Cabinet considered the report that report contained four annexes which contain the main budget reports to be considered by Full Council on 25^th February 2020.

 

The Chairman informed Cabinet that this had been a difficult budget to set as the council found itself in a challenging position. Difficult decisions had to be made to get a balanced budget where the council could continue to invest in helping the most vulnerable in our society as well as being able to invest in capital and regeneration projects and meeting our commitments such as climate change and carbon zero targets.

 

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot informed that Cabinet were asked to approve four reports to Council that formed the proposed budget for 2020/21.  The council’s overview and scrutiny panels had considered the appropriate sections of the budget and the meetings were attended by himself and Lead Members, panel comments had been circulated to Cabinet.

 

The Capital Programme report set out the council’s plan for capital investment in 2020/21 and the indicative five year plan up to 2024/25. The total capital programme for 2020/21 was proposed to be £56.6m, of which the largest share,£48.598m, related to ongoing cost of existing capital schemes. New capital investment amounted to £8.062m.  a number of major schemes were in the pipeline such as the Braywick Leisure Centre, Vicus Way Car Park, regeneration projects in Maidenhead and public realm in Windsor.

 

It had been decided that all expenditure below £20k was de minimis for capital purposes and expenditure below this amount would now be funded from within revenue budgets. This decision had the benefit of a reducing the number of capital projects, enabling more focus on larger schemes when approving and monitoring spend.

 

Cabinet were informed that the report contained the following appendices; the Capital Strategy, the Capital Programme for fully funded schemes, the Capital Programme  for income generating schemes, the Capital Programme for borough funded schemes, the full Capital Programme 2019/20 – 2022/23, pre-approved major Schemes and capital cash flow.

 

Councillor Jones asked if there had been any feedback from the Chamber of Commerce and if both chambers had been consulted and was informed by the Lead Member that he had met with representatives from the Maidenhead Chamber of Commerce and Windsor CIC.  It had been a productive meeting where they discussed issues such as business rates, vacancy rates and footfall. 

 

With regards to Capital Receipts Cllr Jones was informed that there were projects that were generating income such as York House which delivered £500,000 per year after borrowing costs.  There were other income generating projects due such as St Clouds Way. 

 

Councillor Jones made reference to section 5.6 of t report regarding assets repaying borrowing and asked if it was possible to know how much income had been generated and was anticipated to be generated.  The Lead Member said he would ask officers if it was possible to provide this information and that projects such as  Vicus Way Car Park would generate income.

 

Cllr Jones asked what was the impact of having to invest in short term maintenance rather than long term capital investments and was informed that £3 million had been set aside to cover maintenance project and the council was moving towards these projects being covered by revenue in the future.

 

Cllr Jones questioned what impact long term borrowing was having on the budget and if this was built into the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  She also asked if there would be an effective process to assess competing capital priorities.  Peter Robinson, Cipfa consultant, responded that it was good business if income from assets exceeded borrowing and if they had good business cases.  The Lead Member said that with regards to priorities this was already in place and each proposed project had to have an effective business case.

 

Cllr Jones asked if the Capital Programme Working Group would be transparent and was informed that it would be as transparent as possible but due to commercial sensitivity some information will have to be in Part II.

 

Cllr Larcombe addressed Cabinet regarding flooding from the River Thames and how Surrey County Council had set aside £270 million for works, he asked if we could set aside £54  million as part of the scheme.  The Lead Member for Public Protection and Parking responded that there would be a contribution of £52 million but he was arguing that the lower Thames scheme should be a national scheme.  This is not in the report as the funding was reliant on a change in legislation. 

 

Cllr C Da Costa asked if it would be possible to see the business case put forward for the Dedworth Manor Community Café.  The Chairman had previously thanked Cllr C Da Costa and Cllr Price for their efforts regarding the café but unfortunately it was not being funded and he said he would follow up her request.  

 

Cllr Knowles asked when the consultation with the Chamber of Commerce took place as the report said 2019 and was informed that this was a typo error as consultation was undertaken annually and the Lead Member had met with them on Tuesday prior to this meeting.

 

Cabinet agreed that the recommendations regarding the Capital Programme would be put to Council.

 

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot introduced the Fees and Charges report setting out the proposed increases that have been included within the 2020/21 budget proposals.

 

Cabinet were informed that section two of the report showed the reasons for the recommendations.  Some charges are statutory with set fees whilst others are discretionary and the Council could choose to set the level charged.  When setting discretionary charges the cost of providing the service and what is reasonable was considered. In determining reasonableness the Council compared the charges made for the same service by other councils and the private sector.  Some charges would also be set to aid the climate change objectives.

 

Cllr Jones mentioned that with regards to parking permit charges and visitor parking in Windsor she felt the proposals were premature and did not compare favourably with other authorities.  Parking charges were much higher and Windsor and she was in discussion with the Lead Member regarding this.

 

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot said that Cabinet had listened to what O&S had said. The Lead Member for Public Protection and Parking said that there was talk about different schemes being used so he would look to see if they could produce the same outcomes with less impact for residents. The Deputy Leader of the Council, Resident and Leisure Services, HR, IT, Legal, Performance Management and Windsor said she would be happy to meet with Cllr Jones to discuss her concerns.

 

Cabinet agreed that the recommendations regarding Fees and Charges would be put to Council.

 

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot introduced the Revenue Budget report 2020/21 that set out the council spending plans for 2020/21 and the medium term financial strategy.

 

Cabinet were informed that future spending plans were set against clear policy objectives under the banner of ‘creating a borough of opportunity and innovation’ and continuing to protect the most vulnerable in the community and investing in the future economic development and regeneration opportunities while increasingly ensuring that the council recognises its commitments with regard to climate resilience and its overall environmental impact. 

 

There would be increased spending planned for adult and children services to protect the most vulnerable in society. There were a number of objectives behind the budget, opportunity and innovation, regeneration of Maidenhead, protecting the vulnerable, climate change and zero carbon emissions by 2050.

 

There was an increase of £6.9 million towards adult and children services as well as saving of £3.8 million in those areas.   When setting the budget the administration had been robust about the ability to make savings but had still set aside a £3 million contingency. 

 

The Chairman said that this was a robust, transparent, prudent budget.  It planned to invest into areas that were important to residents.  A balanced budget was proposed that was both legally and morally the right thing to do and thus difficult decisions had been made. It was also planned to address other policy issues such and the climate change emergency, as mentioned at O&S if a resident has a fully electric car there would be a process in place that they would not have to pay parking fees at pay and display car parks.

 

Cllr Jones raised concern that there had been no mention of the medium term financial priorities and the need to make an annual £7 million savings per year.  If these savings can not be met then the reserves would be reduced to a negative position.  There had been talk about transformation for the last five years, there was no adequate level of reserves, forecasts say there was a need to take advantage of any opportunity to increase council tax allowances.  As the current council tax was fixed at 2% there was no opportunity to increase taxation to the required level. 

 

The Chairman said that all authorities were faced with the need to find savings, however before he went to the tax payer he would look at all saving opportunities and income generation streams.  They would also seek fairer funding from central government.

 

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot said that there had already been savings in 2021/22 identified due to work planned the previous year. Since 2013/13 the authority had successfully made year on year savings with an average of £5 million.

 

Cllr Jones said that this council was already at a low spend per capita authority and were behind other authorities.  With resources so low she was concerned about there was only so much that could be taken.  Other council had more time due to their higher tax base and level of reserves.  There was a need for transparency and that we should only burden the tax payer as a final resort. 

 

The Chairman reiterated that there was a need to make tough decisions to have a balanced budget and these had been taken to O&S Panels. It was planned to build up reserves.  Cabinet were looking at other income streams and the council had an excellent asset base to generate income. 

 

The Lead Member for Housing, Communications and Youth Engagement informed that as the Deputy Chairman of Cabinet, Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Health and Mental Health had given his apologies it was important to mention that if he was in attendance he would have mentioned the transformation work that was ongoing and planned and with the excellent support from officers the savings would be achieved.

 

Cllr Knowles questioned the decision to not capitalised spend below £20,000 as although it was a relatively small amount the accumulative amounts could have an adverse effect.  In reply the interim S105 officer informed that  spending should only be capitalised if it is of a lasting nature or enhances the value of an asset.  This generally applies to significant areas of spending and it is unlikely that spending below £20,000 will meet this criteria.  Spending below £20,000 should be met by revenue.  The Managing Director informed that these pressures had been built into the budget.

 

Cabinet agreed that the recommendations regarding the Revenue Budget report would be put to Council.  It was noted that the following recommendation was no longer required:

 

xii) Agrees that in the event of central government funding allocations

being above or below the settlement levels notified and used in this

report that any variation be managed by an adjustment to general

reserves.

 

Cabinet were informed that the council was required to approve a Treasury Management Strategy before the start of each financial year and this appendix of the report fulfilled that obligation if approved by Council.  Cabinet agreed that the recommendations for the report would be put to Council.

 

The Chairman thanked Terry Neaves, Interim Section 151 Officer, for all his hard work over the last few months working on the budget build as he would not be at Council when the budget was approved.

 

Resolved unanimously: that Cabinet recommends to Council on 25th February 2020:

 

(i)the Council’s proposed Capital Programme for 2020/21 – 2022/23 and Capital Strategy 2020/21 – 2024/25 (annex A) noting:

 

a.    the deletion of the Dedworth Community Café from the programme as set out within the Capital Programme Report.

 

b.    the fully funded capital budget of £100,000 in 2019/20 for Ascot High Street Public Realm and Highway Improvements Design Study

 

(ii)          the proposed Fees and Charges (Annex B)

 

(iii)         the Revenue Budget 2020/21 (Annex C)

 

(iv)         That Cabinet note the Treasury Management Strategy and Prudential  Indicators (Annex D) will be considered by the Council on 25th February 2020.