.387m.

The capital programme included proposed expenditure for 2022/23 of £100.248m of which £81.465m was the largest area of expenditure being on regeneration, schools, transport and infrastructure projects within the People and Place Directorate. Total expenditure decreased to £86.993m, £64.253m, £48.810m and £47.083m in 2023/24,

2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27 respectively.

Resources Available to Support the Capital Programme

The Government was continuing to provide significant levels of grant funding. The main sources of grant income were the Towns Fund at £24.400m (£24.200m over the period 2022/23 to 2026/27), along with Education-related Basic Need Capital grant provision of £10.104m over the life of the programme. There were also considerable resources

allocated to the Council via the GMCA including the Mayors Cycling and Walking Challenge Fund (£10.125m in 2022/23) and Local Transport Programme – Highway Maintenance Grant totalled £14.812m over the strategy period.

The grant funding provided by Government could be split into two categories: un-ringfenced and ringfenced resources, as explained in Section 10 of the Capital Strategy. The majority of capital Government Grant funding was un-ringfenced. Resources classified as ringfenced

had to be utilised to finance particular categories of expenditure and therefore were restricted in their use. The 2022/23 capital programme relied on £11.714m of unringfenced and £33.787m of ringfenced grants.

As in previous years, a major source of financing remained prudential borrowing. The amount required in 2022/23 (£46.990m) included borrowing attributed to schemes that had been reprofiled from prior years as well as new borrowing associated with the regeneration programme. The timing of the borrowing was linked to the cash position of the Council and may therefore not mirror the spending/financing profile set out above.

On-going Review of the Capital Programme

There would be a continued review of capital spending requirements as the Council had further regeneration ambitions, but affordability and deliverability would be a key consideration in this regard. It was possible that the capital position may change prior to the start of 2022/23 and during the year as:

·         The outcome of specific grant bids which would be announced during 2022/23.

·         It is also likely that there would be new initiatives announced later in the financial year.

·         There may also be the opportunity to bid for additional funding.

·         The Council may identify other funding sources, including capital receipts, to finance additional capital expenditure.

Therefore, the overall capital programme position would be kept under review and any new information regarding funding allocations would be presented to Members in future reports.

Consultation

There had been consultation with the Members of the Capital Investment Programme Board on the proposed Capital Strategy and Capital Programme for 2022/23 to 2026/27.

The consideration of the proposed Capital Strategy and Capital Programme for 2022/23 to 2026/27 by the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 27 January 2022 was a

key element of the consultation process. The Committee was content to commend the report to Cabinet. The Cabinet considered the Capital Strategy and Programme report at its meeting on 14 February 2022 and was content to commend the report to Council.

 

Councillor Kenyon spoke against the motion

Councillor Roberts spoke in favour of the motion

 

Councillor Jabbar exercised his right of reply

 

RESOLVED that:

1.         The Capital Strategy for 2022/23 to 2026/27 as detailed at Appendix 1 of this report and summarised at Section 2.1 of the report be approved.

2.         The Capital Programme for 2022/23 and indicative programmes for 2023/24 to 2026/27 at Annex C of Appendix 1 to the report and summarised at Sections 2.2 to 2.6 of the report be approved.

3.         The Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy as presented at Annex D of Appendix 1 to the report be approved.

 

c)            Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2022/23

 

Councillor Jabbar MOVED and Councillor Shah SECONDED a report of the Director of Finance which set out the strategy for 2022/23 Treasury Management activities including the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement, the Annual Investment Strategy and

Prudential Indicators together with linkages to the Capital Strategy.

The Council was required through regulations supporting the Local Government Act 2003 to ‘have regard to’ the Prudential Code and to set Prudential Indicators for the next three years to ensure that the Council’s capital investment plans were affordable, prudent and

sustainable. It was also required to produce an annual Treasury Strategy for borrowing and to prepare an Annual Investment Strategy setting out the Council’s policies for managing its investments and for giving priority to security and liquidity of those investments.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Code of Practice on Treasury Management 2017 (the Code) also required the receipt by full Council of a Treasury Management Strategy Statement.

The Strategy for 2022/23 covered two main areas.

Capital Issues

·         The Capital expenditure plans and the associated Prudential Indicators

·         The Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy Statement

Treasury Management Issues:

·         The Current Treasury Position Treasury Indicators which limited the treasury risk and activities of the Council

·         Prospects for Interest Rates

·         The Borrowing Strategy

·         The Policy on Borrowing in Advance of Need

·         Debt Rescheduling

·         The Investment Strategy

·         The Creditworthiness Policy

·         The Policy regarding the use of external service providers.

The report outlined the implications and key factors in relation to each of the above Capital and Treasury Management issues and made recommendations with regard to the Treasury Management Strategy for 2022/23.

The report included an economic background commentary which reflected the position at 31 January 2021.

During 2021, there were two consultation exercises on the Prudential Code and Code of Practice on Treasury Management with a range of proposed changes being considered.

These mainly related to commercial investments and the requirement for Authorities to adopt a more prudent approach. The second consultation ended on 16 November 2021 and the changes to the Codes were issued on 20 December 2021. The Council’s strategy for

2022/23 had incorporated these recent changes in the Codes where information was readily available.

The Audit Committee, the body charged with the detailed scrutiny of Treasury Management activities considered the proposed 2022/23 Treasury Management Strategy report at its meeting on 17 January 2022. It was also presented to the Policy Overview and Scrutiny

Committee on 27 January 2022. Both the Audit Committee and the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee were content to commend the report to Cabinet. The report was considered at the Cabinet meeting on 14 February 2002. Cabinet was content to commend the report to Council.

 

No members spoke on this item.

 

RESOLVED that:

1.         Capital Expenditure Estimates as per paragraph 2.1.2 be approved;

2.         MRP policy and method of calculation as per Appendix 1 be approved ;

3.         Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) Projections as per paragraph 2.2.4 be approved;

4.         Projected treasury position as at 31 March 2022 as per paragraph 2.3.3 be approved;

5.         Treasury Limits as per section 2.4 be approved;

6.         Borrowing Strategy for 2022/23 as per section 2.6 be approved;

7.         Annual Investment Strategy as per section 2.10 including risk management and the creditworthiness policy at section 2.11 be approved; and

8.         Level of investment in specified and non-specified investments detailed at Appendix 5 be approved.

 

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

 

Councillor Jabbar MOVED and Councillor Shah SECONDED a report of the Director of Finance which sought agreement to the level of balances necessary to support the 2022/23 budget underpinned by the agreed policy on Earmarked Reserves, setting a properly balanced revenue budget which included the financing of capital investments within the present investment proposals.

