Consideration was given to a report
that presented the Hub Committee draft recommendations on the
Revenue Budget for 2021-22.
In the ensuing debate,
reference was made to:-
(a)
the work of the Section 151 Officer and her finance
colleagues. Members thanked the Section
151 Officer and her finance colleagues for their tireless work in
ensuring that the Council was able to be presented with a balanced
Revenue Budget for 2021/22;
(b)
the proposed £5 increase in Council Tax. Whilst recognising the detrimental inflationary
impact and the consequent shortfall to the Base Budget, some
Members still stated their opposition to the proposed increase and
were of the view that it would be morally wrong to support such a
proposal during the current Pandemic;
(c)
the proportion of total Council Tax that was actually the Borough
Council precept. Some Members felt
that, as the collecting authority, there were a number of public
misconceptions over the Borough Council precept. As a result, it was felt that there was a need for
the Communications Team to produce and publish messaging at the
time of annual billing in an attempt to counter these
misconceptions.
For the motion (28):
Cllrs Ball, Bolton, Cheadle, Coulson, Crozier, Daniel, Davies,
Edmonds, Ewings, Heyworth, Hipsey,
Jory, Kemp, Kimber, Leech, Moody, Mott, Moyse, Musgrave, Pearce,
Ratcliffe, Ridgers, Samuel, Sellis, Southcott, Spettigue,
Vachon and Wood
Against
the motion (2):
Cllrs Bridgewater and Renders
Abstentions (0):
Absent
(1):
Cllr Yelland (*)
and the vote on
part 1 of the recommendation was therefore declared CARRIED.
(NOTE (*): due to
experiencing connection issues at the time of the recorded vote,
Cllr Yelland was unable to take part in the vote.)
For the motion (30): Cllrs
Ball, Bolton, Bridgewater, Cheadle, Coulson, Crozier, Daniel,
Davies, Edmonds, Ewings, Heyworth, Hipsey, Jory, Kemp, Kimber, Leech, Moody, Mott,
Moyse, Musgrave, Pearce, Ratcliffe, Renders, Ridgers, Samuel,
Sellis, Southcott, Spettigue, Vachon
and Wood
Against
the motion (0):
Abstentions (0):
Absent
(1):
Cllr Yelland (*)
(NOTE (*): due to
experiencing connection issues at the time of the recorded vote,
Cllr Yelland was unable to take part in the vote.)
It was consequently “RESOLVED
that
1.
an increase in Council Tax be set for 2021/22 of
£5 (Band D of £241.63 for 2021/22 – an increase
of 10 pence per week or £5 per year – equating to a
2.11% increase);
2.
the financial pressures (as set out at Appendix A of
the presented agenda report and amounting to £434,000) be
approved;
3. ...
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