Agenda item

 

Pursuant to Minute CAB 121  : Financial Strategy2025/2029of the Cabinet Meeting held on 4 February 2025, the “Financial Plan 2024/2029 and Council Tax Resolution 2025/2026” the document attached as a supplementary to the agenda for consideration and decision includes an updated summary of the Financial Plan 2025/2029, the County Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner - Council Tax for 2025/2026 and details of Parish Precepts and Internal Drainage Boards levies for 2025/2026. 

 

The updated Recommendations 1-13, following the final Financial Settlement are set out on pages 17-20 on this agenda for members consideration.

 

 

The 3 amendments being proposed to the Financial Strategy are attached at Appendix 3, pages 23-26   of the report.

 

NOTE:In accordance with Statutory Instrument 2014 No. 165, Local Government, England, The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, any decision taken on the Council’s Budget or Council Tax setting must be taken with a recorded vote.

 

 

 

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Pursuant to Minute CAB 121 : Financial Strategy2025/2029of the Cabinet Meeting held on 4 February 2025, the “Financial Plan 2024/2029 and Council Tax Resolution 2025/2026” the document attached as a supplementary to the agenda for consideration and decision included an updated summary of the Financial Plan 2025/2029, the County Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner - Council Tax for 2025/2026 and details of Parish Precepts and Internal Drainage Boards levies for 2025/2026. 

 

In accordance with Statutory Instrument 2014 No. 165, Local Government, England, The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, any decision taken on the Council’s Budget or Council Tax setting must be taken with a recorded vote.

 

 

Councillor Morley proposed the updated Budget and Council Tax Resolution recommendations 1-13 and spoke in support of them.

 

Councillor Beales seconded the budget and reserved the right to speak.

 

Councillor Long spoke on the budget

 

Councillor Bone proposed the following as an amendment:

 

“The Labour Group would like to propose the following three amendments that will be drawn down from the Invest to Save Transformation reserve, as we believe that our proposals would generate an improvement to services, deal with anti-social behaviour in the town centre and generate further revenue for the council.

 

Labour would like to propose that this ringfenced money could be used for a up to 25K aside to investigate the feasibility and business case for a multi-purpose bus/van that can be used to deliver services via Alive to more rural parts of the borough ensuring we serve all residents. There will be indicative costs of about up to £100K for the start-up and the revenue could be incorporated into Alive existing revenue providing a purpose-built vehicle to provide existing services and more. But this will meet the corporate plan objectives. Despite some services already being provided by other agencies this will be an enhancement to help collaboration with partners and ensuring we reach parts we haven’t previously been able to reach. We would hope that later in the year that this will become a priority for the Borough.

 

It could also go forward to provide CSAS training for council enforcement officers, to be able to deal with ASB and be able to issue PNP's. To work in partnership with police and keep some services provided by external agencies in house. Detail of proposal is attached to document as Appendix 3a.

 

Anti-social cycling is a problem in the town centre, and we believe there would benefit for a dirt bike track to be introduced in the walks beside the basketball court that would greatly reduce young people riding bike through the town. We would like to propose that a feasibility study is carried out to explore the potential of up to 25K.”

 

This was seconded by Councillor Ware.

 

Council debated the amendment and following a sum up by Councillor Morley the amendment was put to a recorded vote:

 

FOR	AGAINST	ABSTAIN
Anota	Ayres	Blunt
Bartrum	Barclay	Bubb
Beales	Crofts	Collingham
Bearshaw	Long	Hodson
Bland		Parish
Bone		Storey
Bullen		De Winton
Coates
Collop
Colwell
Everett
Heneghan
Jones
Joyce
Kemp
Lintern
Lowe
Moriarty
Morley
Nash
Osborne
Ratcliffe
Ring
Rose
Rust
Ryves
Sandell
Sayers
Ware
De Whalley
30	4	7

 

The amendment was carried which then formed part of the substantive budget.

 

Councillor Kemp proposed the following amendment to the budget and spoke in support of it.  This was seconded by Councillor Rose. 