Members were informed that, in order to comply with Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003; the Authority’s Chief Financial Officer (the Director of Finance) was required to report on the robustness of the estimates made for the purposes of the revenue budget calculations and the adequacy of the proposed reserves. This information enabled a longer-term view of the overall financial resilience of the Council to be taken. It also reported on the Director of Finance’s consideration of the affordability and prudence of capital investment proposals. The level of general balances to support the budget and an appropriate level of Earmarked Reserves maintained by the Council in accordance with the agreed Council Policy on Earmarked Reserves, were an integral part of its continued financial resilience supporting the stability of the Council.

Members were informed that over the last few years there had been a number of Local Authorities which had been subject to the issuing of a Section 114 notice or approaching Government for exceptional financial assistance. During 2021/22, both Slough Borough Council and Wirral Council had been subject to such measures and/or requirements. Further details of this could be found at Section 5.

Whilst the Council had prepared a detailed revenue budget within a three year Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), a five year Capital Programme and continued the closure of accounts within an appropriate timeframe allowing early focus on the upcoming challenges and a robust financial transformation programme, there continued to be a reliance on the use of reserves to balance the revenue budget.

Since 2016/17, reserves of £74.627m had been used to underpin the Council’s revenue budget alongside other one-off measures. This included £25.182m relating to grant compensation received in 2020/21 and used in 2021/22 to support the Collection Fund deficit arising from the award by Government of Business Rates Relief after the budget for 2020/21 had been set. For 2022/23, it was proposed to use corporate reserves of £10.074m and specific reserves of £1.805m together with £13.092m to offset the Collection Fund deficit for 2021/22 arising from the awarding of retail, leisure, hospitality and nursery Business Rates Reliefs (£8.888m) and further Business Rates reliefs relating to the COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund (£4.204m) after the budget had been set (this is a technical accounting adjustment), combined with other one-off measures totaling £2.500m. The remaining corporate Balancing

Budget reserve of £9.932m would be used to support the 2023/24 and 2024/25 budgets.

There was, therefore, a reliance on the use of reserves to balance the budget over part of the MTFS period. The continued use of reserves and one-off measures had the impact of deferring the changes that were required to balance the revenue budget by on-going sustainable means. The implementation of the next phase of the Council’s transformation programme in 2022/23 was expected to address this challenge although transformation had not advanced as expected as the previous phase was impacted by the global pandemic. The expected benefits of the transformation programme would be phased over several financial years and was therefore supported by the use of reserves over the short term.

As detailed within the Council’s Audit Completion Report for 2020/21 received by the Council on 17 December 2021, the External Auditor concluded that “there is not a significant weakness in the Council’s arrangements in relation to financial sustainability”. This was

encouraging and should be considered in the context of 2022/23 budget setting and the Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2022/23 to 2026/27.

It was important to note that the reviews into both Slough Borough Council and Wirral Council indicated that they were at risk of not being able to agree balanced budgets as their reserves were insufficient to mitigate either in year or 2022/23 estimated shortfalls in resources.

Financial resilience did depend in part on the Council maintaining an adequate level of reserves which were set out in the report. In order to scrutinise the level of reserves held by the Council the policy on Earmarked Reserves was considered by the Audit Committee in July 2021 and it was proposed to action the same review again in 2022/23 after the closure of the accounts for 2021/22.

Whilst the Council was utilising a number of reserves to support the 2022/23 revenue budget and anticipated a use of reserves in both 2023/24 and 2024/25, Members were assured that Oldham Council currently remained financially resilient. Work was taking place to address the on-going financial pressures that the Council was facing. At the start of 2022/23 it would continue to be well placed to meet the difficult financial challenges ahead. However, this strategy relied on the delivery of the transformation programme over the short to medium term. Public findings reported elsewhere had shown that some Authorities had not, in a small number of cases, been able to deliver the level of transformational savings required so it was important that the Council delivered on current plans.

Members were advised of the robustness of the estimates and the affordability and prudence of capital estimates for 2022/23. Despite the

use of reserves over recent years, the level of reserves remained adequate to support the 2022/23 financial position and demonstrated financial resilience. However, this was only the case provided that action was taken to ensure that the balances were set at the level of £19.935m for 2022/23 as calculated in this report and that all budget options, or in year alternatives, were monitored closely and delivered as planned.

The Statement of the Chief Financial Officer was presented to Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 27 January 2022. The Scrutiny Committee was content to commend the report to Cabinet. In turn, Cabinet approved the report at its meeting on 14 February 2022 and

commended the report to Council.

 

No members spoke on this item.

 

RESOLVED that:

1.            The proposed General Fund Balance currently calculated for 2022/23 at £19.935m be approved.

2.            The initial estimate of General Fund Balances to support the Medium-Term Financial Strategy be noted as follows:

·         £21.268m for 2023/24 and

·         £21.415m for 2024/25 to 2026/27.

3.         The intended report to be presented to the Audit Committee on Earmarked Reserves to ensure this area was subject to the appropriate scrutiny be approved.

4.         The actions necessary to secure a properly balanced budget as presented in paragraph 3.6 of the report be approved.

5.         The actions necessary to ensure the prudence and affordability of the capital investments as noted in Section 4 be approved.

.

e)         Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2022/23

 

Councillor Jabbar MOVED and Councillor Shah SECONDED a report of the Director of Finance which presented the proposed Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2022/23 for approval.

Members were reminded there was a requirement to have a local Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme to support residents of working age on a low income who qualified for assistance in paying Council Tax. The Local Government Finance Act 2012 placed a requirement that each year a billing authority must consider whether to revise its Council Tax Reduction scheme or to replace it with another scheme. Any change to the 2022/23 scheme must be agreed by full Council in line with budget setting and no later than 10 March 2022. For Oldham, this required the Council to agree a revised 2022/23 scheme at this Council meeting. Any proposed change must be subject to prior consultation with the major preceptors (for Oldham this is the Greater Manchester Combined Authority), and with the public.

The Council, in deciding the CTR scheme for 2022/23, needed to consider both the affordability of the scheme for the Council given the financial challenge it currently faced and the impact of retaining the existing scheme (or of revising the scheme) on Oldham’s residents of working age in receipt of low incomes. The scheme for those of pensionable age was set by the Government and could not be changed.

The Council currently had a CTR scheme that awarded a maximum reduction of 85% of a Band A rate of Council Tax and had removed the provision to award second adult rebate for claimants of working age. From April 2019, the Council also introduced changes to support

CTR claimants in receipt of Universal Credit (UC) including the application of some earnings disregards and the use of DWP information as a claim for CTR.

