Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bambridge, Mrs S Collop, C Joyce and J Lowe.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There were no declarations of interest declared.

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposes to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

There was no urgent business to report.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before the meeting commences.  Any Member attending the meeting under Standing Order 34 will only be permitted to speak on those items which have been previously notified to the Chairman.

Councillor A Kemp.

There was no Chairman’s correspondence to report.

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The Chair invited the Assistant Director, Resources & Section 151 Officer to present the report.

The Assistant Director, Resources explained that the terms of reference for the Committee described one of its roles as acting as a consultative forum on the funding raised by, and utilisation of the King’s Lynn Special Expenses, and to offer input on priorities for the expenditure and if appropriate the level of funds to be raised.

The Assistant Director, Resources drew the Committee’s attention to what Special Expenses were currently charged for, as set out at 1.3 in the report.

1.4 of the report explained that the total cost of Special Expenses was met by the Council tax-payers of King’s Lynn.    It was explained that the total special charge for 2022/23 for King’s Lynn was £533,320.

Attention was drawn to paragraph 2.1 which explained that the Council Tax base for King’s Lynn for 2023 / 24 was currently estimated at 10,835 which was an increase of increase of 67 from 2022 / 23.  This resulted in a Band D charge of 60.00 resulting in an increase of £10.47.

The Assistant Director, Resources explained the main movements between the special expense charges to 2022/23 and 2023/24 as follows:

·        Footway lighting increase of £23,150 – this increase in costs was due to a significant increase in utility rates of circa 57%.  This was an estimated figure including an element of forecasting so there was a possibility that this cost could increase further.

·        Play areas increase of £3,870 – this increase reflected an increase in staffing costs and a small increase in utility costs.

·        Community Centres increase of £14,810 – this increase was a result of significant increase in utility costs and a reduction income levels due to a decline in room lettings and associated recharges.

·        Closed churchyards, pavilions, dog bins, public conveniences – these increases were based on inflationary increases reflecting staffing, utility and general inflation increases.

·        Open spaces increase of £38,500 – this increase was again a reflection of increases in staffing costs as well as other inflationary increases.

·        Bus Shelters increase of £1,140 – this was incorporating an issue in utility costs and the inclusion of the new bus shelter scheme running costs.  The was offset by a reduction in rates and an increase in advertising costs.

The above figures presented a significant increase in the cost of services provided through Special Expenses.  The increase of £10.47 significantly exceeded the £5 increase in council tax that the Council was permitted to levy without going through a referendum exercise.

It was explained that the Council applied a notional split of the £5.00 increase in Council Tax as follows:  Borough Council £4.50 and Special Expenses £0.50.

In order to bring the level of increase in special expenses down from £10.47 to £0.50, this would require supplementing from the Council’s budget.  The supplement was currently estimated at around £108,000.  It was explained that the Council would not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for Monday 30 January 2023.

The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Monday, 30 January 2022.