Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor Liz Oades.

 

Announcements

 

Deaths

 

The Chairman reported the recent death of former County Councillor Sylvia Smithson who sadly passed away on Friday 27 November 2020.

 

The Council observed a one minute silence.

 

New Year Honours 2021

 

The Chairman extended the Full Council's congratulations to County Councillor Azhar Ali who had been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the recent New Year Honours for services to the community in North West England.

 

Name of Councillor	Agenda Item Number(s)	Nature of Interest (non-pecuniary unless stated)
County Councillor Margaret Pattison	3	-  Employee of Age Consulting

 

The Chairman set out the proposed revised format for the meeting and sought Full Council's approval to waive Standing Order B39(2) to allow all amendments to be tabled and debated concurrently.

 

Resolved: - That approval be given to the waiving of Standing Order B39(2).

 

County Councillor Geoff Driver, Leader of the County Council, moved the recommendations of the Cabinet regarding the:

 

-  Revenue Budget 2021/22 and Financial Strategy 2021/22 to 2023/24;

-  Capital Delivery Programme 2021/22;

-  Capital Strategy 2021 - 2041;

-  Council Tax and Precept 2021/22;

 

Together with the recommendations of the Audit Risk and Governance Committee from its meeting on 25 January 2021 in respect of:

 

-  The Treasury Management Strategy and Non-Treasury Investment Strategy 2021/22;

-  The Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement 2021/22; 

 

In moving the report, County Councillor Driver outlined an adjustment to the proposals contained within the report, together with an amendment. Details of both the adjustment and amendment were set out in documents circulated to all Members, which are appended to these minutes as Annexes 1 and 2 respectively.

 

The motion was seconded by County Councillor Keith Iddon, Deputy Leader of the County Council.

 

County Councillor Tony Martin, on behalf of the Labour Group, then made his Budget speech and moved an Amendment to the Budget proposals on behalf of the Labour Group which was seconded by County Councillor Azhar Ali.

 

A copy of the Amendment was circulated to all Members and is set out at Annex 3 to these minutes.

 

County Councillor David Whipp, on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group, then made his Budget speech and moved an Amendment to the Budget proposals on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group which was seconded by County Councillor David Howarth.

 

A copy of the Amendment was circulated to all Members and is set out at Annex 4 to these minutes.

 

County Councillor Gina Dowding then made her Budget speech and moved an Amendment to the Budget proposals which was seconded by County Councillor Paul Hayhurst.

 

A copy of the Amendment was circulated to all Members and is set out at Annex 5 to these minutes.

 

Following an adjournment and then a period of debate, a recorded vote on each Amendment was taken in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order B45(7). The names of those Members who voted for or against the Amendment, and those who abstained, are set out below.

 

Labour Group Amendment

 

For (32)

 

T Aldridge	C Crompton	J Gibson	S Malik	J Parr
A Ali	M Dad	P Hayhurst	T Martin	M Pattison
L Beavers	B Dawson	N Hennessy	J Mein	K Snape
J Berry	F De Molfetta	S Holgate	J Molineux	M Tomlinson
T Burns	G Dowding	M Iqbal	Y Motala
L Collinge	K Ellard	H Khan	G Oliver
L Cox	J Fillis	E Lewis	M Parkinson

 

Against (47)

 

T Ashton	J Cooney	K Iddon	A Riggott	S Turner
A Atkinson	G Driver	A Kay	M Salter	A Vincent
P Britcliffe	J Eaton	S Morris	A Schofield	C  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

There were no Notices of Motion to be considered.

Annex 1 - Budget Adjustment

 

Adjustment to the 2021/22 Budget Proposal

 

The budget recommendation to Full Council included the most up to date information at the time of writing, and as part of this included funding projections based on the provisional financial settlement that was announced on 17^th December 2020. 

 

1. The Final Settlement 2021/22

 

The final settlement was announced on 4^th February 2021.  The settlement included confirmation of various grants generally in line with the provisional settlement. 

 

2. Business Rates

 

On reviewing the final settlement business rates information in conjunction with the information received from the City and Borough Councils, the business rates forecast for 2021/22 is showing a small pressure compared to those figures included in the report to Full Council. 

 

The impact of this adjustment is for one-year only, as from 2022/23 we would expect to achieve baseline funding and we are also forecast to move to a new model for business rates (75% retention).

 

The impact on the MTFS presented to Full Council is as follows:

 

Table 1

	2021/22 £m	2022/23 £m	2023/24 £m
Full Council Report	-4.322	35.034	47.591
Full Council Adjustment	0.349	0.000	0.000
Financial Gap	-3.973	35.034	47.591

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This gives an overall position of:

 

 

 

 

County Councillor Geoff Driver CBE,

Leader of the County Council,

11 February 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annex 2 - Conservative Group Amendment

 

BUDGET COUNCIL: 11th FEBRUARY 2021

 

AMENDMENT PROPOSED BY THE CONSERATIVE GROUP TO THE 2021/22 BUDGET

 

 

 

(1)  Proposed amendments to the revenue budget

£m

 

Increase Council Tax by 3.99% rather than 4.99% within

the proposed 2021/22 budget    5.197

 

Additional investment in Youth Workers  (Recurrent)  0.400

 

Increase the book fund (21/22 only)  0.500

 

Investment in Museums web pages (21/22 only)  0.050

 

Investment in Environment and Climate Change Programme  0.496

(From 22/23 – full year recurrent costs - £0.973m)

 

Additional borrowing costs(Recurrent)  1.190

 

 

Total cost of proposed amendments:  7.833

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue Budget 2021/22