The furlough scheme (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) concluded on 30 September 2021 as did the fifth grant under the Self-Employed Income Support scheme and the Universal Credit £20 uplift. Self-employed recipients of Universal Credit were not subject to the minimum income floor during the pandemic, but this was re-instated (with some exceptions) from 31 July 2021. The effects of the phasing out of these schemes that had provided financial help for residents, along with the on-going impacts of the pandemic in shifting the demand for support under CTR scheme and the ability of residents to pay over

the remainder of 2021/22 and into 2022/23 was difficult to estimate, and the full economic impact was uncertain.

Given levels of uncertainty about the impact of the pandemic on the demand for CTR in the coming months, it was proposed that the CTR scheme for 2022/23 remained unchanged from that operating in 2021/22, having regard to the aim of ensuring continuity about entitlement to those residents on the lowest incomes.

The proposed scheme for 2022/23 was considered by the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 27 January 2022. The Committee agreed the proposed scheme (i.e. no change to that operating in 2021/22). It was therefore content to commend the proposed CTR scheme for 2022/23 to Cabinet without additional comment. The proposed CTR scheme for 2022/23 was considered at the Cabinet meeting of 14 February 2022. Cabinet was content to commend the proposed CTR scheme to Council without amendment.

 

No members spoke on this item.

 

RESOLVED that the proposed Council Tax Reduction scheme for

2022/23 which kept the scheme unchanged from that operating in 2021/22 be approved.

 

g)         Medium Term Financial Strategy 2022/23 to 2026/27

Councillor Jabbar MOVED and Councillor Shah SECONDED a report of the Director of Finance which provided the  Council with the forecast budget reduction requirement estimates for the period 2022/23 to 2026/27 having regard to the three-year indicative Spending Review published on 27 October 2021, key Government Policy Documents (including the three White Papers on the future of Adult Social Care entitled Building Back Better, People at the Heart of Social Care and Joining up Care for People, Paces and Populations plus the Levelling Up the United Kingdom White Paper issued on 2 February 2022) and the Final Local Government Finance Settlement published on 7 February 2022.

The report set out the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for the period 2022/23 to 2026/27. The report advised Members of the key financial challenges and issues which would be faced by the Council over the forecast period and set out the estimated budget reduction requirement for this period.

The report presented the purpose and scope of the Medium Term Financial Strategy and how it had a vital role to play in enabling the translation of the Council’s ambition and priorities into action.

It also advised of the national policy landscape and economic context in which the Council was setting both its revenue budget for 2022/23 and Medium Term Financial Strategy to 2026/27.

Members noted the Government had only provided certainty in a one-year settlement for the financial year 2022/23 and an indicative settlement as per the Spending Review for a further two years. The MTFS estimates for 2023/24 to 2026/27 were, therefore, based on a series of assumptions and must be considered indicative at this stage. The notification of detailed allocations of grant funding for one year had caused uncertainty and hindered effective planning by the Council both financially and operationally as future Government funding intentions such as those detailed in the Adult Social Care reforms and Levelling Up the UK White Papers were difficult to assess. This position, together with the transformational and organisational plans for change that the Council would implement to address its best estimate of the present financial challenge, were outlined in the report.

The Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement was received on 16 December 2021 which informed the preparation of the initial 2022/23 Budget Report and initial MTFS. The Final Settlement was announced on 7 February 2022 (debated in Parliament on 9 February

2022) but did not result in any significant change to the financial projections. The implications for the MTFS arising from the Settlement had been incorporated into the financial projections where appropriate.

The MTFS highlighted the plan to deliver significant savings from the financial year 2023/24 onwards linking into the budget report elsewhere on the Agenda which outlined the proposals for the financial year 2022/23. Whilst it was anticipated that the Council would continue

to rely on the use of reserves to support the revenue budget in 2023/24 and 2024/25 at a value of £9.932m, additional budget reductions were expected to be achieved as part of the Council’s transformation programme. There were budget reductions agreed within the

2021/22 budget that had an impact on 2022/23 and beyond and proposed budget reductions for 2022/23 that had an impact on 2023/24 and beyond. In total it was anticipated that these budget reductions would impact on 2023/24 at a value of £6.817m, £1.450m in the financial year 2024/25 and further £0.303m in the financial year 2025/26.

The budget reduction requirement for subsequent years after the delivery of approved budget reductions and the use of reserves was forecast to be £16.711m for 2023/24, £8.117m for 2024/25, £8.384m for 2025/26 and £5.682m for 2026/27. However, given the level of

anticipated change instigated by Government, the estimates would be kept under constant review and be subject to amendment. Nonetheless they provided a starting position from which more detailed financial and operational plans could be developed.

The Council’s approach to balancing its budget was to embark on an ambitious transformation programme based upon the Delivering a Sustainable Future (DaSF) concept and shape programme supported by appropriate investment which would aim to deliver long term recurring savings whilst improving the efficiency of service delivery. This was developing the work established in the 2021/22 to 2023/24 MTFS, largely aligned to the themes established and approved at Budget Council in March 2021. The DaSF core themes were:

·         Enablers for Transformation

·         Placed Based Integration/ Communities

·         Children’s Transformation Programme

·         Adult Social Care Transformation Programme including Health and Care Integration

·         Economy and Public Realm (including the Creating a Better Place Strategy)

A range of Cross Cutting initiatives had been identified that would

complement the core themes within the transformational programme.

Given the financial challenges that had been identified for 2023/24 to 2026/27, indicative budget reduction targets had been assigned to each core theme. There would be some flexibility within this plan given the uncertainty that underpinned financial planning, especially for the latter part of the MTFS period. In view of the importance of delivering budget reductions and embedding the programme of transformational change, during 2022/23, there would be a regular review of the progress of the existing change programmes against the delivery milestones and financial targets. It would also ensure that there was continuous emphasis on the delivery of change and the achievement of the budget reductions required in line with the five-year strategy.

Presentation of the MTFS report to the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 27 January 2022 was a key stage in the budget consultation process. The Committee scrutinised the report and the other reports on the agenda that formed a core part of the Council’s strategic financial planning framework. The Committee was content to commend the report to Cabinet without additional comment. Cabinet in turn, was content to commend the report to Council.

 

Councillor Al-Hamdani spoke to the motion.

 

Councillor Jabbar exercised his right of reply.

 

RESOLVED that:

1.            The policy landscape and economic context in which the Council is setting its

2.            Medium Term Financial Strategy to 2026/27 be approved.

3.            The impact of Oldham Council Policies and Strategies on the Council’s budget setting process and the development of its Medium Term Financial Strategy be approved.

4.            The financial forecasts for 2022/23 to 2026/27 having regard to the Final Local Government Finance Settlement, three-year indicative Spending Review, key White Papers and associated funding announcements be approved.

5.            The key issues to be addressed in continuing to respond to the financial challenges facing the Council be approved.

6.            The proposed use of £6.000m of reserves to support the 2023/24 budget and

7.            £3.932m of reserves to support the 2024/25 budget be apprtoved.

8.            The revised estimated budget reduction targets of £16.711m for 2023/24, £8.117m for 2024/25, £8.384m for 2025/26, and £5.682m for 2026/27 after the use of reserves (as at recommendation 5) and the impact of budget reductions agreed for 2021/22 and 2022/23 be approved.

 

f)          Revenue Budget 2022/23

 

Councillor Shah MOVED and Councillor Jabbar SECONDED a report of the Director of Finance which provided the Council with the forecast budget reduction requirement and the Administration’s budget proposals for 2022/23 having regard to the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement published on 16 December 2021 and the subsequent Final Local Government Settlement published on 7 February 2022.

This report presented the Council’s Revenue Budget for 2022/23 including the Administration’s revenue budget proposals for 2022/23. The report set out the key policies and strategies that influenced the budget process, the initial budget reduction requirement for 2022/23, how that had been adjusted to arrive at a revised budget reduction requirement and the means by which the budget was balanced.

The starting point for preparing the 2022/23 revenue budget estimates was an underlying base budget of £237.349m and the 2021/22 revenue budget forecast outturn position presented in the month 8 Financial Monitoring Report. It highlighted a current favourable projected variance for 2021/22 of £2.672m. This consisted of net COVID pressures of £3.311m and a favourable business as usual variance of £5.983m. It was noted that the Council had received £7.737m of general grant as support for COVID related expenditure from the Government for 2021/22 and an estimated £0.352m of compensation for Sales, Fees and Charges; a total of £8.089m. This was being used to offset an overall net pressure of £11.400m caused by the pandemic. This COVID pressure had to be addressed in 2022/23 as the Government was not providing any additional specific funding to support COVID costs in 2022/23.

Section 5 summarised the revisions to the estimates since the initial budget gap for 2022/23 was assessed at £31.900m. An updated budget gap was estimated at £24.404m arising from a range of adjustments to both expenditure pressures/variations and income

increases/decreases.

Expenditure pressures were adjustments to the base budget outlined

in Section 6, expenditure adjustments (Section 7), use of the Development Fund (Section 8) and the impact of levies (Section 9).

Sections 10 to 14 presented the impact of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement announced on 16 December 2021 and the Final Local Government Finance Settlement issued on 7 February 2022 and income related adjustments to the estimates.

Cabinet at its meeting of 24 January 2022, initially set the 2022/23 Council’s Business Rates Tax Base at £48.605m plus an anticipated gain of £1.360m in relation to piloting 100% Business Rates Retention. Total Business Rates income (including the GMCA’s share of the Business Rates Retention pilot gain at £1.360m) was set at £51.325m. However, the setting of this Tax Base was aligned to the preparation of a Government return, the NNDR1, which for 2022/23, had to be

submitted by 31 January 2022. Cabinet therefore delegated the setting of the final Tax Base to the Cabinet Member for Finance and Low Carbon in consultation with the Director of Finance, having regard to the contents of the NNDR1. Under delegation, the Tax Base had been revised to £48.429m but with a higher anticipated gain from piloting Business Rates Retention (£3.421m of which the Council could utilise £1.711m). Total Business Rates income was therefore £51.850m

which was an increase from the initial estimate of £50.612m. This was despite the introduction of additional Business Rate Reliefs (which reduced the impact of collectable Business Rates) since the original estimate was made and was in part due to the introduction of gains from the piloting of 100% Business Rates Retention which were not anticipated.

Grant in lieu of Business Rates represented compensation for historic Government policy announcements and events that had the impact of reducing the amount of collectable Business Rates revenue. These grants were effectively a substitute for Retained Business Rates income. Due to the introduction of Business Rate Reliefs for 2022/23 and the adjustment to factors used in the calculation, the anticipated

grant had increased by £8.628m from £10.843m to £19.471m.

Section 13 presented the Council Tax position for 2022/23.

·         The Council Tax Tax Base has been set at 57,450, which was lower than the initial estimate but 250 higher than the 57,200 Tax Base for 2021/22.

·         Current Council Tax policy was to have a 1.99% general purposes increase and a 2% increase in the Adult Social Care Precept which was within the referendum criteria issued by the Government in the LGFS.

·         It was intended that resources generated by 1% of the increase would be used to support Adult Social Care providers remunerate staff at the level of the Living Wage Foundation National Living Wage.

·         Total Council Tax to be generated for use by the Council based on the

·         Tax Base and the 3.99% increase was £102.932m.

·         Major precepting Authorities confirmed their precepts on 11 February 2022, the impact of which was included in the report.

·         The Parish Councils both agreed their precepts in late January and confirmed figures were presented in the report.

·         On 3 February 2022 the Government announced a Council Tax Energy Rebate and associated discretionary fund that would be introduced from 1 April 2022. Delegation was sought to facilitate the implementation of this development in a timely manner.

Section 14 outlined the impact of Collection Fund and three key issues

·         The budget must be adjusted for a 2020/21 Collection Fund deficit of £2.192m (the Government passed legislation to allow deficits arising from the major impact of the pandemic in 2020/21 to be recovered over three years (2020/21 to 2022/23)).

·         The 2021/22 Collection Fund forecast outturn projection as outlined in the month 8 financial monitoring report produced a net surplus of £1.307m which would be available to support the 2022/23 revenue budget.

·         As in 2021/22, a technical adjustment to the budget was required in 2022/23 as a result of the Collection Fund deficit caused by the Government notifying the continuation of Business Rate reliefs for retail, leisure, hospitality and nursery businesses after the 2021/22 budget had been set and the introduction on 15 December 2021 of the COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF) to provide discretionary rate relief in 2021/22. The estimated combined deficit this produced in 2021/22 was £13.092m which must be addressed in 2022/23. Government was providing the Council with grant compensation for the loss of Business Rates income throughout 2021/22 and this would be carried forward as a reserve to offset the deficit in 2022/23.

Section 15 presented the first stage in the Administration’s approach to balancing the budget for 2022/23, a review of the twelve Budget Reductions that were approved within the 2021/22 Budget Report but had an impact of £6.050m on 2022/23.

