Agenda and minutes

Budget Meeting, Council - Thursday 27th February, 2020 6.30 pm

Venue: Town Hall, Bootle

Contact: Paul Fraser  Senior Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

88.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bennett, Dowd, Hands, Jones, Pitt, Spencer, Thomas and Anne Thompson.

 

89.

Declarations of Interest

Members are requested at a meeting where a disclosable pecuniary interest or personal interest arises, which is not already included in their Register of Members' Interests, todeclare any interests that relate to an item on the agenda.

 

Where a Member discloses a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, he/she must withdraw from the meeting room, including from the public gallery, during the whole consideration of any item of business in which he/she has an interest, except where he/she is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of a dispensation.

 

Where a Member discloses a personal interest he/she must seek advice from the Monitoring Officer or staff member representing the Monitoring Officer to determine whether the Member should withdraw from the meeting room, including from the public gallery, during the whole consideration of any item of business in which he/she has an interest or whether the Member can remain in the meeting or remain in the meeting and vote on the relevant decision.

 

Minutes:

No declarations of any disclosable pecuniary interests or personal interests were received.

 

 

90.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 109 KB

Minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2020

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the Minutes of the Council Meeting held on 23 January 2020 be approved as a correct record.

 

91.

Mayor's Communications

Minutes:

Mayor of Sefton’s Charity Ball

 

The Mayor reported that tickets were still on sale for her Gala Charity Ball on 28 March 2020. The Gala Charity Ball promised to be a great night and the Mayor hoped that her fellow Councillors could support this event by attending. Tickets were available via the Mayor’s office on 0151 934 2062 or email mayorsoffice@sefton.gov.uk

 

Motown and Burns Nights

 

The Mayor reported that her two previous Charity Nights, the Motown Night in November last year and the Burns Night on 25 January 2020, raised £1,245.00 towards the Charity Fund. Both nights were well attended and enjoyed by everyone.

 

Royal Visit – Monday 17 February 2020

 

The Mayor indicated that she was delighted to welcome the Princess Royal to Southport on Monday 17 February 2020 whilst she was visiting HM Passport Office at Smedley Hydro in Birkdale.

 

Mayor Elect 2020/21

The Mayor advised that Councillor Michael O’Brien had been nominated for the office of the Mayor of Sefton for 2020/21 and that the appointment would take place at the Annual Council Meeting to be held on 19 May 2020 at Bootle Town Hall.

 

 

92.

Matters Raised by the Public

To deal with matters raised by members of the public resident within the Borough, of which notice has been given in accordance with the procedures relating to public questions, motions or petitions set out in Paragraph 36 to 47 of the Council and Committee Procedure Rules in Chapter 4 of the Council Constitution.

 

(Details of any petitions notified or questions submitted by members of the public will be circulated at the meeting).

Minutes:

The Mayor reported that no matters had been raised by the public.

 

93.

Questions Raised by Members of the Council pdf icon PDF 93 KB

To receive and consider questions to Cabinet Members, Chairs of Committees or Spokespersons for any of the Joint Authorities upon any matter within their portfolio/area of responsibility, of which notice has been given by Members of the Council in accordance with Paragraph 49 to 51 of the Council and Committee Procedure Rules, set out in Chapter 4 of the Council Constitution.

Minutes:

The Council considered a schedule setting out the written questions submitted by:

 

(1)

Councillor Shaw to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Maher)

 

(2)

Councillor Shaw to the Cabinet Member – Locality Services (Councillor Fairclough)

 

(3)

Councillor Pugh to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Maher)

 

(4)

Councillor Dawson to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Maher)

 

(5)

Councillor Dawson to the Cabinet Member – Locality Services (Councillor Fairclough)

 

(6)

Councillor Dawson to the Cabinet Member – Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services (Councillor Lappin)

 

(7)

Councillor Dawson to the Cabinet Member – Locality Services (Councillor Fairclough)

 

(8)

Councillor Dawson to the Cabinet Member – Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services (Councillor Lappin)

 

(9)

Councillor Dawson to the Cabinet Member – Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services (Councillor Lappin)

 

(10)

Councillor Dawson to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Maher)

 

(11)

Councillor Dawson to the Cabinet Member – Locality Services (Councillor Fairclough)

 

(12)

Councillor Dawson to the Cabinet Member – Locality Services (Councillor Fairclough)

 

(13)

Councillor Dawson to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Maher)

 

 

together with the responses given. Supplementary questions to questions 1, 5, 7, 8 and 9 were responded to by the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Members for Locality Services and Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services.

