Meeting documents

 

(a) That with the exception of Minute No.436 (Budget Strategy 2008/2009) the minutes of a meeting of thePolicy & Resources Committee held on 7 February 2008 beapproved and adopted.

 

(b) That the recommendation in Minute No.435 of the meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee held on7 February 2008 be endorsed and that the Council adopts both theIndependent Remuneration Panel’s recommendations and the Members’Allowances Scheme as at appended to those minutes.

Members were reminded that at the SpecialPolicy & Resources Committee (Budget) meeting held on 7February 2008, it had been resolved in part (h) of the resolution“That when the budget report is submitted to Full Council on 25February 2008 for approval, that Council be requested to consideran Officer report on the inclusion in the capital programme of aprovision for payment by the Council of a grant of up to £1.5million for a new scheme to develop a dry sports centre at MaltonSchool subject to conditions including the community use of thefacility”.

Accordingly the Interim Chief FinancialOfficer submitted a report Appendix 1. (PDF, 21k) (previously circulated), thepurpose of which was to meet the requirements of the aboveresolution. The Interim Chief Financial Officer reported that theFinancial Strategy agreed by Council included sufficientflexibility to add schemes into the Capital Programme. The originalreport was unaltered even though the leisure scheme as originallyproposed and estimated at a next £2.879m had been deleted.

 

Under the new proposal from the Schoolthere would be a much reduced contribution to annual running costsfor public use payable by the Council in the form of a grant orsubsidy. Provision for running costs had already been made withinthe Financial Strategy.

 

The Interim Chief Financial Officerreported that it would be necessary to amend the Capital Programmeand Prudential Code to recognise this capital expenditure. Arevised set of Prudential Indicators was circulated at themeeting.

It was moved by Councillor Wainwright andseconded by Councillor Legard that the recommendations as set outin the Interim Chief Financial Officer’s report be approved. Uponbeing put to the vote the motion was carried.

 

(a) That a grant of up to £1.5m to MaltonSchool for the provision of leisure facilities phased over years2009/10 and 2010/11 be included in the Capital Programme.

 

(b) That the Prudential Code be amended totake account of this provision.

 

(c) That the general principles of theproposed grant payment detailed in the report be accepted.

The Chairman then referred to the revenuebudget for 2008/09, and sought acceptance of the recommendations inminute no 436 (Budget Strategy 2008/09) resolved portions (a) to(g), as amended in accordance with the above resolution relating tothe provision of a capital contribution towards a sports facilityat Malton School, and approval of the revenue budget as detailed inthe budget book, which had been circulated to all Members.

 

The Chairman reported that CouncillorWainwright, as Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee,was to be invited to move the motion. The Chairman reported thatafter the motion had been moved and seconded and CouncillorWainwright had spoken, any amendments were to be taken. TheChairman requested that given the importance of the proceedings,Members provide any proposed amendments in writing.

 

Members were also reminded that, inproposing an increase or decrease in any expenditure, Membersshould identify the implications of that increase of decrease onthe remainder of the budget.

 

Budget amendments would need to beself-balancing and any additions or reductions in the Council’sincome would need to be funded in one of three ways:

Furthermore, where any savings inexpenditure were identified the Member would need to identify onwhat those savings were to be spent. Only one amendment was to bedealt with at a time, with a vote being taken on each amendmentbefore the debate on another would begin.

As the mover of the original motion,Councillor Wainwright had a right of reply at the close of thedebate on each amendment (but may not otherwise speak).

When all the amendments had been votedupon, there would be an opportunity to speak on the substantivemotion, which would reflect any amendments that had been carried,prior to a final vote on the motion.

It was moved by Councillor Wainwright,Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee, and seconded byCouncillor Legard:

(a) That Minute no. 436 (Budget Strategy2008/09) resolved portions (a) to (g) of the Policy & Resources(Budget) Committee meeting held on 7 February 2008, as amended, beapproved and adopted.

 

(b) That the revenue estimates for theyear 2007/2008 and the revenue estimates for 2008/09, as submittedin the Council’s Budget Book 2008/09 be approved.

