Agenda and minutes
Venue: Committee Rooms 1, 2 and 3, Brent Town Hall, Forty Lane, Wembley, HA9 9HD. View directions
Contact: Lisa Weaver, Democratic Services Officer 020 8937 1358, Email: lisa.weaver@brent.gov.uk
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Declarations of interests Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant financial or other interest in the items on this agenda. Minutes: None declared. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting PDF 100 KB Minutes: RESOLVED:-
that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 January 2013 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting. |
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Matters arising Minutes: The Chair informed the Committee that the letter to West London Waste Authority (WLWA) had been drafted and would be sent shortly, signed by the Chair of the Budget and Finance Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Leader of the Council. A copy of the letter would be circulated to members of the Committee. |
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The draft budget 2013/14 The Budget and Finance Overview and Scrutiny Committee will discuss and make recommendations on the draft 2013/14 budget. Councillor Ruth Moher, Lead Member for Corporate Resources and Deputy Leader of the Council, will present the draft budget and answer questions from members. While the committee will lead the discussion, this meeting is intended to give all non-Executive members the opportunity to participate in the budget scrutiny process and raise any questions or comments they may have on the draft budget. Minutes: Councillor R Moher, Deputy Leader of the Council introduced the draft budget 2013/14 by way of a PowerPoint presentation. She opened the presentation by outlining the 2012/13 forecast outturn and highlighted that the Council was on target to achieve an underspend for the year 2012/13 as well as achieve its targeted reserves of £12m a year early. Councillor R Moher continued by addressing the key budget issues in 2012/13 namely the pressures on social services for children and adults, challenging waste and recycling targets and effective mitigation of risks arising from housing allowance limits, all of which had been factored into the budget for 2013/14. She outlined the current position regarding council tax in light of the Localism Act 2011 requiring local authorities to hold a referendum if they wished to increase council tax greater than 2%. It was explained that Brent would receive a council tax freeze grant equivalent to a 1.3% increase for the years 2013/14 and 2014/15 which would subsequently be rolled into the base budget.
Councillor Gladbaum queried the impact of the requirement for benefit recipients to pay council tax in the future. The Leader of the Council, Councillor Butt, explained that the special meeting of Full Council in December 2012 detailed the sliding scale of payments which benefit recipients would be expected to contribute towards council tax. The report also included a two page fact sheet and he agreed to send a link to Councillor Gladbaum. It was explained that due to the increased risk of some residents not being able to pay council tax, a predicted collection rate of 96.5% had been set. The scheme and its potential impacts had been widely publicised across the borough.
The Deputy Leader of the Council reminded members of the budget process that had been undertaken, which included a widespread consultation exercise and recognition of the recommendations made by the committee. It was noted that due to the late emergence of information and the fact that some information was currently unavailable, the setting of the budget had been a difficult process. Councillor R Moher explained the basis of the budget including realistic spending totals with reserves to be maintained at an agreed level and a commitment to efficiency.
Following queries from members it was clarified that inflation calculations had been based upon a 1% PAYE and non-pay increase allowed for contractual inflations, resulting in a potential budget risk. It was explained that the potential triple dip recession might have an indirect effect on the financial position through increased demand for services and the income that could be generated. It was noted that longer term impacts could be a reduction in second homes revenues and the continuation of the austerity programme. It was queried why the £12m level of reserves had been reached ahead of target rather than the money being used for service delivery. It was clarified that due to the future uncertainty, the Council had sought to increase its reserves to £12m to mitigate against unforeseen circumstances ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
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Discussion on the committee's second interim report PDF 153 KB Members will have the opportunity to finalise their discussions on the content and format of the Committee’s second interim report before it is submitted to the meeting of the Executive on Monday 13 February 2012.
A copy of the Panel’s first interim report it attached for information Minutes: The Chair highlighted that numerous recommendations had been made by the Committee and that the following recommendations had been received from Councillor HB Patel:
(i) When setting the Council’s budget for 2013/14, the Administration should consider a reduction in its reserves in order to support the General Fund Revenue budget which supports communities (ii) That the Council continued with the target of 97.5 per cent council tax collection for the year 2013/14 (iii) That the Administration reconsider its parking charges in order to facilitate economic growth and support local businesses.
The Committee noted the earlier discussion regarding the requirement of reserves and the council tax collection rate, which meant that recommendations i and ii were effectively superseded. Members discussed recommendation iii and noted the leader’s views that higher parking charges may act as a deterrent and that a parking charges review was currently taking place. Upon reflection it was felt that the recommendation should be included within the report as amended:
That the Administration consider the position and potential steps to facilitate economic growth and support local businesses
RESOLVED:-
that the report be approved subject to the inclusion of the above recommendation
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Any other urgent business Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Democratic Services Manager or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 64. Minutes: The Chair reiterated the concerns expressed at the previous meeting regarding the WLWA and felt that the lead member should attend future meetings to provide an update. Members supported this view and felt that it would be appropriate for the lead member to attend each meeting until the issue was resolved as well as invite a representative from WLWA to attend a future meeting. |
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Date of next meeting The next scheduled meeting of the Committee will be confirmed at the Full Council meeting on 15 May 2013. Minutes: The date of the next meeting will be confirmed at the Annual Full Council meeting on 15 May 2013. |