Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed Councillor David Betts back to the chamber. He also welcomed the new Corporate Director for Communities Rachael Wardell to the meeting.

The Chairman reported that he had attended 29 events since the last Council meeting. He thanked Councillor Carol Jackson-Doerge for attending two events when he was unable to.  He also thanked Councillors Paul Bryant and Anthony Stansfeld for attending two events on his behalf.

Highlights included three visits to Care Homes, two carol services, a band concert by the Hungerford Town Band, the annual Holocaust Memorial Day service, the Berkshire Inspiration and Participation award ceremony, two school visits, the event marking the relocation of the Tourist Information Centre and four citizenship ceremonies.

The Chairman made special mention of his charity coffee morning in Newbury Town Hall which raised £440 for his charity Help for Heroes. He thanked all those who had contributed to and attended and also Jude Thomas and her family for helping to organise and run the event. He also thanked the Mayor of Newbury and his Civic Manager for letting him use the Town Hall.

The Chairman reminded members that he would be hosting his charity golf day on the 15 April at the Newbury and Crookham Golf Club.

The Chairman concluded by thanking the emergency services, the police, ambulance and fire and rescue service for their tireless work during the flooding and snow at the beginning of this year. He also thanked Council staff and contractors for keeping the roads safe to drive on and for continuing to collect refuse during the periods of inclement weather. He made special mention of the Civil Contingencies Manager for keeping everyone informed about the situation on the ground.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer announced that all Members present, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, had applied for and had been granted a dispensation to consider any matter which had a bearing on the setting of the council tax (items 14, 15, 16 and 17 on this agenda). Failure to grant this dispensation would impede the transaction of the business because of the number of Councillors having the same disclosable pecuniary interest.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer also announced that Councillor Julian Swift-Hook, who was the Chairman of the Trustees of West Berkshire Mencap, had been granted a dispensation by the Standards Committee to speak on items pertaining to any detailed discussions on the Council’s Budget and Council Tax items involving Mencap although he was not permitted to vote on these items. This dispensation would be valid until May 2015.

Councillor David Rendel declared an interest in Agenda Item 19 ((health and Wellbeing Strategy), but reported that, as his interest was personal and not a disclosable pecuniary interest, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matter.

The Council considered a report (Agenda Item 13) concerning the refreshed version of the Council Strategy (2013-17).

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Roger Croft and seconded by Councillor Dominic Boeck:

That the Council:

1.        “Notes areas still to be updated (highlighted in yellow) relating to confirmation of the revenue budget.

2.        notes the strategic objectives

3.        approves the current version of the Council Strategy”.

In proposing this item Councillor Croft explained that the Strategy provided a broad framework for the delivery of services over the next five years. It also illustrated how the Council’s resources would be shaped in order to deliver the priorities. Councillor Croft noted that the section pertaining to the budget would need to be updated following approval of the Council’s Revenue Budget and Capital Programme that evening. 

Councillor Croft reported that this was a refresh of the existing strategy and that it had not been amended significantly. The most notable change was the inclusion of a section pertaining to public health as this function would be transferring to the Council as of the 01 April 2013.

Councillor Tony Vickers raised concerns that the issue of homelessness and provision of affordable housing was not adequately addressed in the strategy.

Councillor Gordon Lundie thanked Councillor Croft for the work he had done in drawing together the strategy. He noted that the transfer into and integration of Public Health into the authority and the activity around this function would be a major area of work over the next five years. He opined that this would strengthen democratic input into the health of West Berkshire.  In order to assist Members with this process he hoped to circulate data to Members on their wards in the near future. The challenge would be to permeate the Public Health agenda through the Council.

Councillor Gordon Lundie also thanked Councillor Croft for the production of the strategy and welcomed the inclusion of the four priorities of:

·         caring for and protecting the vulnerable;

·         promoting a vibrant district;

·         improving education;

·         protecting the environment.

Councillor Lundie sympathised with Councillor Vickers’s comments on the issues of homelessness and affordable housing. He explained that he would be setting up a Panel to look into the issue of affordable housing and that he would welcome Councillor Vickers’s input into the Panel.