 

“Addressing Economic Barriers to Rural Prosperity; Access to Workplaces, Education and Commerce; Increasing Footfall in the Town Centre, Connecting Communities, Supporting new Development, Investing in Heritage and Tourism, Connectivity, Accessibility, Reducing Carbon Footprint, Reducing Congestion, Reducing Use of the Private Car, Increasing Modal Shift, Improving Air Quality and Health,

 

Council Corporate Objectives:

Growth and Prosperity, Protecting our Environment, Supporting our Residents, More Efficient Services, Public Transport Facility King's Lynn Ferry, supported by Borough Subsidy:

 

To make available £150k from the Business Rates Growth Retention Reserve or Invest to Save Reserve to take forward West Lynn Ferry Landing Stage replacement to RIBA 3.”

 

Council debated the amendment and following a sum up by Councillor Morley it was put to a recorded vote:

 

FOR	AGAINST	ABSTAIN
Anota
Ayres
Barclay
Bartrum
Beales
Bearshaw
Bland
Blunt
Bone
Bubb
Bullen
Coates
Collingham
Collop
Colwell
Crofts
Everett
Heneghan
Hodson
Jones
Joyce
Kemp
Lintern
Long
Lowe
Moriarty
Morley
Nash
Osborne
Parish
Ratcliffe
Ring
Rose
Rust
Ryves
Sandell
Sayers
Storey
Ware
De Whalley
De Winton
41	0	0

 

The amendment was agreed, and then became part of the substantive budget.

 

Councillor Joyce proposed the following amendment and spoke on it:

 

"Pursuant to Cabinet CAB 121 Financial Plan 2025/2029 of the Cabinet meeting held on 4th February 2025 Financial Plan 2025/2029 Council Tax resolution 2025/2026 with the following adjustments.

 

·       £50,000 to be donated on a percentage basis to local foodbanks to be spent on energy vouchers ready for distribution by 1st October 2025.

·       £50,000 to be provided as a grant to voluntary sector organisations that has as their main aim to combat domestic abuse and violence in West Norfolk.

·       The above to be met from repurposing uncommitted earmarked reserves ie Invest to Save/Transformation or any other earmarked reserve as identified following a review."

 

The amendment was seconded by Councillor Bartrum.

 

Council debated the amendment and following a sum up by Councillor Morley it was put to a recorded vote:

 

FOR	AGAINST	ABSTAIN
Bartrum	Anota	Rose
Bone	Ayres	Sayers
Collop	Barclay
Everett	Beales
Heneghan	Bearshaw
Jones	Bland
Joyce	Blunt
Kemp	Bubb
Lowe	Bullen
Osborne	Coates
Ware	Collingham
	Colwell
	Crofts
	Hodson
	Lintern
	Long
	Moriarty
	Morley
	Nash
	Parish
	Ratcliffe
	Ring
	Rust
	Ryves
	Sandell
	Storey
	De Whalley
11	27	2

 

The amendment was lost.

 

Council debated the substantive recommendations which were put to a recorded vote.

 

FOR	AGAINST	ABSTAIN
Anota	Ayres
Beales
Bearshaw
Bland
Blunt
Bone
Bubb
Bullen
Coates
Collingham
Collop
Colwell
Crofts
Everett
Heneghan
Hodson
Jones
Joyce
Kemp
Lintern
Long
Lowe
Moriarty
Morley
Nash
Osborne
Parish
Ratcliffe
Ring
Rose
Rust
Ryves
Sandell
Sayers
Storey
Ware
De Whalley
37	1	0

 

The substantive recommendations were carried.

 

RESOLVED:That the following be approved:

 

1)              The Policy on Earmarked Reserves and General Fund Balance and the maximum balances set for the reserves as detailed in Appendix 8 of “The Financial Strategy 2024/2029” as reported to Cabinet on 4 February 2025.

 

2)              The revision to the Budget for 2025/2026 (as set out in Appendix 1 of the report), as now amended.

 

3)              The budget of £26,128,470 for 2025/2026, as now amended, and the projections for 2025/2026, 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 (as set out in Appendix 1 of the report) noted.

 

4)              The Fees and Charges for 2025/2026 as detailed in Appendix 4a and 4b of “The Financial Strategy 2024/2029” and the new Fees and Charges Policy in Appendix 4c, as reported to Cabinet on 4 February 2025.

 

5)              The Pay Policy as detailed in Appendix 5 of “The Financial Strategy 2024/2029” as reported to Cabinet on 4 February 2025.

 

6)              A minimum requirement of the General Fund balance for 2025/2026 of £1,309,420.

 

7)              The budget amendments as set out in Section 3 of the report for adopting into the Financial Strategy 2024/2029.