Section 16 of the report detailed the Administration’s budget reduction proposals for 2022/23. There were a total of 53 proposals presented in accordance with Political Portfolios. These were expected to deliver savings totalling £6.268m and have an FTE impact of 22.60. The proposals also had an impact on 2023/24 of £1.895m and 2024/25 of £1.150m. All the proposals were presented in summary at Appendix 5 and in detail at Appendix 6.

Two of the proposals required investment of £0.405m in 2022/23 to deliver savings in 2023/24. Assuming approval of the 2022/23 budget reduction proposals, the budget reduction requirement for 2022/23 reduced from £32.029m to £25.761m.

Section 17 outlined the opportunity to use capital receipts flexibly to finance expenditure leading to transformation in the sum of £2.500m. Having applied this to the budget, the budget gap reduced from £25.761m to £23.261m.

Section 18 advised that specific and corporate reserves from the Balancing Budget Reserve would be used to address the balance.

There wis also a planned movement to reserves of £1.710m relating to the setting aside of gains from the piloting of 100% Business Rates Retention in anticipation of allocating the funds to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority as its share of gains from 2022/23.

Approval of the proposals presented in the report in full by Budget Council including the use of reserves as set out above delivered a balanced revenue budget for 2022/23.

Section 19 considered the ability of the Council to address COVID related pressures in 2022/23 given the uncertainty that still prevailed and the impact of the Omicron variant.

Section 20 presented the expected level of reserves at the end of 2021/22 at £89.772m and how they supported the 2022/23 budget including the balancing budget reserve for 2022/23 which addressed the reserves requirement.

Section 21 summarises the overall budget strategy to balance the budget for 2022/23.

Sections 22 to 23 set out the Administration’s proposals in relation to Fees and Charges and detailed the Council’s Pay Policy Statement (as required by Sections 38 to 43 of the Localism Act 2011).

Members of the public and stakeholders had been consulted on the budget proposals and invited to submit their feedback. A proactive approach to communications was taken, with a multi-channel communications strategy incorporating digital, social and traditional media, ensuring that residents and businesses across Oldham were aware of the budget proposals and were able to have their say. This strategy included issuing press releases, videos, newsletters, and social media posts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Revenue Budget 2022/23 was presented to the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 27 January 2022. The Committee considered in detail the Administrations 53 budget reduction proposals for 2022/23 and were content to commend to Cabinet 52 of the 53 proposals at a value of £6.206m.

The Committee requested that Cabinet review and consider the delivery of one remaining proposal, REF-BR1-526: Get Oldham Growing at a value of £0.062m. The Committee’s view was that progressing the proposal in its current form would have a negative impact on residents in the community that currently accessed this service.

The Committee was content with all other aspects of the report and therefore commended it to Cabinet.

Cabinet considered the Revenue Budget 2022/23 at its meeting on 14 February 2022 and, whilst recognising the Policy Overview and Scrutiny’s concerns in regard to proposal REFBR1-526: Get Oldham Growing, agreed that it would not withdraw the proposal and was

content to commend the report in full to Council, including all 53 of the 2022/23 budget reduction proposals at a total value of £6.268m.

 

Members spoke on the item:

 

AMENDMENT

 

Councillor C. Gloster MOVED and Councillor Sykes SECONDED the amendment to the budget as circulated and detailed in the Council Summons. Councillor C. Gloster expressed his thanks to staff who had assisted in the preparation of the report.

 

Councillors Kenyon and Al-Hamdani spoke in support of the Amendment.

 

Councillors Lancaster and Jabbar spoke against the Amendment.

 

Councillor Shah exercised her right of reply.

 

Councillor C. Gloster exercised his right of reply.

 

A recorded vote, in line with the Regulations was then taken on the AMENDMENT as follows:

 

COUNCILLOR		COUNCILLOR
Abid, Sahr	AGAINST	Ibrahim, Nyla	ABSENT
Ahmad, Riaz	AGAINST	Iqbal, Javid	ABSENT
Akhtar, Shoab	ABSENT	Islam, Mohammed Nazrul	AGAINST
Alexander, Ginny	AGAINST	Jabbar, Abdul	AGAINST
Al-Hamdani, Sam	FOR	Kenyon, Mark	FOR
Ali, Mohon	AGAINST	Lancaster, Luke	AGAINST
Alyas, Mohammed	AGAINST	Leach, Valerie	ABSENT
Arnott, Dave	AGAINST	Malik, Abdul	AGAINST
Bashforth, Marie	AGAINST	McLaren, Colin	AGAINST
Bashforth, Steven	AGAINST	Moores, Eddie	AGAINST
Birch, Ros	AGAINST	Murphy, Dave	FOR
Briggs, Norman	AGAINST	Mushtaq, Shaid	AGAINST
Brownridge, Barbara	AGAINST	Phythian, Clint	ABSENT
Byrne, Pam	AGAINST	Phythian, Kyle	AGAINST
Chadderton, Amanda	AGAINST	Roberts, Hannah	AGAINST
Chauhan, Zahid	ABSENT	Salamat, Ali Aqeel	AGAINST
Cosgrove, Angela	AGAINST	Shah, Arooj	AGAINST
Curley, Jamie	AGAINST	Sharp, Beth	AGAINST
Davis, Peter	AGAINST	Sheldon, Graham	AGAINST
Dean, Peter	AGAINST	Shuttleworth, Graham	AGAINST
Garry, Elaine	AGAINST	Stretton, Jean	AGAINST
Gloster, Chris	FOR	Surjan, Ruji Sapna	AGAINST
Gloster, Hazel	FOR	Sykes MBE, Howard	FOR
Goodwin, Chris	AGAINST	Taylor, Elaine	AGAINST
Hamblett, Louie	FOR	Toor, Yasmin	AGAINST
Hindle, Neil	AGAINST	Wilkinson, Mark	AGAINST
Hobin, Brian	AGAINST	Williamson, Diane	ABSENT
Hulme, George	ABSENT	Williams, Steve	AGAINST
Hussain, Aftab	AGAINST	Woodvine, Max	AGAINST
Hussain, Fida	AGAINST	Harrison Jenny	AGAINST

 

On a recorded VOTE being taken, 7 VOTES were cast in FAVOUR of the AMENDMENT with 44 VOTES cast AGAINST and 0 ABSTENTIONS. The AMENDMENT was therefore LOST.