Councillor Lundie had also reflected on the Motion submitted to the December 2012 Council meeting pertaining to academies and as a consequence had provided additional investment in the budget to assist with school improvement irrespective of whether schools were academies or not.

Councillor Jeff Brooks explained that although his group felt that the strategy had a lot of merit they were not able to support it due to the omission of measures to deal with housing referred to earlier by Councillor Vickers.

Councillor Dominic Boeck in seconding the strategy explained that it had been well received by external organisations and he thanked those that had helped to produce this condensed version of the document.

Councillor Roger Croft commended the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

The Council considered a report (Agenda Item 15) concerning the medium term financial planning and strategy for the Council.

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Alan Law and seconded by Councillor Laszlo Zverko:

That the Council:

“approves and adopts the 2013-2016 Medium Term Financial Strategy.”

Councillor Law in introducing this item noted that it was one of the most important documents to be considered by the Council. The document set out how resources would be directed to support the Council’s four main priorities over the medium term.

To maintain the current level of service the Council would need to find an additional 2.4m over each of the next three years. An additional £8m of unavoidable pressures, primarily from the demand led services, would also need to be factored into future planning. The Council would also need to find an additional £10m to fund contractual increases and reductions in government grants over the next three years.

It was proposed that this £25m funding gap would be met by £17m of savings over the next three years. The remaining revenue funding (£7.6m) would therefore have to be generated by a 2% increase in Council Tax in 2013/14. (with 0% anticipated increases in 2014/15 and 2015/16).

Councillor David Rendel noted that the figures provided in this year’s MTFS differed significantly from the previous year’s version. Councillor Rendel implored the Council to accept the Government’s Council Tax Freeze Grant thereby negating the need for the 2% Council Tax increase.

Councillor Graham Jones responded by saying that it was inevitable that the figures in the MTFS would change as new information emerged. The Council was faced with many difficult decisions and the Administration was seeking to maintain services within a framework of diminishing resources.

Councillor Jeff brooks explained that his group would not be supporting the MTFS as they had concerns that the document lacked consistency.

Councillor Gordon Lundie in seconding the report noted that the MTFS was an organic document that had to be updated numerous times to take cognisance of information emerging from Central Government. Councillor Lundie referred to the illustrative document circulated by the Liberal democrat group and noted the suggestion of a 2.94% increase in 2015/16 and reminded Members that an increase in Council Tax over 2% would trigger a referendum which would have significant costs attached to it.

Councillor Alan Law reiterated that the MTFS and the figures within it needed to be amended on an ongoing basis to reflect information and funding emanating from Central Government. He illustrated this by explaining that information pertaining to the basic needs grant had only been issued the previous day and would need to be factored into future planning.

The Motion was put to the meeting and duly RESOLVED.

In accordance with Procedure Rule 4.17.3 it was requisitioned that the voting on the Motion be recorded.

FOR the Motion:

Councillors Howard Bairstow, Pamela Bale, Jeff Beck, Brian Bedwell, David Betts, Dominic Boeck, Paul Bryant, Virginia von Celsing, Keith Chopping,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

The Council considered a report (Agenda Item 16) concerning the draft five year Capital Strategy (2013 to 2018) including the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) statement and the Asset Management Plan (AMP).

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Alan Law and seconded by Councillor Gordon Lundie:

That the Council:

1. “approves the proposed Capital Strategy and Programme;

2.    keeps the proposed level of Education capital commitments under review until future levels of government grant funding are known and more detailed and accurate estimates of future pupil numbers and the cost of works required to provide sufficient school places are available.”

Councillor Alan Law in introducing this item reported that it set out the planned investment for the next five years. The majority of the programme reflected the Council’s strategic priorities with £38.6m being spent on schools, £39m would be spent on the district’s road network and £8.2m on various programmes to support vulnerable people.  The document was similar to the programme agreed the previous year. The most notable changes were an additional £4.9m investment to address the increase in basic needs numbers in the district’s schools and £1.8m in ICT to support the Council’s efficiency programmes.