 

 

94.

The Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities - Prudential Indicators 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 144 KB

Report of the Head of Corporate Resources

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 111 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 13 February 2020 the Council considered the report of the Head of Corporate Resources advising that the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities was introduced following the Local Government Act 2003; that it detailed a number of measures / limits / parameters (Prudential Indicators) that were required to be set each financial year; and that the approval of these limits would provide a benchmark to measure actual performance against, to help ensure that the Council complied with relevant legislation, was acting prudently and that its capital expenditure proposals were affordable.

 

The report indicated that the Council was required to approve Prudential Indicators for the following items:

 

(i)

Capital Expenditure (Section 2);

(ii)

Financing Costs/Net Revenue Stream (Section 3);

(iii)

Capital Financing Requirement (Section 4);

(iv)

External Debt (Section 5-7); and

(v)

Treasury Management Indicators (Section 8).

 

It was moved by Councillor Maher, seconded by Councillor Fairclough and

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)

the Prudential Indicators, as detailed in the report, be approved as the basis for compliance with The Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities;

 

(2)

it be noted that the relevant Prudential Indicators will be revised as required and that any changes will be submitted to Cabinet and then to Council for approval;

 

(3)

it be noted that the estimates of capital expenditure may change as grant allocations are received; and

 

(4)

authority be delegated to the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services in conjunction with the Cabinet Member – Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services to manage the Authorised Limit and Operational Boundary for external debt as detailed in Section 5 of the report.

 

 

95.

Treasury Management Policy and Strategy 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 264 KB

Report of the Head of Corporate Resources

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 112 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 13 February 2020 the Council considered the report of the Head of Corporate Resources that set out the following proposed policy and strategy documents, namely, the Treasury Management Policy, the Treasury Management Strategy and the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement.

 

The report indicated that the Council had adopted CIPFA’s revised 2017 Code of Practice on Treasury Management in the Public Services which recommended the production of annual Treasury Management Policy and Strategy Documents; and that in addition, the Council had adopted and incorporated into both documents:

 

(a)

the requirements of the 2017 Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities; and

 

(b)

an Investment Strategy produced in line with the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Statutory Guidance on Local Government Investments 2018. This set out the manner in which the Council would manage its investments, giving priority to the security and liquidity of those investments.

 

It was moved by Councillor Maher, seconded by Councillor Fairclough and

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)

the Treasury Management Policy Document for 2020/21 be approved;

 

(2)

the Treasury Management Strategy Document for 2020/21 be approved; and

 

(3)

the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement 2020/21 be approved.

 

96.

Capital Strategy 2020/21 to 2024/25 pdf icon PDF 208 KB

Report of the Head of Corporate Resources

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 113 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 13 February 2020 the Council considered the report of the Head of Corporate Resources indicating that the Capital Strategy set out the long-term context in which capital expenditure and investment decisions were made and considered the impact of these decisions on the priorities within the Council’s Core Purpose and Framework for Change Programme and the promises made in the 2030 Vision for Sefton; that at the heart of the Capital Strategy was the Council’s core objective to continue to deliver financial sustainability; and that as such, a flexible capital investment programme was more important than ever as a method to stimulate and enable economic growth and strategic investment, ensuring best use of existing assets and of generating future income streams to pay for and deliver day to day services.  

 

The Capital Strategy, attached to the report as Annex A, was a statutory document that the Council was required to have in place and be reviewed on an annual basis.

 

It was moved by Councillor Maher, seconded by Councillor Fairclough

 

That the Capital Strategy as set out in Annex A of the report be approved.

 

An amendment was moved by Councillor Brodie-Browne, seconded by Councillor Pugh

 

That the Motion be amended by the addition of the following paragraph:

 

(2)

as part of its capital strategy, requests the authority’s Housing Company (Sandway Homes) to consider the scope for creating housing units and accommodation above shops in Lord St or through the use of redundant shopping units, and any market engagement necessary to achieve such an objective.

 

 

Following debate, on a show of hands the Mayor declared that the amendment was lost by 19 votes to 39.

 

Thereafter, on a show of hands the Mayor declared that the Motion was carried by 43 votes to 4 with 11 abstentions and it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Capital Strategy as set out in Annex A of the report be approved.  

 

97.