 

AMENDMENT

 

Councillor Arnott MOVED and Councillor Sheldon SECONDED the amendment to the budget as circulated and detailed in the Council Summons. Councillor Arnott expressed his thanks to staff who had assisted in the preparation of the report.

 

Councillor Sharp spoke in support of the Amendment.

 

Councillors Murphy, Mushtaq, S Bashforth, Shuttleworth, C Gloster, Jabbar, Al-Hamdani, Roberts, and Hamblett spoke against the Amendment.

 

Councillor Shah exercised her right of reply.

 

Councillor Arnott exercised his right of reply.

 

A recorded vote, in line with the Regulations was then taken on the AMENDMENT as follows:

 

COUNCILLOR		COUNCILLOR
Abid, Sahr	FOR	Ibrahim, Nyla	ABSENT
Ahmad, Riaz	AGAINST	Iqbal, Javid	ABSENT
Akhtar, Shoab	ABSENT	Islam, Mohammed Nazrul	AGAINST
Alexander, Ginny	AGAINST	Jabbar, Abdul	AGAINST
Al-Hamdani, Sam	ABSTAIN	Kenyon, Mark	ABSTAIN
Ali, Mohon	AGAINST	Lancaster, Luke	FOR
Alyas, Mohammed	AGAINST	Leach, Valerie	ABSENT
Arnott, Dave	FOR	Malik, Abdul	AGAINST
Bashforth, Marie	AGAINST	McLaren, Colin	AGAINST
Bashforth, Steven	AGAINST	Moores, Eddie	AGAINST
Birch, Ros	AGAINST	Murphy, Dave	ABSTAIN
Briggs, Norman	AGAINST	Mushtaq, Shaid	AGAINST
Brownridge, Barbara	AGAINST	Phythian, Clint	ABSENT
Byrne, Pam	FOR	Phythian, Kyle	AGAINST
Chadderton, Amanda	AGAINST	Roberts, Hannah	AGAINST
Chauhan, Zahid	ABSENT	Salamat, Ali Aqeel	AGAINST
Cosgrove, Angela	AGAINST	Shah, Arooj	AGAINST
Curley, Jamie	FOR	Sharp, Beth	FOR
Davis, Peter	AGAINST	Sheldon, Graham	FOR
Dean, Peter	AGAINST	Shuttleworth, Graham	AGAINST
Garry, Elaine	AGAINST	Stretton, Jean	AGAINST
Gloster, Chris	ABSTAIN	Surjan, Ruji Sapna	AGAINST
Gloster, Hazel	ABSTAIN	Sykes MBE, Howard	ABSTAIN
Goodwin, Chris	AGAINST	Taylor, Elaine	AGAINST
Hamblett, Louie	ABSTAIN	Toor, Yasmin	AGAINST
Hindle, Neil	AGAINST	Wilkinson, Mark	AGAINST
Hobin, Brian	AGAINST	Williamson, Diane	ABSENT
Hulme, George	ABSENT	Williams, Steve	AGAINST
Hussain, Aftab	ABSENT	Woodvine, Max	FOR
Hussain, Fida	AGAINST	Harrison Jenny	AGAINST

 

On a recorded VOTE being taken, 8 VOTES were cast in FAVOUR of the AMENDMENT with 36 VOTES cast AGAINST and 7 ABSTENTIONS. The AMENDMENT was therefore LOST.

 

AMENDMENT

 

Councillor Hobin MOVED and Councillor Wilkinson SECONDED the amendment to the budget as circulated and detailed in the Council Summons. Councillor Arnott expressed his thanks to staff who had assisted in the preparation of the report.

 

Councillors Jabbar and Murphy spoke against the Amendment.

 

Councillor Shah exercised her right of reply.

 

Councillor Hobin exercised his right of reply.

 

A recorded vote, in line with the Regulations was then taken on the AMENDMENT as follows:

 

COUNCILLOR		COUNCILLOR
Abid, Sahr	AGAINST	Ibrahim, Nyla	ABSENT
Ahmad, Riaz	AGAINST	Iqbal, Javid	ABSENT
Akhtar, Shoab	ABSENT	Islam, Mohammed Nazrul	AGAINST
Alexander, Ginny	AGAINST	Jabbar, Abdul	AGAINST
Al-Hamdani, Sam	ABSTAIN	Kenyon, Mark	ABSTAIN
Ali, Mohon	AGAINST	Lancaster, Luke	AGAINST
Alyas, Mohammed	AGAINST	Leach, Valerie	ABSENT
Arnott, Dave	AGAINST	Malik, Abdul	AGAINST
Bashforth, Marie	AGAINST	McLaren, Colin	AGAINST
Bashforth, Steven	AGAINST	Moores, Eddie	AGAINST
Birch, Ros	AGAINST	Murphy, Dave	ABSTAIN
Briggs, Norman	AGAINST	Mushtaq, Shaid	AGAINST
Brownridge, Barbara	AGAINST	Phythian, Clint	ABSENT
Byrne, Pam	AGAINST	Phythian, Kyle	AGAINST
Chadderton, Amanda	AGAINST	Roberts, Hannah	AGAINST
Chauhan, Zahid	ABSENT	Salamat, Ali Aqeel	AGAINST
Cosgrove, Angela	AGAINST	Shah, Arooj	AGAINST
Curley, Jamie	AGAINST	Sharp, Beth	AGAINST
Davis, Peter	AGAINST	Sheldon, Graham	AGAINST
Dean, Peter	AGAINST	Shuttleworth, Graham	AGAINST
Garry, Elaine	AGAINST	Stretton, Jean	AGAINST
Gloster, Chris	ABSTAIN	Surjan, Ruji Sapna	AGAINST
Gloster, Hazel	ABSTAIN	Sykes MBE, Howard	ABSTAIN
Goodwin, Chris	AGAINST	Taylor, Elaine	AGAINST
Hamblett, Louie	ABSTAIN	Toor, Yasmin	AGAINST
Hindle, Neil	FOR	Wilkinson, Mark	FOR
Hobin, Brian	FOR	Williamson, Diane	ABSENT
Hulme, George	ABSENT	Williams, Steve	AGAINST
Hussain, Aftab	ABSENT	Woodvine, Max	AGAINST
Hussain, Fida	AGAINST	Harrison Jenny	AGAINST

 

On a recorded VOTE being taken, 3 VOTES were cast in FAVOUR of the AMENDMENT with 41 VOTES cast AGAINST and 7 ABSTENTIONS. The AMENDMENT was therefore LOST.

 

The following Councillors then spoke on the ORIGINAL MOTION:

 

Councillors Chadderton, S Bashforth and Roberts spoke in support of the Original Motion.

 

Councillors Woodvine, Sharp, Hamblett, Sykes, Al-Hamdani and  Hobin spoke against the Original Motion.

 

Councillor Byrne spoke on the Original Motion.

 

Councillor Shah exercised her right of reply.

 

A recorded VOTE, in line with regulations was then taken on the ORIGINAL MOTION as follows:

 

COUNCILLOR		COUNCILLOR
Abid, Sahr	AGAINST	Ibrahim, Nyla	ABSENT
Ahmad, Riaz	FOR	Iqbal, Javid	ABSENT
Akhtar, Shoab	ABSENT	Islam, Mohammed Nazrul	FOR
Alexander, Ginny	FOR	Jabbar, Abdul	FOR
Al-Hamdani, Sam	ABSTAIN	Kenyon, Mark	ABSTAIN
Ali, Mohon	FOR	Lancaster, Luke	AGAINST
Alyas, Mohammed	FOR	Leach, Valerie	ABSENT
Arnott, Dave	AGAINST	Malik, Abdul	FOR
Bashforth, Marie	FOR	McLaren, Colin	FOR
Bashforth, Steven	FOR	Moores, Eddie	FOR
Birch, Ros	FOR	Murphy, Dave	ABSTAIN
Briggs, Norman	FOR	Mushtaq, Shaid	FOR
Brownridge, Barbara	FOR	Phythian, Clint	ABSENT
Byrne, Pam	AGAINST	Phythian, Kyle	FOR
Chadderton, Amanda	FOR	Roberts, Hannah	FOR
Chauhan, Zahid	ABSENT	Salamat, Ali Aqeel	FOR
Cosgrove, Angela	FOR	Shah, Arooj	FOR
Curley, Jamie	AGAINST	Sharp, Beth	AGAINST
Davis, Peter	FOR	Sheldon, Graham	AGAINST
Dean, Peter	FOR	Shuttleworth, Graham	FOR
Garry, Elaine	FOR	Stretton, Jean	FOR
Gloster, Chris	ABSTAIN	Surjan, Ruji Sapna	FOR
Gloster, Hazel	ABSTAIN	Sykes MBE, Howard	ABSTAIN
Goodwin, Chris	FOR	Taylor, Elaine	FOR
Hamblett, Louie	ABSTAIN	Toor, Yasmin	FOR
Hindle, Neil	AGAINST	Wilkinson, Mark	AGAINST
Hobin, Brian	AGAINST	Williamson, Diane	ABSENT
Hulme, George	ABSENT	Williams, Steve	FOR
Hussain, Aftab	ABSENT	Woodvine, Max	AGAINST
Hussain, Fida	FOR	Harrison Jenny	FOR

 

On a recorded VOTE being taken, 33 VOTES were cast in FAVOUR of the MOTION with 11 VOTES cast AGAINST and 7 ABSTENTIONS. The MOTION was therefore CARRIED.

 

Resolutions 1 and 2 related to the Council Tax Base for the Financial Year 2021/2022 as approved by the Cabinet on 24^th January 2022 and the Council Tax Requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2022/2023

 

No members who spoke on this item.

 

A recorded vote, in line with the Regulations, was then taken on the Resolutions as follows:

 

COUNCILLOR		COUNCILLOR
Abid, Sahr	FOR	Ibrahim, Nyla	ABSENT
Ahmad, Riaz	FOR	Iqbal, Javid	ABSENT
Akhtar, Shoab	ABSENT	Islam, Mohammed Nazrul	FOR
Alexander, Ginny	FOR	Jabbar, Abdul	FOR
Al-Hamdani, Sam	FOR	Kenyon, Mark	FOR
Ali, Mohon	FOR	Lancaster, Luke	FOR
Alyas, Mohammed	FOR	Leach, Valerie	ABSENT
Arnott, Dave	FOR	Malik, Abdul	FOR
Bashforth, Marie	FOR	McLaren, Colin	FOR
Bashforth, Steven	FOR	Moores, Eddie	FOR
Birch, Ros	FOR	Murphy, Dave	FOR
Briggs, Norman	FOR	Mushtaq, Shaid	FOR
Brownridge, Barbara	FOR	Phythian, Clint	ABSENT
Byrne, Pam	FOR	Phythian, Kyle	FOR
Chadderton, Amanda	FOR	Roberts, Hannah	FOR
Chauhan, Zahid	ABSENT	Salamat, Ali Aqeel	FOR
Cosgrove, Angela	FOR	Shah, Arooj	FOR
Curley, Jamie	FOR	Sharp, Beth	FOR
Davis, Peter	FOR	Sheldon, Graham	FOR
Dean, Peter	FOR	Shuttleworth, Graham	FOR
Garry, Elaine	FOR	Stretton, Jean	FOR
Gloster, Chris	FOR	Surjan, Ruji Sapna	FOR
Gloster, Hazel	FOR	Sykes MBE, Howard	FOR
Goodwin, Chris	FOR	Taylor, Elaine	FOR
Hamblett, Louie	FOR	Toor, Yasmin	FOR
Hindle, Neil	FOR	Wilkinson, Mark	FOR
Hobin, Brian	ABSENT	Williamson, Diane	ABSENT
Hulme, George	ABSENT	Williams, Steve	FOR
Hussain, Aftab	ABSENT	Woodvine, Max	AGAINST FOR
Hussain, Fida	FOR	Harrison Jenny	FOR

 

On a recorded VOTE being taken, the RESOLUTION was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

Resolution 3 related to the amounts calculated by the Council for the year 2022/2023 in accordance with Sections 31A to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992

 

No members who spoke on the item.