 

8)              Pursuant to Section 25 of the Local Government Act, Council had due regard to the statement at Section 9 of the report when considering and approving the budget and the level of council tax for 2025/2026.

 

The Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012 contain rules for the calculation of the Council Tax Base, which is an amount required by the Local Government Finance Act 1992 to be used in the calculation of the tax by the Council as the billing authority, and Norfolk County Council and the Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner as major precepting authorities, and in the calculation of the precept payable by the Council to the County Council and Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner.  Under Officer Delegated Decision the Council Tax Base was calculated as follows for the year 2025/2026:

 

Number of dwellings in each Council Tax band; taking into account the discounts, exemptions, premiums, rate of collection and Council Tax Support.

 

(a)    56,675            being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012, as its Council Tax Base for the year.

 

The tax base for each Parish

 

(b)      the amounts listed in Appendix 4 Parish Taxbases & Precepts, (Column headed - Taxbase) being the amounts calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 6 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012, as the amount of its Council Taxbase for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate.

 

9)       Approve that the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2025/2026 in accordance with Sections 31A to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended by S74 of the Localism Act 2011):

 

Total expenditure

 

(a)  £109,597,570   being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) (a) to (f) of the Act. (See Appendix 2 of the report).

         

Total income

 

(b)  £96,383,650    being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) (a) to (d) of the Act. (See Appendix 2 of the report).

 

The difference between expenditure and income

 

(c)  £13,213,920    being the amount by which the aggregate at 9(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 9(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act, as its total budget for the year. (See Appendix 2 of the report).

 

Average Council Tax for Band D property (Borough and Parish)

 

(d)    £233.15            being the amount at 9(c) above divided by the amount at 8(a) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31B(1) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year.

 

The total of Parish Precepts and Special Expenses

 

(e)                           £4,550,050  being the aggregate amount of all special items referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act.

 

The Borough Council’s Council Tax for a Band D property (excluding Parish Precepts and Special Expenses)

 

(f)(1)    £152.87         being the amount at 9(d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at 9(e) above by the amount at 8(a) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no special item relates.

 

The Borough Council’s Council Tax for each valuation band

 

(f)(2)

 

    

 

The Borough, Special Expenses and Parish Councils’ Council Tax for a Band D property in each Parish

 

(g)                          the amounts listed in Col (4), Appendix 5 of the report Special Expenses and Appendix 5 Parish Precepts, when added to the amount at 9 (f)(1) above being the amounts of the special item or items relating to dwellings in those parts of the Council’s area mentioned divided in each case by the taxbases in Appendix 4 of the report calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(3) of the Act, gives the basic amounts of its Council Tax for the year for dwelling in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate.

 

The Borough and Parish Councils’ Council Tax for each tax band in each Parish

 

(h)                         the amounts listed in Cols (1) to (8), Appendix 4 of the report Special Expenses and Appendix 5 Parish Precepts, together with the amounts shown above in 9(f)(2) as valuation bands A to H - being the amounts given by multiplying the amounts at 9(g) above by the number which, in the proportion set out in Section 5(1) of the Act, is applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band, divided by the number which in that proportion is applicable to dwellings listed in valuation band D, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 36 of the Act, as the amounts to be taken into account for the year in respect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuation bands.

 

 

10)  It be noted that for the year 2025/2026 Norfolk County Council and the Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner have stated the following amounts in precepts issued to the Council, in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

                   

 

 

The total Council Tax for each band in each parish (Appendix 6) to the report

 

11)     That, having calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts at 9h and 10 above, the Council, in accordance with Section 30(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets these as the amounts of Council Tax for the year 2025/2026 for each of the categories of dwellings shown.

 

12)     That the Assistant Director Resources (S151 Officer), Revenues and Benefits Manager, Revenues Manager, Assistant Revenues Manager, Revenues Team Leaders, Committal Manager, Committal Officer, Non-Domestic Rates Officer, Generic Revenues and Benefits Officers, Revenues Officers and Revenues Assistants be authorised to demand and recover, in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992, the Council Tax set by this resolution, the Non Domestic Rates payable by Ratepayers and the annual Business Improvement District Levy, and be authorised to appear on behalf of the Council in Magistrates’ Courts in respect of recovery proceedings.

 

13)     That the Officers be authorised to give notice of the setting of the Council Tax in accordance with Section 96 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.