Robustness of the 2020/21 Budget Estimates and the Adequacy of Reserves – Local Government Act 2003 - Section 25 pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Report of the Head of Corporate Resources

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 114 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 13 February 2020 the Council considered the report of the Head of Corporate Resources indicating that to comply with statute, the Chief Financial Officer was required to report to Council prior to the approval of the budget and the setting of the Council Tax, to give assurance that the budget was robust and that there were adequate reserves and balances. 

 

The report also provided information on the following factors that had been considered:

 

·       Financial Environment for Local Government and Sefton MBC

·       Impact of previous years’ budget - 2019/20

·       Central Government funding

·       Maintaining service delivery

·       Resources to deliver change

·       Inflation and annual cost increases

·       Financial management

·       CIPFA Financial Resilience Index and the CIPFA Financial Management Code

·       Management of risk

·       Capital Strategy and Strategic Investment

·       External advice

·       Reserves Strategy for 2020/21 and beyond

 

The report concluded that as a result of considering the issues contained within the report, it was the view that the budget proposed was a robust budget package and the opinion provided was in accordance with Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003. 

 

It was moved by Councillor Maher, seconded by Councillor Fairclough and

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)

it be noted that the Local Government Act 2003, (section 25 as amended) requires the Chief Financial Officer to report formally on the following issues:

 

(a)

an opinion as to the robustness of the estimate made and the tax setting calculations;

 

(b)

the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves; and

 

(c)

the production of longer-term revenue and capital plans; and

 

(2)

the matters raised in this report be taken into consideration during the final stages of determining the budget for 2020/21.

 

98.

Revenue and Capital Budget Plan 2020/21 – 2022/23 and Council Tax 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 338 KB

Report of the Chief Executive and the Head of Corporate Resources

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 115 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 13 February 2020 the Council considered the report of the Chief Executive and the Head of Corporate Resources that provided:

 

·       an assessment of the Council’s current financial position and approach to the 2020/21 Budget Plan and preparation for the two-year budget period 2021/22 to 2022/23;

·       an update on the Government’s announcement of resources that were available to the Council for 2020/21;

·       the Council’s current financial position and the assumptions built into the Medium-Term Financial Plan;

·       the proposed Budget for 2020/21; and

·       the proposed Capital Programme for 2020/21.

 

The report set out the financial strategy of the Council and the national and local financial context within which it was operating and indicated that the Council had a statutory requirement to remain financially sustainable and to balance its budget every year.

 

The report also indicated that the Council’s Framework for Change Programme was a comprehensive and ambitious programme that sought to support the delivery of the Council’s core purpose; and that as would be expected with a programme of this size and complexity that spanned a number of financial years, the detailed proposals had been and would continue to be the subject of change as they were developed and ultimately implemented. 

 

The Council also considered a copy of an update note prepared by the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services which provided details of the Police, Fire, Mayoral and Parish Precepts and the draft Council Tax resolution which had been circulated to Members of the Council and published in a supplementary agenda prior to the start of the meeting.

 

It was moved by Councillor Maher, seconded by Councillor Fairclough

 

That:

 

(1)

the update of the Medium-Term Financial Plan for the period 2020/21 to 2022/23 be noted;

 

(2)

the Revenue Budget for 2020/21 be approved and officers be authorised to undertake all of the necessary actions to implement the budget changes and proposals as detailed within the report;

 

(3)

the Framework for Change 2020 Programme (as described in Section 3) be approved and the commencement of all appropriate activity as detailed, including for example, consultation with employees and engagement with partners and contractual changes as the programme develops be agreed;

(4)

the current levels of trade union facility time and associated arrangements for the whole period of the budget plan for 2020/21 – 2022/23 be approved;

 

(5)

it be noted that officers will comply with agreed HR policies and procedures including relevant consultation with Trade Unions and reports to the Cabinet Member - Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services as required;

 

(6)

the creation and funding of the Cost of Change budget, with a value of £3.0m (paragraph 3.49), and the increase in the Redundancy Reserve of £2.0m and the associated funding (paragraph 3.51) be approved;

 

(7)

access to funding from the Cost of Change budget be delegated to the Chief Executive and s151 officer as per current arrangements;

 

(8)

the Council making an upfront payment to the Merseyside  ...  view the full minutes text for item 98.

99.

Ethical Business Practices Working Group Final Report pdf icon PDF 111 KB

Report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 103 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 6 February 2020 the Council considered the report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer that presented formally the final report of the Council’s Ethical Business Practices Working Group.