Councillor Clark reported that he hadseveral amendments to propose, and sought confirmation as towhether any savings arising as a result of reductions inexpenditure could be used to reduce the proposed increase inCouncil Tax. The Chairman confirmed that this was the case.Councillor Clark reported that collectively his proposals totalledsome £39,000, which could reduce the proposed Council Tax increaseby 1%

 

Councillor Clark referred to the BudgetBook 2008/09 and the summary of employees on the staffestablishment list at page 35. Councillor Clark referred to thepost of Programme Manager and proposed an amendment, “that therevenue budget be reduced by £10,000 by deleting the post ofProgramme Manager from the staff establishment”. CouncillorWoodward seconded the amendment. Upon being put to the vote theamendment was lost.

 

An amendment was moved by Councillor Clarkand seconded by Councillor Woodward “that the budget be reduced bythe Chairman’s allowance of £6500”. Upon being put to the vote theamendment was lost.

 

It was moved by Councillor Aslett andseconded by Councillor Mrs Shields “That the Council discontinuesproviding bottled water at its meetings, thereby saving the Councilsome £220/£230 per year”. It was suggested by Councillor Cottamthat the saving be transferred to the Rural Community Transportbudget. The mover and seconder of the amendment accepted thesuggestion. Upon being put to the vote the amendment wascarried.

 

An amendment was moved by Councillor Clarkand seconded by Councillor Woodward “To reduce the budget by £9000and cut the Chairman’s travelling allowance by an identicalamount”. Upon being put to the vote the amendment was lost.

 

Councillor Clark expressed concernregarding the high room temperatures in Ryedale House and proposeda reduction of some 1 to 2 degrees so as to save £1500 per year onenergy. Councillor Woodward seconded the amendment, which uponbeing put to the vote was lost.

 

Councillor Clark referred to the Salixgrant received by the Council to provide energy saving measures.Some of the grant had been used to provide pool covers at theRyedale and Derwent Pools. Councillor Clark reported that acondition of the grant was that the Council recovered savingsarising from these measures. The estimated annual savings arisingfrom the installation of the pool covers was some £2000 and it wasunderstood that these savings had not yet been recovered. It wasproposed by Councillor Clark and seconded by Councillor Woodward“That Community Leisure Ltd be charged £2000 and that the budget bereduced by an identical amount”. Upon being put to the vote theamendment was lost.

 

It was proposed by Councillor Knaggs andseconded by Councillor Wainwright “That the arrangements for therecovery of the Salix grant be referred to the Community Services& Licensing Committee”. Upon being put to the vote theamendment was carried.

 

It was moved by Councillor Andrews andseconded by Councillor Maud “That car park fees increases should beexcluded from the budget and the money be taken from the £209krevenue contribution to the reserves”. Upon being put to the votethe amendment was lost.

 

It was moved by Councillor Clark andseconded by Councillor Woodward “That Members’ Allowances be notincreased from 1 April 2008 thereby saving £6500 and that thebudget be reduced by a like amount”. Upon being put to the vote theamendment was lost.

 

Councillor Knaggs referred to Minute 435(To consider a Review of Members’ and Other Allowances by theCouncil’s Independent Remuneration Panel) of the meeting of thePolicy & Resources Committee (Budget) held on 7 February 2008.The Panel had recommended the introduction of a new SpecialResponsibility Allowance for the Leader of the Council and thatthis be backdated to 17 May 2007. Councillor Knaggs reported thathe was to waive the backdating of the allowance.

 

An amendment was moved by Councillor Clarkand seconded by Councillor Woodward “That the contribution toCapital Investment be decreased by £34,000, so as to decrease theproposed increase in Council Tax from 4% to 3%”. Upon being put tothe vote the amendment was lost.

 

Upon being put to the vote as thesubstantive motion the approval of Minute No 436 (Budget Strategy2008/2009) parts (a) to (g) of the resolved portion as amended bythe inclusion of a provision of £1.5m within the Capital Programmefor a contribution towards a sports facility, and the revenueestimates for the year 2007/2008 and the revenue estimates for2008/09, as submitted in the Council’s Budget Book 2008/09, asamended, was carried.

The Chairman reported that due to lateamendments by the Police and Fire & Rescue Authorities arevised Annex C had been circulated at the meeting. In addition,the Interim Chief Financial Officer referred Members to the agendapapers, paragraph IV - County Council, Police and Fire & RescueAuthority Tax Rates (Provisional) and to the table of tax rates,the following amendments were reported:

 

North Yorkshire Police Authority - Band C- £171.88

North Yorkshire Police Authority - Band G- £322.28

It was moved by Councillor Wainwright andseconded by Councillor Legard that Item 7 parts II, III, IV and Vbe approved. Upon being put the vote the motion was carried.

