Agenda item

Informal meeting held on 16 December 2021;

O&S.49/21           

The notes of the informal meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 16 December 2021 were confirmed as a correct record.

The Chair then stated that as the joint meeting of the O&S and Development Management Committees held on 13 January 2022 was an informal meeting, the Committee needed to ratify the three proposals that were put forward at that meeting.  These were:

i)       To ratify the decisions taken at the informal Joint O&S and Development Management (DM) Committee Budget meeting on 13 January

ii)      To agree the inclusion of Mid Devon District Council’s request on today’s agenda (Minute O&S.56/21 b) below refers), and

iii)     To set up a task and finish group as requested by the Leader.

Following the PROPOSAL and SECONDING of the proposals related to the draft Revenue and Capital Budget, these proposals were then voted on and declared CARRIED.

The Committee then reviewed the recommendations as so moved at the informal Joint O&S and DM Committees Budget meeting held on 13 January 2022.

It was then

RECOMMENDED

That, as part of the draft Revenue and Capital Budget Setting process for 2022/23, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee RECOMMEND that the Executive RECOMMEND to Council that:-

1.      recognising that the Council has declared both a Climate Change and Biodiversity Emergency and Housing Emergency, the Executive be urged to give priority to the development and execution of projects in respect of both in 2022/23;

2.      the sum of £3.5 million allocated out of the Business Retention Reserve to employment in 2018/19 remains unspent. It is proposed that out of this sum £1.0 million be reallocated to the proposed Affordable Housing Reserve Fund and £250,000 be reallocated to the Climate Change & Biodiversity Reserve; and

3.      the following ten proposals be noted:

i)       The proposed increase in Council Tax for 2022/23 of £5 (Band D of £180.42 for 2022/23 – an increase of 10 pence per week or £5 per year – equates to a 2.85% increase);

ii)      The financial pressures shown in Appendix A of the informal agenda paper amounting to £1,044,600;

iii)     The net contributions to/(from) Earmarked Reserves of £561,600 as shown in Appendix D of the informal agenda paper, including the proposed use of £500,000 of New Homes Bonus funding to fund the 2022/23 Revenue Budget as set out in 3.30 of the report and £100,000 from the Business Rates Retention Earmarked Reserve as set out in 3.21 of the informal agenda paper;

iv)     That £407,557 of the New Homes Bonus grant allocation for 2022/23 is allocated to an Affordable Housing Earmarked Reserve as a one-of contribution for 2022/23 as set out in 3.30 to 3.31 of the informal agenda paper;

v)      The savings of £404,000 as shown in Appendix A of the informal agenda paper;

vi)     That South Hams District Council continues to be part of the Devon Business Rates Pool for 2022/23;

vii)    The proposed Capital Programme Proposals for 2022/23 of £1,665,000 and the proposed financing of the Capital Programme as set out in Appendix E of the informal agenda paper;

viii)   That Unearmarked Reserves should continue to have a minimum level of £1.5million (as set in the Medium Term Financial Strategy in September 2021), but an operating level of a minimum of £2million;

ix)     That the Executive recommend to Council to transfer £280,000 from Unearmarked Reserves to a Financial Stability Earmarked Reserve as part of the process of closing the 2021/22 Accounts, to be available for any future financial pressures from future local government funding reforms and any other budget pressures (the predicted year-end balance of Unearmarked Reserves at 31.3.22 is £2.28m as set out in 7.8). (This would leave an operating level of £2m for Unearmarked Reserves); and

x)      That the Executive recommend to Council to transfer a one-off amount of £200,000 into a Community Composting Earmarked Reserve in 2021/22 as part of the process of closing the 2021/22 Accounts. A scheme is to be set up with a one-off budget of £200,000 in 2022/23 for community composting, aligned to savings in the green waste element of the waste contract in 2021/22, as per 3.40 of the informal agenda paper.