Agenda item

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 2024/25 totalling £567.6m as set out in Appendices A, B and E of the report and includes the growth and savings for that year as set out in Appendix C;

 

(b)       That approval be given to the projected provisional revenue budgets for 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28, 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, engagement 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 2024/25 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 2024/25 to 2027/28 capital programme, totalling £447m, 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:

	2024/25 £m	2025/26 £m	2026/27 £m	2027/28 £m
Operational boundary for external debt
i)      Borrowing	220	219	243	273
ii)      Other long term liabilities	1	1	1	1
TOTAL	221	220	244	274
Authorised limit for external debt
i)      Borrowing	230	229	253	283
ii)      Other long term liabilities	1	1	1	1
TOTAL	231	230	254	284

 

(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 2024/25 to 2027/28:

 

(i)         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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(ii)        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 2024/25, subject to the prudential limits in Appendix N;

 

(m)   That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and the Annual Investment Strategy for 2024/25, 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 2024/25;

 

(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 21 February 2024;

 

(q)    That the Leicestershire School Funding Formula be subject to capping and scaling to continue to reflect the National Funding Formula for 2024/25;

 

(r)     That the Director of Children and Family Services, following consultation with the Lead Member for Children and Family Services, be authorised to agree the funding rates for early years providers for 2024/25;

 

(s)    That in light of the Council’s financial position, the proposal to revise the Council’s net zero targets for its own operations, from 2030 to 2035, and for the wider County, from 2045 to 2050, be approved;

 

(t)     That the proposed changes to the Recycling and Household Waste Site service as outlined at paragraph 37 of the report be noted, to be funded from the Service Investment budget, and subject to the outcome of further consultation.”

 

An amendment was moved by Mr Mullaney and seconded by Mr Bray:

 

‘(i)    That paragraph (a) of the motion be amended to read as follow   

 

“(a)   That subject to the items below, approval be given to the MTFS which incorporates the recommended revenue budget for 2024/25 totalling £567.6m 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, as amended by paragraph (a) (i) below;”

 

(ii)    That the following be added after paragraph (a) of the motion:

 

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

                    

	2024/25 £000s	2025/26 £000s	2026/27 £000s	2027/28 £000s
Add new savings items as follows:
Cease publication of Leicestershire Matters	-108	-108	-108	-108
Reduce Members’ Allowances budget by the removal of a Cabinet Member	-22	-22	-22	-22
Amend new growth item as follows:
Additional investment in public bus subsidies	130	130	130	130

 

 

(iii)    That paragraph (b) of the motion be amended to read as follows:

 

      “(b)     That approval be given to the projected provisional revenue budgets for 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28, set out in Appendix B to the report, including the growth and savings for those years as set out in Appendix C, as now amended, allowing the undertaking of preliminary work, including business case development, engagement 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;”’

 

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, Mrs Jordan, Mr Miah, Mr Mullaney, Ms Newton 

 

Against the Amendment:

 

Mr Allen, Mr Ashman, 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 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 Pendleton, Mr Phillimore, Mr Poland, Mrs Posnett, Mrs Radford, Mr Richardson, Mrs Richardson, Mr Rushton, Mrs Seaton, Mr Shepherd, Mr Smith, Mrs Taylor, Mrs M Wright

 

The amendment was not carried, 12 members voting for the amendment and 39 against.

 

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

 

(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 2024/25 totalling £567.6m 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, as amended by paragraph (a) (i) below;”

 

(ii)    That the following be added after paragraph (a) of the motion:

 

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

 

	2024/25 £000s	2025/26 £000s	2026/27 £000s	2027/28 £000s
Add new savings items as follows:
Reduce Members’ Allowances budget by the removal of the four Cabinet Support Members	-33	-33	-33	-33
Reduce support to the Cabinet	-55	-55	-55	-55
Add new growth item as follows:
Revenue costs associated with a new Capital Programme allocation of £1.5m p.a. for additional drainage schemes	88	88	88	88

 

 

(iii)    That paragraph (b) of the motion be amended to read as follows:

 

“(b)   That approval be given to the projected provisional revenue budgets for 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28, set out in Appendix B to the report, including the growth and savings for those years as set out in Appendix C, as now amended, allowing the undertaking of preliminary work, including business case development, engagement 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;”

 

(iv)   That paragraph (g) of the motion be amended to read as follows:

 

“(g)  That approval be given to the 2024/25 to 2027/28 capital programme, as now amended, totalling £453m, as set out in Appendix F;”’

 

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 Jordan, Mr Mullaney

 

Against the Amendment:

 

Mr Allen, Mr Ashman, 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 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 Pendleton, Mr Phillimore, Mr Poland, Mrs Posnett, Mrs Radford, Mr Richardson, Mrs Richardson, Mr Rushton, Mrs Seaton, Mr Shepherd, Mr Smith, Mrs Taylor, Mrs M Wright

 

The amendment was not carried, 8 members voting for the amendment and 39 against.

 

On the original 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 Barkley, Mr Bedford, Mr Breckon, Mr Champion, Mr Chapman, Mr Coxon, Dr Feltham, Mr Frisby, Mrs Fryer, Mr Ghattoraya, Mr Gillard, Mr Grimley, 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 Pendleton, Mr Phillimore, Mr Poland, Mrs Posnett, Mrs Radford, Mr Richardson, Mrs Richardson, Mr Rushton, Mrs Seaton, Mr Shepherd, Mr Smith, Mrs Taylor, Mrs M Wright

 

Against the Motion:

 

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

 

The motion was put and carried, 39 members voting for the motion and 12 members against.