Councillor Tony Vickers reported that he had concerns about the disposal of assets in the current economic climate and suggested that it might be preferable to retain these assets until the market was more favourable. Councillor Vickers also suggested that it would be beneficial to residents for the Council to use s106 funding to purchase additional affordable housing stock

Councillor Gordon Lundie in seconding the item explained that the Administration had sought to establish the best possible programme for the residents of West Berkshire. The demise of the Council’s highly successful s106 scheme, which would be replaced by the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), would result in less income for the Council.  Councillor Lundie noted Councillor Vickers’s comments on asset disposal. He felt that the issue of purchasing additional affordable housing stock was an interesting point to ponder.

Councillor Alan Law explained that the vast majority of the assets being disposed of (which would realise around £4m over the next few years) would be used for social housing.

The Motion was put to the meeting and duly RESOLVED.

The Council considered a report (Agenda Item 17) concerning the Council’s revenue budget for 2013-14.

Prior to the debate on this item taking place it was agreed that in accordance with paragraph 4.5.12 of the Council’s Constitution the speaking limits for this item would be amended.

Councillor Hilary Cole left the meeting at 8.16pm and returned at 8.17pm.

Councillor David Betts left the meeting at 8.17pm and returned at 8.20pm.

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Gordon Lundie and seconded by Councillor Alan Law:

That the Council:

1. “notes that at its meeting on 17th January 2013 the Executive calculated the following amounts for the year 2013/2014 in accordance with regulations made under Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (by the Localism Act 2011):-

(a)       59,884.24 being the amount calculated by the Council, (Item T) in accordance with regulation 31B of the Local Authorities Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (as mended by the Localism Act 2011), as its council tax base for the year.

(b)       Part of the Council's area as per Appendix N being the amounts calculated by the Council, in accordance with regulation 6 of the Regulations, as the amounts of its council tax base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a parish precept relates.

2. Calculates that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2013/14 (excluding Parish precepts) is £75,660,209

3. Calculates that the following amounts for the year 2013/2014 in accordance with Sections 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, amended by the Localism Act 2011:-

(a)       £296,206,485 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 taking into account all precepts issued to it by parish councils

(b)       (£217,185,851) 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

(c)        £79,020,634 being the amount by which the aggregate at 3(a) above, exceeds the             aggregate at 3(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act, as its council tax requirement for the year (Item R)

(d)       £1,319.56 being the amount at 3(c) above (Item R), all divided by 1(a) above (Item T), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the 'basic amount of its Council Tax for the year (including Parish precepts).

(e)       £3,360,425 being the aggregate amount of all special items (parish precepts) referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act (as per Appendix N).

(f)        £1,263.44 being the amount at 3(d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at 3(e) above by the amount at 1(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 items relates.

(4)        Notes that for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

(Councillor David Rendel declared a personal interest in Agenda item 19 by virtue of the fact that his wife was a local GP. As his interest was personal and not a disclosable pecuniary interest he determined to take part in the debate and vote on the matter).

The Council considered a report (Agenda Item 19) concerning the emerging priorities within the first Health and Wellbeing Strategy which had been adopted by the Health and Wellbeing Board at its meeting on the 28 February 2013.

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Graham Jones and seconded by Councillor Quentin Webb:

That the Council:

“agrees the health and Wellbeing Strategy and the emerging priorities for 2013/14”.

Councillor Graham Jones in introducing the report explained that the Strategy fell within the remit of the Health and Wellbeing Board. It was an organic document which would be updated on an ongoing basis. He would therefore take on board the comments from Councillor Lundie about health issues arising from alcohol misuse.

Councillor Jones reiterated that the integration of Public Health into the Council would be one of the challenges for the forthcoming year. Good relationships were being built up with the Clinical Commissioning Groups who were eager to consider some of the broader determinants of health under the auspices of the Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board.

Councillor Richard Crumly left the meeting at 9.44pm.

Councillor David Allen offered support for the strategy accepting that it was an organic document. He also requested that consideration be given to including reference to homelessness in the document.

Councillor Tony Linden left the meeting at 9.44pm and returned at 9.45pm

Councillor Manohar Gopal left the meeting at 9.45pm and returned at 9.46pm

Councillor Jones agreed to take away this issues raised at the meeting and to feed them into discussions on the evolving document which would seek to take into account the broader determinants of health as it became embedded.

The Motion was put to the meeting and duly RESOLVED.