Agenda item

Mr Breckon, with the consent of the seconder of the motion, sought and obtained the approval of the Council to move an altered motion.

 

It was moved by Mr Breckon and seconded by Mr Shepherd:

 

(a)       “That subject to the items below, approval be given to the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) which incorporates the recommended revenue budget for 2023/24 totalling £512.1m as set out in Appendices A, B and E of this report and includes the growth and savings for that year as set out in Appendix C as amended by paragraph (a) (i) and (ii) below:

 

(i)         That the list of growth and savings proposals as set out in Appendix C of the report be amended as follows:

 

	2023/24 £000s	2024/25 £000s	2025/26 £000s	2026/27 £000s
Delete the following savings item:
ET9 Review expansion of community speed cameras	55	55	55	55
Add the following new growth item:
Revenue funding of capital spend to finance the purchase of community speed cameras	45	45	45	45
Reduce the Service Reduction contingency	-100	-100	-100	-100

 

(ii)        That any residual funds not required from the Service Reduction Contingency be used for Highways Maintenance;

 

(b)       That approval be given to the projected provisional revenue budgets for 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27, set out in Appendix B to the report, including the growth and savings for those years as set out in Appendix C, allowing the undertaking of preliminary work, including business case development, consultation and equality and human rights impact assessments, as may be necessary to achieve the savings specified for those years including savings under development, set out in Appendix D;

 

(c)        That approval be given to the early achievement of savings that are included in the MTFS, as may be necessary, along with associated investment costs, subject to the Director of Corporate Resources agreeing to funding being available;

 

(d)       That the level of the general fund and earmarked reserves as set out in Appendix K be noted and the use of those earmarked reserves as indicated in that appendix be approved;

 

(e)       That the amounts of the County Council's Council Tax for each band of dwelling and the precept payable by each billing authority for 2023/24 be as set out in Appendix M (including 2% for the adult social care precept);

 

(f)         That the Chief Executive be authorised to issue the necessary precepts to billing authorities in accordance with the budget requirement above and the tax base notified by the District Councils, and to take any other action which may be necessary to give effect to the precepts;

 

(g)       That approval be given to the 2023/24 to 2026/27 capital programme as set out in Appendix F;

 

(h)       That the Director of Corporate Resources following consultation with the Lead Member for Resources be authorised to approve new capital schemes, including revenue costs associated with their delivery, shown as future developments in the capital programme, to be funded from funding available;

 

(i)         That the financial indicators required under the Prudential Code included in Appendix N, Annex 2 be noted and that the following limits be approved:

	2023/24 £m	2024/25 £m	2025/26 £m	2026/27 £m
Operational boundary for external debt
(i)         Borrowing	262	262	275	309
(ii)        Other long term liabilities	1	1	1	1
TOTAL	263	263	276	310
Authorised limit for external debt
(i)         Borrowing	272	272	285	319
(ii)        Other long term liabilities	1	1	1	1
TOTAL	273	273	286	320

 

 

(j)         That the Director of Corporate Resources be authorised to effect movement within the authorised limit for external debt between borrowing and other long-term liabilities;

 

(k)        That the following borrowing limits be approved for the period 2023/24 to 2026/27:

 

(i)     Upper limit on fixed interest exposures 100%;

(ii)    Upper limit on variable rate exposures 50%;

(iii)   Maturity of borrowing:-

 

	Upper Limit	Lower Limit
	%	%
Under 12 months	30	0
12 months and within 24 months	30	0
24 months and within 5 years	50	0
5 years and within 10 years	70	0
10 years and above	100	25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(iv)      An upper limit for principal sums invested for periods longer than 364 days is 20% of the portfolio.

 

(l)         That the Director of Corporate Resources be authorised to enter into such loans or undertake such arrangements as necessary to finance capital payments in 2023/24, subject to the prudential limits in Appendix N;

 

(m)      That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and the Annual Investment Strategy for 2023/24, as set out in Appendix N, be approved including:

 

(i)         The Treasury Management Policy Statement, Appendix N; Annex 4;

(ii)        The Annual Statement of the Annual Minimum Revenue Provision as set out in Appendix N, Annex 1; 

 

(n)       That the Capital Strategy (Appendix G), Investing in Leicestershire Programme Strategy (Appendix H), Risk Management Policy and Strategy (Appendix I), Earmarked Reserves Policy (Appendix J) and Insurance Policy (Appendix L) be approved;

 

(o)       That it be noted that the Leicester and Leicestershire Business Rate Pool will continue for 2023/24;

 

(p)       That the Director of Corporate Resources following consultation with the Lead Member for Resources be authorised to make any changes to the provisional MTFS which may be required as a result of changes arising between the Cabinet and County Council meetings, noting that any changes will be reported to the County Council on 22 February 2023;

 

(q)       That the Leicestershire School Funding Formula is subject to capping and scaling continues to reflect the National Funding Formula for 2023/24;

 

(r)         That the funding rates for early years providers, as set out in paragraph 114 of the report, be approved.