 

A recorded vote, in line with the Regulations, was then taken on the RESOLUTION as follows:

 

COUNCILLOR		COUNCILLOR
Abid, Sahr	FOR	Ibrahim, Nyla	ABSENT
Ahmad, Riaz	FOR	Iqbal, Javid	ABSENT
Akhtar, Shoab	ABSENT	Islam, Mohammed Nazrul	FOR
Alexander, Ginny	FOR	Jabbar, Abdul	FOR
Al-Hamdani, Sam	FOR	Kenyon, Mark	FOR
Ali, Mohon	FOR	Lancaster, Luke	FOR
Alyas, Mohammed	FOR	Leach, Valerie	ABSENT
Arnott, Dave	FOR	Malik, Abdul	FOR
Bashforth, Marie	FOR	McLaren, Colin	FOR
Bashforth, Steven	FOR	Moores, Eddie	FOR
Birch, Ros	FOR	Murphy, Dave	FOR
Briggs, Norman	FOR	Mushtaq, Shaid	FOR
Brownridge, Barbara	FOR	Phythian, Clint	ABSENT
Byrne, Pam	FOR	Phythian, Kyle	FOR
Chadderton, Amanda	FOR	Roberts, Hannah	FOR
Chauhan, Zahid	ABSENT	Salamat, Ali Aqeel	FOR
Cosgrove, Angela	FOR	Shah, Arooj	FOR
Curley, Jamie	FOR	Sharp, Beth	FOR
Davis, Peter	FOR	Sheldon, Graham	FOR
Dean, Peter	FOR	Shuttleworth, Graham	FOR
Garry, Elaine	FOR	Stretton, Jean	FOR
Gloster, Chris	FOR	Surjan, Ruji Sapna	FOR
Gloster, Hazel	FOR	Sykes MBE, Howard	FOR
Goodwin, Chris	FOR	Taylor, Elaine	FOR
Hamblett, Louie	FOR	Toor, Yasmin	FOR
Hindle, Neil	FOR	Wilkinson, Mark	FOR
Hobin, Brian	FOR	Williamson, Diane	ABSENT
Hulme, George	ABSENT	Williams, Steve	FOR
Hussain, Aftab	ABSENT	Woodvine, Max	AGAINST FOR
Hussain, Fida	FOR	Harrison Jenny	FOR

 

On a recorded VOTE being taken, the RESOLUTION was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

RESOLVED that the following amounts be calculated by the Council for the year 2022/23 in accordance with the Sections 31A to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 be approved as follows:

 

a)	£636,570,589	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)	£533,324,589	Being the aggregate for the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.
c)	£103,246,000	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)	£1,797.15	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)	£313,984	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)	£1,791.68	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 on those parts of its area to which no special item related.
g)	£1,815.99	Saddleworth Parish Area Being the amounts given by adding to the amount at 3(f) above the amounts of the special item or items related 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 the basic amounts of its council tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items related.
h)	£1,809.57	Being the amounts given by adding to the amount at 3(f) above the amounts of the special item or items related to dwellings in those parts of the Council’s area mentioned at 3(e) above divided by the amount at 1(c) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(3) of the Act, as the basic amounts of its council tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items related.

 

Resolution 4 – Relating to the Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept and the Mayor General Precept (including Fire Services)

 

Councillors Al-Hamdani and Hobin spoke on this item.

 

On being put to the VOTE, the RESOLUTION was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

RESOLVED that for the year 2022/23 the Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept and the Mayoral General Precept (including Fire Services) for Greater Manchester had been issued 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 as indicated in the table below be noted.

 

NOTE: Councillor Garry declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in this item and did not take part in the discussion or vote thereon.

 

Resolution 5 – Relating to the Setting of the Council Tax for 2021/2022

 

No members who spoke on this item.

 

A recorded vote, in line with the Regulations, was then taken on the RESOLUTION as follows:

 

COUNCILLOR		COUNCILLOR
Abid, Sahr	FOR	Ibrahim, Nyla	ABSENT
Ahmad, Riaz	FOR	Iqbal, Javid	ABSENT
Akhtar, Shoab	ABSENT	Islam, Mohammed Nazrul	FOR
Alexander, Ginny	FOR	Jabbar, Abdul	FOR
Al-Hamdani, Sam	FOR	Kenyon, Mark	FOR
Ali, Mohon	FOR	Lancaster, Luke	FOR
Alyas, Mohammed	FOR	Leach, Valerie	ABSENT
Arnott, Dave	FOR	Malik, Abdul	FOR
Bashforth, Marie	FOR	McLaren, Colin	FOR
Bashforth, Steven	FOR	Moores, Eddie	FOR
Birch, Ros	FOR	Murphy, Dave	FOR
Briggs, Norman	FOR	Mushtaq, Shaid	FOR
Brownridge, Barbara	FOR	Phythian, Clint	ABSENT
Byrne, Pam	FOR	Phythian, Kyle	FOR
Chadderton, Amanda	FOR	Roberts, Hannah	FOR
Chauhan, Zahid	ABSENT	Salamat, Ali Aqeel	FOR
Cosgrove, Angela	FOR	Shah, Arooj	FOR
Curley, Jamie	FOR	Sharp, Beth	FOR
Davis, Peter	FOR	Sheldon, Graham	FOR
Dean, Peter	FOR	Shuttleworth, Graham	FOR
Garry, Elaine	FOR	Stretton, Jean	FOR
Gloster, Chris	FOR	Surjan, Ruji Sapna	FOR
Gloster, Hazel	FOR	Sykes MBE, Howard	FOR
Goodwin, Chris	FOR	Taylor, Elaine	FOR
Hamblett, Louie	FOR	Toor, Yasmin	FOR
Hindle, Neil	FOR	Wilkinson, Mark	FOR
Hobin, Brian	FOR	Williamson, Diane	ABSENT
Hulme, George	ABSENT	Williams, Steve	FOR
Hussain, Aftab	ABSENT	Woodvine, Max	AGAINST FOR
Hussain, Fida	FOR	Harrison Jenny	FOR

 

On a recorded VOTE being taken, the RESOLUTION was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

RESOLVED that the Council, in accordance with Sections 30 to 36 of the Local Government Act 1992, hereby sets the aggregate amounts shown in the tables below as the amounts of Council Tax for 2022/23 for each part of its area and for each of the categories of dwellings:

 

Authority/Parish	Council Tax Bands (£)
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Oldham Council	1,194.45	1,393.52	1,592.60	1,791.68	2,189.83	2,587.98	2,986.13	3,583.36
Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept	152.20	177.56	202.93	228.30	279.03	329.76	380.50	456.60
Mayoral General Precept (including Fire Services)	68.63	80.07	91.51	102.95	125.82	148.70	171.58	205.90
Saddleworth Parish Precept	16.20	18.90	21.60	24.31	29.71	35.11	40.51	48.62
Shaw and Crompton Parish Precept	11.92	13.91	15.90	17.89	21.86	25.84	29.81	35.78

 

Authority/Parish	Council Tax Bands (£)
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Saddleworth Parish Area	1,431.48	1,670.05	1,908.64	2,147.24	2,624.39	3,101.55	3,578.72	4,294.48
Shaw & Crompton Parish Area	1,427.20	1,665.06	1,902.94	2,140.82	2,616.54	3,092.28	3,568.02	4,281.64
All other parts of the Council’s Area	1,415.28	1,651.15	1,887.04	2,122.93	2,594.68	3,066.44	3,538.21	4,245.86