Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D’Albuquerque and Murphy.

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.

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

Minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2024

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2024 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services on the Asset Management Strategy (the Strategy) and Asset Disposal Policy (the Policy) 2024/25.

The report indicated that the Strategy and Policy set out the vision and aspirations for the effective management of the Council’s corporate asset portfolio and the role it played in supporting and shaping the Council’s agenda for the 2030 vision; that aside from its staff, the Council's next biggest resource was its land and property and therefore it was vital that this resource was managed and used effectively and efficiently to ensure that the Council derived maximum benefit from its assets in support of its strategic aims and priorities; that the Strategy and Policy would provide a framework for the planning, prioritisation, management and funding of the Councils asset base; and that this was a statutory document that the Council was required to have in place and would be reviewed on an annual basis.

The Asset Management Strategy and Asset Disposal Policy 2024/25 were attached as appendices to the report.

This report would also be considered by Cabinet and Council at their meetings to be held on 8 and 29 February 2024 respectively.

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following issues:

·       The criteria used for establishing what was an asset to meet the service delivery standard; and how liabilities associated with such assets impacted on the judgement of this.

·       The expectation that disposals would be at market value predicated on the nature of the asset and any agreed mix of uses to obtain best consideration.

·       In respect of the Asset Review, information was requested on the numbers of assets held for operational purposes, assets held for heritage reasons or other designated reasons, assets held to be developed or re-purposed, and asset to be disposed of to create a capital receipt.

·       The asset disposal in respect of the development to the east of Buckley Hill Lane on the former Z Blocks land brownfield site.

·       The list of sites and other property assets that were available for disposal was requested.   

RESOLVED:

That Asset Management Strategy and Asset Disposal Policy 2024/25 be noted.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services on Prudential Indicators 2024/25.

The report indicated 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.

A summary of Prudential Indicators was attached as an appendix to the report.

This report would also be considered by Cabinet and Council at their meetings to be held on 8 and 29 February 2024 respectively.

The Committee was requested to consider the Prudential Indicators as the basis for compliance with the Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities; and provide any comments to Council to be considered as part of the formal approval of the Prudential Indicators for 2024/25.

In respect of the business cases for projects that had now been approved by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (referred to in paragraph 2.6 of the report) a Member of the Committee asked for information on what would happen if a change of government altered its funding commitments.

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services on the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy 2024/25.

The report indicated that the Council had adopted CIPFA’s 2021 Code of Practice on Treasury Management in the Public Services (the Code) 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:

The report also advised that the Code required the Council to produce:

Also attached to the report as Appendix C was the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement 2024/25.

This report would also be considered by Cabinet and Council at their meetings to be held on 8 and 29 February 2024 respectively.

The Committee was requested to consider the proposed policies and strategy documents which included the objectives and operation of the Council’s Treasury Management functions, the manner in which the Council would manage its investments and the methodology used to set aside revenue provision for the repayment of debt; and provide any comments to Council that would be considered as part of the formal approval of the Treasury Management Policy, Treasury Management Strategy and Minimum Revenue Provisions Policy Statement.

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following issues:

·       The processes in place to ensure that  external  scrutiny of the Council’s Treasury Management Policy and Strategy was undertaken.

·       The assumptions taken into account regarding interest when drawing up the Council’s budget.

·       Confirmation was sought, and given, that the Council did not currently have any overseas investments.

RESOLVED:

That the report on the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy 2024/25 be noted.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services on the Capital Strategy 2024/25.

The report indicated that the Capital Strategy set out the long-term context in which capital expenditure, borrowing and investment decisions were made and consider the impact of these decisions on the priorities within the Council’s Core Purpose 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 was a key policy document for Sefton Council and followed guidance issued in the Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities (2021 Edition); and local authorities were required by regulation to have regard to the Prudential Code when carrying out their duties in England and Wales under Part 1 of the Local Government Act 2003.

The Capital Strategy 2024/25 was attached to the report.

This report would also be considered by Cabinet and Council at their meetings to be held on 8 and 29 February 2024 respectively.

The Committee was requested to consider the proposed Capital Strategy document as set out in Appendix A; and provide any comments to Council that would be considered as part of the formal approval of the Capital Strategy.

A Member of the Committee asked a question/commented on the following issue:

·       Information was sought on the revenue implications arising from capital schemes; and what was the cumulative figure of all such revenue implications. It was noted that information was detailed in paragraph 3 of the Prudential Indicators 2024/25 report which detailed Prudential Indicator – Financing Costs/Net Revenue Stream.

RESOLVED:

That the Capital Strategy 2024/25 be noted.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services on the robustness of the 2024/25 Budget Estimates and the Adequacy of Reserves – Local Government Act 2003 - Section 25.

The report indicated 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 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 whilst also ensuring that there were adequate General Balances to draw on if the service estimates turned out to be insufficient; and that this opinion was provided in accordance with Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003. 

This report would also be considered by Cabinet and Council at their meetings to be held on 8 and 29 February 2024 respectively.

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following issues:

·       The use of earmarked reserves of over £25m due to the unprecedented pressure in Childrens Services and from energy prices increases meaning that it was important that as the report says these should be replenished.

·       The impact on the Council’s budget if the independent Improvement Board Chair recommended that Children’s Services provision be removed from the Council to an external trust. – no modelling has been undertaken on this as it had not been requested or suggested by any internal or external person or body

·       The total figure of school reserves.

RESOLVED:

That 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:

and that the Council is requested to have regard to the matters raised in this report during the final stages of determining the budget for 2024/25.

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services on the Revenue and Capital Budget Plan 2025/26 – 2026/27 and Council Tax 2024/25.

The report provided:

·       an assessment of the Council’s current financial position and approach to the 2024/25 Budget Plan and preparation for the additional two-year budget period 2024/25 to 2025/26

·       an update on the Government’s announcement of resources that were available to the Council for 2024/25

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

·       the proposed Budget for 2024/25; and

·       the proposed Capital Programme for 2024/25 to 2026/27 

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

Attached as appendices to the report were the individual school budgets 2024/25; budget saving proposals; draft Council budget summary 2024/25; and the Capital Programme 2024/25 – 2026/27.

This report would also be considered by Cabinet and Council at their meetings to be held on 8 and 29 February 2024 respectively. The Council would be recommended:

The Committee was requested to consider the proposals within the report and to provide any comments to Cabinet which could be considered as part of the formal approval of the Budget Plan for 2024/25 – 2026/27 and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.