 

(s)        That the additional investment of £0.5m for Highways Maintenance described in paragraph 36 be approved.”

 

An amendment was moved by Mr Galton and seconded by Mrs Hack:

 

(i)	That paragraph (a) of the motion be amended to read as follows:
	“(a)	that subject to the items below, approval be given to the MTFS which incorporates the recommended revenue budget for 2023/24 totalling £512.1m as set out in Appendices A, B, and E of the report and includes growth and savings for that year as set out in Appendix C thereto, as amended by paragraph (a) (i) and (ii) below;
		“(i)	That the list of growth and savings proposals as set out in Appendix C of the report be amended as follows:     2023/24 £000s 2024/25 £000s 2025/26 £000s 2026/27 £000s Add new growth items as follows:         G21 Additional funding for subsidised bus policy, post covid 500 500 500 500 Revise the following item to state:         Service Reduction contingency 500 500 500 500
		“(ii)	That it be noted that the budget shortfall of £500,000 will be met by the revision to the Service Reduction Contingency outlined in (i) above;
		“(iii)	That approval be given to the projected provisional revenue budgets for 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26, set out in Appendix B to the report including the growth and savings for those years as set out in Appendix C thereto and to the undertaking of such preliminary work, including business case development, consultation and equality impact assessments as may be necessary towards the achieving of savings specified for those years including savings under development, set out in Appendix D.”

 

 

The Chairman indicated that a named vote would be recorded, as required by Government Regulations.

 

The vote was recorded as follows:

 

For the Amendment:

 

Mr Bill, Mr Boulter, Mr Bray, Mr Charlesworth, Mr Galton, Mr Gamble, Mrs Hack, Mr Hunt, Mr Miah, Mr Mullaney, Ms Newton, Mr Welsh.

 

Against the Amendment:

 

Mr Allen, Mr Ashman, Mr Bannister, Mr Barkley, Mr Bedford, Mr Breckon, Mr Champion, Mr Chapman, Dr Feltham, Mr Frisby, Mrs Fryer, Mr Ghattoraya, Mr Gillard, Mr Grimley, Mr Hadji-Nikolaou, Mr Harrison, Mr Harrison-Rushton, Mr Hills, Mr King, Mr Lovegrove, Mr Merrie, Mr Morgan, Mr O’Shea, Mr Orson, Mrs Page, Mr Pain, Mr Parton, Mr Phillimore, Mr Poland, Mrs Posnett, Mrs Radford, Mr Richardson, Mrs Richardson, Mr Rushton, Mrs Seaton, Mr Shepherd, Mr Smith, Mrs Taylor, Mrs A Wright, Mrs M Wright.

 

The amendment was not carried, 12 members voting for the amendment and 40 against.

 

On the altered motion being put, the Chairman indicated that a named vote would be recorded, as required by Government Regulations.

 

The vote was recorded as follows:

 

For the Motion:

 

Mr Allen, Mr Ashman, Mr Bannister, Mr Barkley, Mr Bedford, Mr Breckon, Mr Champion, Mr Chapman, Mr Coxon, Dr Feltham, Mr Frisby, Mrs Fryer, Mr Ghattoraya, Mr Gillard, Mr Grimley, Mr Hadji-Nikolaou, Mr Harrison, Mr Harrison-Rushton, Mr Hills, Mr King, Mr Lovegrove, Mr Merrie, Mr Morgan, Mr O’Shea, Mr Orson, Mrs Page, Mr Pain, Mr Parton, Mr Phillimore, Mr Poland, Mrs Posnett, Mrs Radford, Mr Richardson, Mrs Richardson, Mr Rushton, Mrs Seaton, Mr Shepherd, Mr Smith, Mrs Taylor, Mrs A Wright, Mrs M Wright.

 

Against the Motion:

 

Mr Bill, Mr Boulter, Mr Bray, Mr Charlesworth, Mr Galton, Mr Gamble, Mrs Hack, Mr Hunt, Mr Miah, Mr Mullaney, Ms Newton, Mr Welsh.

 

The motion was put and carried, 41 members voting for the motion and 12 members against.