 

It was moved by Councillor McKinley, seconded by Councillor John Sayers 

 

That  

 

(1)

the Head of Corporate Resources be requested to make arrangements, via the Council’s decision-making processes, to include the revised statement of draft ethical business/investment principles as referred to below in the Treasury Management Strategy and to adopt it as part of the Council’s Policy for investment:

 

ETHICAL INVESTMENT POLICY

 

“The Local Authority at times invests surplus funds with third party organisations and institutions and the Council’s core values will play a major role in making investment decisions which will be aligned where possible to the following four overarching core principles;

 

  • Sustainable and Responsible – manage the effect on the environment, community and for the good of society
  • Value Based – invest in businesses that are aligned with the organisations core values;
  • Maximising Impact – achieve a measurable positive, social or environmental impact, in addition to a financial return;
  • Green – improving the environment.”

 

In deciding and then approving the counterparty list in which the Council will invest, the principles of security, liquidity and yield will always be the primary consideration to ensure compliance with statutory guidance. As part of this evaluation, the Council will consider ethical investment opportunities and identify and apply an appropriate weighting based on the Council’s Core Values/overarching core principles.

 

Where the Council deposits surplus balances overnight or for a short-term, investments will be made with financial institutions in a responsible manner (aligned to the overarching core principles/councils core values) where possible and in accordance with advice from its Treasury Management Advisor. In the event that the Council has surplus balances that it can invest for the longer term (e.g. terms over 1 year) it will exclude direct investment in financial products that do not contribute positively to society and the environment. This will include the principle that investment in specific financial products whose performance is driven by off-shore trading, financial malpractice, debt swops, short selling, the arms trade and tobacco industry will be avoided. The same rigorous criteria will be used to assess whether investment in certain countries will be contrary to Sefton’s core values.

 

It is recommended that the Head of Corporate Resources, to assess whether investment in certain countries will be contrary to Sefton’s core values,  

give consideration to the exclusion of those countries on theEU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions(the black list and the grey list), which aims to tackle external risks of tax abuse and unfair tax competition, within the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy. 

 

In order for these organisations to be included on the Council’s counterparty list they will be evaluated against the same criteria as other counterparties and assessed against the Council’s core values and ethical business and investment principles/policy, including  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99.

100.

Green Sefton: Golf Driving Ranges Development pdf icon PDF 75 KB

Report of the Head of Locality Services

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 104 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 6 February 2020 the Council considered the report of the Head of Locality Services seeking approval of the construction of driving ranges within the Council’s two Municipal Golf Courses in Bootle and Southport during 2020/21.

 

It was moved by Councillor Moncur, seconded by Councillor Maher and

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)

the construction and the purchase of associated equipment for the two new driving range facilities at Bootle Golf Course and Southport Golf Links be included in the Capital Programme; and

 

(2)

a Supplementary Capital Estimate for the scheme of £0.536m which is to be funded by prudential borrowing on an invest to save basis be approved.

 

101.

Local Government Act 1972 – Section 85 - Attendance at Meetings pdf icon PDF 60 KB

Report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 47 of the meeting held on 19 September 2019, the Council considered the report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer which requested the Council to approve and authorise the absence of Councillor Paula Spencer from attendance at Council and Committee Meetings pursuant to Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972.

 

It was moved by Councillor Grace, seconded by Councillor Maher and

 

RESOLVED:     That:

 

(1)            the current absence from all Council and Committee Meetings of Councillor Paula Spencer due to ill-health be authorised and approved for the period until the 16 July 2020, pursuant to Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972: and

 

(2)      the Council sends its best wishes to Councillor Spencer.

 

102.

Membership of Committees 2019/20

To consider any changes to the Membership of any committees etc.

Minutes:

No changes to memberships of Committees were made.

 

103.

Motion Submitted by Councillor Dawson - Retail Centres Fit for the 21st Century pdf icon PDF 42 KB

Minutes:

It was moved by Councillor Dawson, seconded by Councillor Pugh

Retail Centres Fit for the 21st Century

This Council, recognising the fundamental changes presently affecting the retail environment of Britain in general, and in Southport in particular, commits itself to: 

(1)

working actively with local residents, traders, the 'Southport BID' and local councillors across party to identify and implement methods of addressing the issues affecting the centre of Southport particularly, seeking to be involved actively rather than passively observing piecemeal decline; and

(2)

applying itself similarly to the issues confronting other smaller retail centres located within the communities which are served by the Borough of Sefton.

 

Following debate and on a show of hands, the Mayor declared that the Motion was lost by 18 votes to 39 with 1 abstention and it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be not approved.