Councillor Clark recorded his vote againstthe above decision on the basis that he was against the increase inCouncil Tax.

 

 

That Minute No. 436 (Budget Strategy2008/2009), as amended in accordance with the resolution in part Aabove, be approved and adopted.

 

 

That the revised revenue estimates for theyear 2007/2008 and the revenue estimates for 2008/2009, assubmitted in the Council’s Budget Book 2008/2009 be approved,subject to the following:

(i) That the Council discontinuesproviding bottled water at its meetings, and that the estimatedsavings of £220/£230 per year be transferred to the Rural CommunityTransport budget

 

(ii) That the arrangements for therecovery of the Salix grant be referred to the Community Services& Licensing Committee

 

That it be noted that, in accordance withMinute No. 363(d)/2005 of the Policy & Resources Committee heldon 8 December 2005 which was subsequently approved by Council atits meeting on 12 January 2006, Ryedale District Council has(pursuant to Section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972)delegated responsibility to adopt the council tax base to the ChiefExecutive and Chief Financial Officer in consultation with theChairman of the Policy & Resources Committee. The Councilcalculated the amounts for the year 2007/08 in accordance withregulations made under Section 33 (5) of the Local GovernmentFinance Act 1992 as set out in Annex A.

That the following amounts be nowcalculated by the Council for the year 2008/09 in accordance withsections 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (TheAct):

 

(a) District/Parish GrossExpenditure

 

£29,153,821 being the aggregate of theamounts which the Council estimates for the items set out inSections 32(2) (a) to (e) of the Act.

 

(b) Income

 

£20,629,320 being the aggregate of theamounts which the Council estimates for the items set out inSections 32(3)(a) to (c) of the Act.

(c) District/Parish NetExpenditure

£8,524,501 being the amount by which theaggregate of 2(a) above exceeds the aggregate of 2(b) above,calculated by the Council in accordance with section 32(4) of theAct as its Budget requirement for the year.

(d) Government Grants and Collection FundSurpluses

£4,324,035 being the aggregate of the sumswhich the Council estimates will be payable for the year into itsGeneral Fund in respect of redistributed non-domestic rates,revenue support grant, additional grant or relevant special grant,increased by the amount of the sums which the Council estimateswill be transferred in the year from its Collection Fund to itsGeneral Fund in accordance with Regulation 4(7) of the LocalGovernment Changes for England (Collection Fund Surpluses andDeficits) Regulations 1995, and reduced by the amount which theCouncil estimates will be transferred from its General Fund to itsCollection Fund pursuant to the Collection Fund (Council TaxBenefit) (England) Direction under Section 98 (5) of the LocalGovernment Act 1988.

(e) Basic amount of Tax (includingParish Precepts)

£201.82 being the amount of 2(c) aboveless the amount at 2(d) above, all divided by the amount at Part Iabove calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 33 (1)of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for theyear.

 

(f) Parish precept and SpecialExpenses

£612,081 being the aggregate amount of allspecial items referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act.

(g) Basic Amount of Tax (excludingParish Precepts)

£172.41 being the amount at 2(e) aboveless the results given by dividing the amount at 2(f) above by theamount given at Part I above, calculated by the Council, inaccordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount ofits Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of itsarea to which no special item relates.

(h) Basic Amount of Tax inParishes/Towns

The details for each Parish as shown inAnnex B, column headed “Aggregate amount at Band D” being theamounts given by adding to the amount at 2(g) above, the amounts ofthe special item or items relating to dwellings in those parts ofthe Council’s area mentioned above, divided in each case by theamount at Part I above, calculated by the Council, in accordancewith Section 34(3) of the Act as the basic amounts of its CouncilTax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to whichone or more special items relate.

(i) District/Parish Council TaxRates

The details as shown in columns “A” to “H”of Annex B, being the amounts given by multiplying the amounts at2(g) and 2(h) above by the number which, in the proportion set outin Section 5(1) of the Act is applicable to dwellings listed in aparticular valuation band divided by the number which in thatproportion is applicable to dwellings listed in Valuation Band D,calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 36(1) of theAct, as the amounts to be taken into account for the year inrespect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuationbands.

 

That it be noted that for the year 2008/09precepting Authorities have stated the following amounts inprecepts issued to the Council, in accordance with Section 40 ofthe Local Government Finance Act 1992, for each of the categoriesof dwellings shown below: