Decision details

NOTED

1.           The comments made by Councillor Mashari in summarising the key themes from the Budget Scrutiny Task Group report.  In introducing the Task Group report, Councillor Mashari highlighted that whilst supportive of the overall budget proposals and grateful for the support of everyone engaged in the review process, the Task Group had made a number of key recommendations which included:

·             The need to more clearly demonstrate within the budget how funding followed the democratically agreed strategic priorities for the borough;

·             The need to outline how the £1m funding allocated for implementation of the Borough Plan objectives would be spent;

·             The need to ensure a cumulative equality impact assessment of the final decisions made within the budget was undertaken reflecting the severe impact of the pandemic;

·             The need for an in depth analysis and modelling to be undertaken in order to identify the impact of the UK leaving the EU on residents, funding streams and the local economy;

·             The need to undertake a full and independent economic analysis of the borough ahead of future budget setting processes in order to better inform decisions.

The Task Group report was therefore commended to Cabinet to take account as part of the final decision making process.

2.          The comments made by a member of the public, Paul Lorber, who had also requested to speak on the budget report.  In recognising the various elements that contributed to the budget and different elements of the Council Tax, Mr Lorber was concerned to ensure there was no duplication in the way certain proposals contained within the budget were funded in order to protect residents as far as possible from the impact of any Council Tax increase.  As specific examples he referred to the proposals contained within the budget for an additional payment to staff, to pursue the London Living Wage as standard within Council contracts and to provide £1m as an additional growth pressure identified as an allowance for uncertainty.  Referring to the overall level of reserves being held by the Council, he urged the Council to consider funding these as one off funding elements from reserves rather than as an additional charge against the base budget in order to mitigate any increase in costs residents would need to cover as part of the Council’s element of the Council Tax.

Having noted the comments provided, CabinetRESOLVED:

(1)        To recommend to full Council an overall 4.99% increase in the Council’s element of Council Tax for 2021/22, with 3% as a precept for Adult Social Care and a 1.99% general increase.

(2)        To recommend to full Council the General Fund revenue budget for 2021/22, as summarised in Appendix A of the report.

(3)        To recommend to full Council the cost pressures and technical adjustments detailed in Appendix B of the report.

(4)        To recommend to full Council the budget savings proposals detailed in Appendix C of the report.

(5)        To note the report from the Budget Scrutiny Panel, as set out in Appendix D of the report.

(6)        To recommend to full Council the HRA budget for 2021/22, as set out in Section 7 of the report.

(7)        To agree the HRA rents for council dwellings, tenant service charges and garages, as set out in Section 7 of the report.

(8)        To agree the rents set under the Housing General Fund for Brent Housing PFI and traveller’s site pitches and to note the rents for Hillside dwellings as set out in Section 7 of the report.

(9)        To note the Dedicated Schools Grant as set out in Section 8 of the report.

(10)    To agree to refinance the loan for First Wave Housing, as set out in Section 10 of the report.

(11)    To agree to recommend to full Council the Capital Programme as set out in Appendix E of the report.

(12)    To agree to recommend to full Council the Capital Strategy, the Investment Strategy, the Treasury Management Strategy and the Minimum Revenue Provision Statement as set out in Appendices G, H, I and J of the report.

(13)    To agree to recommend to full Council the schedule of reserves, as set out in Appendix K of the report.

(14)    To agree, and where relevant agree to recommend to full Council, the schedule of fees and charges set out at in Appendix L of the report.

(15)    To note the results of the budget consultation as set out in Section 6 and detailed in Appendix M of the report.

(16)    To note the advice of the Director of Legal, HR, Audit and Investigations as set out in Appendix N of the report.

(17)    To note and approve the specific recommendations identified for consideration by Full Council as detailed in section 2.17 – 2.36 of the report.