To consider the recommendations of the Corporate Policy Committee.
Minutes:
The Corporate Policy Committee, at its meeting on 13 February 2024, had considered a report on the Medium-Term Financial Strategy for Cheshire East Council for 2024/25 – 2027/28.
The Corporate Policy Committee had recommended to Council the recommendations set out in Appendix A to the report.
Following debate, the recommendations were put to the vote, and in accordance with legislation, a recorded vote was carried out with the following results:
FOR
Councillors L Anderson, S Bennett-Wake, J
Bird, L Braithwaite, J Bratherton, M Brooks, C Browne, L Buchanan,
C Bulman, A Burton, C Chapman, D Clark,
Coiley, N Cook, S Corcoran, L Crane, B
Drake, D Edwardes, K Edwards, M Edwards, H Faddes, A Farrall, E
Gilman, M Goldsmith, M Gorman, C Hilliard, D Jefferay, N Mannion, G Marshall, A Moran, R
Moreton, C Naismith, J Place, B Puddicombe, J Rhodes, H Seddon, G Smith, John
Smith, Julie Smith,
J Snowball, R Vernon, M Warren and F Wilson.
AGAINST
Councillors S Adams, R Bailey, M Beanland, D Brown, R Chadwick, J Clowes, T Dean, S Edgar, A Gage, S Gardiner, E Hall, A Harrison, G Hayes, A Heler, S Holland, T Jackson, R Kain, A Kolker, R Morris, H Moss, M Muldoon, C O’Leary, J Pearson, B Posnett, J Pratt, P Redstone, J Saunders, M Sewart, M Simon, L Smetham, L Wardlaw and J Wray.
NOT VOTING
Councillors R Fletcher, M Houston and L Smith.
The motion was declared carried with 43 votes for, 32 against and 3 not voting.
RESOLVED:
That Council notes
1 the Report of the Council’s Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer), contained within the MTFS Report, regarding the robustness of estimates and level of reserves held by the Council based on these budget proposals (Appendix C, Report from the Section 151 Officer).
That Council, having given due regard to the report of the Chief Finance Officer, approves:
2 the Revenue estimates for the 2024/25 budget and the medium-term Capital Programme estimates 2024-2028, as detailed in the Medium-Term Financial Strategy Report (MTFS) 2024-2028 (Appendix C to the report).
3 Band D Council Tax of £1,792.59 representing an increase of 4.99%. This is below the referendum limit (including 2% ringfenced for Adult Social Care) and arises from the provisional finance settlement (Appendix C to the report, Section 2).
4 the 2023/24 planned use of Flexible Capital Receipts is increased to £3.414m, an increase of £2.414m from the £1m approved in the 2023-27 Medium-Term Financial Strategy Report to fund transformational projects within the Council (Appendix C to the report, Section 2).
5 the 2024/25 planned use of Flexible Capital Receipts is £1.0m (Appendix C to the report, Section 10)
6 the allocation of Revenue Grant Funding for 2024/25 of £359.868m (Appendix C to the report, Annex 7), and delegates authority to the Chief Finance Officer, to approve supplementary estimates if the value of any named grant changes from the figures contained within Appendix C, Annex 7 (noting that all such variations will subsequently be reported to the appropriate Committee, and that any new, previously unnamed, grants are subject to approval in-line with the Constitution)
7 the allocation of Capital Grant Funding for 2024/25 of £95.831m (Appendix C to the report, Annex 8), and delegates authority to the Chief Finance Officer, to approve supplementary estimates if the value of any named grant changes from the figures contained within Appendix C, Annex 8 (noting that all such variations will subsequently be reported to the appropriate Committee, and that any new, previously unnamed, grants are subject to approval in-line with the Constitution)
8 the Fees and Charges schedule for 2024/25 (Appendix C to the report, Annex 9).
9 the Capital Strategy, this shows total proposed capital expenditure of £592.3m including £9.3m for Managing & Maintaining Highways (Appendix C to the report, Annex 10).
10 the Prudential Indicators for Capital Financing (Appendix C to the report, Annex 10).
11 the Treasury Management Strategy (Appendix C to the report, Annex 11).
12 the Investment Strategy; including the financial limits for various classifications of investment, and the investment decision making process set out in the Strategy (Appendix C to the report, Annex 12)
13 the Reserves Strategy (Appendix C to the report, Annex 13), which includes proposed movements to and from reserves.
14 the amendment to Key Decisions as defined in the Constitution and the financial limits to be included within the Council’s Finance Procedure Rules (Appendix C to the report, Annex 14).
15 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) – to implement emergency closures of sites at Bollington, Middlewich and Poynton from 1 April 2024 until the outcomes of the review of the long-term provision of HWRCs for Cheshire East has been presented to and approved by the Environment and Communities Committee.
16 Garden Waste Subscription Scheme - to approve the increase in the annual subscription charge to £59, payable from October 2024 onwards for collections commencing in January 2025.
17 that the Council’s Carbon Neutral ambition target is amended to 2027 and the capital projects that have been designed to achieve that target have also been deferred and should be delivered by 2027. The capital programme is currently under a review as shown in the Capital Strategy (Appendix C to the report, Annex 10).
18 a Supplementary Capital Estimate (SCE) for Northwest Crewe Package for £9.015m. The request is fully funded by external contributions, however there will be a need to forward fund the income whilst the Council awaits payment. This could cost the Council an additional £243,000 in interest costs per annum which would need to be funded by the Strategic Highways Service.
That Council recognises that Corporate Policy Committee noted:
19 the year-end outturn forecast position for 2023/24 (Appendix C to the report, Section 2).
20 the Budget Engagement exercise undertaken by the Council, as set out in the attached (Appendix C to the report, Annex 2a).
21 the results of the Budget Consultation (Appendix C to the report, Annex 2b).
22 The Adult Social Care Charging consultation results (Appendix C to the report, Section 1 – Adults and Health Committee: Narrative and proposal number 1).
The meeting was adjourned for a lunch break.
Supporting documents: