Agenda item

The Full Council considered a report setting out the Mayor’s 2020-21 budget recommendations.

 

The Lord Mayor drew members’ attention to the budget procedure to be followed.

 

At this point, on the motion of the Lord Mayor, it was

 

RESOLVED:

That the relevant standing orders (policy and budget framework procedure rules) be suspended, noting that the procedure to be followed at this meeting is at variance with the Council’s standing orders.

 

The Mayor moved the budget report.

 

Councillor Cheney, Deputy Mayor for Finance, Governance and Performance seconded the report.

 

Councillor Gollop raised a point of order (CPR13.12) drawing attention to a new item on the Cabinet agenda on 4^th March, which could impact on the budget as proposed.  He sought assurances from the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer that Full Council were able to proceed with a lawful budget, and those assurances were provided.  Councillor Gollop reiterated his concerns, which were echoed by Councillor Hopkins on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group.  Their concerns were noted.

The leaders of each party group, Cllrs Hickman, Councillor Weston, Councillor Combley and Councillor Hopkins each responded to the budget proposals.

 

Councillor Negus raised a point of Personal Explanation (CPR13.13) requesting permission to respond to Councillor Hickman’s comments within her speech.  The Lord Mayor ruled that time had elapsed and the meeting would move on.

 

Councillor Gollop presented comments on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board and Councillor Clarke on behalf of the Resources Scrutiny Commission.

 

The Mayor then responded to the points raised.

 

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 3.45pm and reconvened at 4.00pm

 

On the meeting being reconvened, the Full Council then (under section 5 of the procedure) considered and debated each of the proposed budget amendments, as follows:

 

Liberal Democrat Group Budget Amendment

Revenue - Youth Card for Bristol Buses, Bus Support, SEND Support, External Communications and Mayor's Office

Capital - SEND Schools, East Bristol Pool, Parks and Play Space, Community Infrastructure Levy and Capital Contingency

 

Councillor Kent moved amendment no. 1 (revenue and capital)

 

Councillor Carey seconded the amendment.

 

Following debate, upon being put to the vote, both elements of the amendment were LOST.

Vote 1 revenue – 31 members voting for the amendment, 36 against, with 1 abstention.

Vote 2 capital – 31 members voting for the amendment, 35 against, with 1 abstention.

 

Green Group Budget Amendment

Revenue – Upskilling Estates Staff, HRA Reserve, Workplace parking levy plan, Project Management - Regeneration

Capital - Community Infrastructure Levy, Cycling and Walking Projects, HRA Reserve, Retrofitting energy improvements, Congestion Charging, Reduce Capital Contingency, Highways Infrastructure, Climate Change Reserve, Transport Improvements

 

Councillor Denyer moved amendment no. 2 (revenue and capital)

 

Councillor Fodor seconded the amendment.

 

Councillor Shah raised a point of order (CPR13.12) to confirm that he referred to legal advice in his speech rather than officer advice.  His comment was noted.

 

Following debate, upon being put to the vote, the amendment ‘revenue’ was CARRIED.

Vote 3 revenue – 55 members voting for the amendment, 13 against, with 0 abstention.

 

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment ‘capital’ was LOST.

Vote 4 carried – 11 members voting for the amendment, 49 against, with 8 abstentions.

 

Conservative Group Budget Amendment

Revenue - Mayor's Office, Brussels Office, Reduce PR and Consultation, Parking Charges at Blaise and Oldbury, Reduce bulky item collection charge.

Capital - Local Centre investment, Cribbs/Patchway Mitigations, Community Infrastructure Levy, Libraries Investment, Additional Parks capital spend, Use of Commercialisation Reserve, Use of Mayor's risk consultation reserve, Reduce spend on securing Bear Pit.

 

Councillor Goulandris moved amendment no. 3 (revenue and capital)

 

Councillor Steve Smith seconded the amendment.

 

Following debate, upon being put to the vote, both elements of the amendment was LOST.

Vote 5 revenue – 20 members voting for the amendment, 47 against, with 0 abstention.

Vote 6 capital – 20 members voting for the amendment, 47 against, with 0 abstention.

 

Labour Group Budget Amendment

Revenue - HRA Rent increase, HRA Capital Financing

 

Councillor Paul Smith moved amendment no. 4 (revenue)

 

Councillor Hickman seconded the amendment.

 

Following debate, upon being put to the vote, the amendment was CARRIED.

Vote 7 revenue – 46 members voting for the amendment, 20 against, with 2 abstentions.

 

At the conclusion of the Full Council’s consideration of, and voting on the individual budget amendments, the Lord Mayor clarified (under section 7 of the procedure) that the following amendments had been CARRIED:

Green Group Amendment no.2a (revenue)

Labour Group Amendment no.4 (revenue)

 

Also under section 7 of the procedure, on the motion of the Lord Mayor, the Full Council noted the Section 151 Officer’s statement regarding the robustness of the budget estimates.

 

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 6.00pm and reconvened at 6.20pm

 

On the meeting being reconvened, there was then (under section 8 of the procedure) a general debate on the budget proposals.

 

At the conclusion of the debate, the Mayor responded to the debate and to the Full Council’s earlier consideration of the budget amendments.  The Mayor indicated at this point that he was minded to accept an amended budget i.e. incorporating the Green Group amendment (revenue) and the Labour Group amendment (revenue).

 

On the motion of the Lord Mayor, seconded by the Deputy Lord Mayor, the Full Council then RESOLVED that Full Council NOTED:

 

a)     The report from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board and Resources Scrutiny Commission.

b)     The budget consultation process that was followed and feedback as outlined in Section 17 and Appendix 6.

c)      The feedback provided by the Schools Forum to Council, for their consideration in making final decisions on the Schools Budget for 2020/21 as outlined in Section 9.

d)     That the consultation feedback and equality impact assessments and relevance checks as set out in Appendix 7 and within the full reports for the ring fenced accounts (Dedicated Schools Grant and Housing Revenue Account), have been taken into consideration and has informed the final budget proposals.

e)     The comments of the Chief Finance Officer (s151 Officer) on the robustness of the Budget and adequacy of reserves as set out in Section 15.

f)      The delegation of authority to the Director of Finance after consultation with the Deputy Mayor, Cabinet Member for Finance, Governance and Performance and the Mayor, to make any necessary technical adjustments or adjustments to the figures upon receipt of the final Local Government Finance Settlement, and West of England Combined Authority Levy; with transfers to and or from reserves as appropriate.

 

RESOLVED that Full Council AGREED: (with 36 members voting in favour, 29 against and 3 abstentions)

 

g)     The Bristol City Council levels of Council Tax increase of 3.99%; which includes 2% precept to support Adult Social Care and noting the precepts of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset and the Avon Fire Authority.

h)     The calculations for determining the Council Tax requirement for the year 2020/21 as outlined in Appendix 8 and in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

i)       The Council’s General Fund net revenue budget for the year 2020/21 as £395.7 million and expenditure allocations as set out in Appendix 1; subject to any budget amendments properly notified to and approved by the Council in line with the Constitution.

j)       The temporary movement in general reserves of up to £6.1 million (31%) to mitigate the forecasted 2019/20 year end emergent pressures in the People directorate as outlined in Section 5.

k)     The Council’s capital budget (excluding the HRA) for the years 2020/21 - 2024/25, totalling £612.0 million as set out in paragraph 13 and detailed in Appendix 2.

l)       The proposed Treasury Management Strategy for 2020/21 in Appendix 4, incorporating the Minimum Revenue Provision policy and the prudential indicators and limits.

m)   The Strategy for the Flexible use of Capital Receipts as set out in Appendix 5.

 

RESOLVED that Full Council AGREED: (with 48 members voting in favour, 0 against, 0 abstentions)

n)     The distribution of the 2020/21 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) of £374.2 million as recommended by Cabinet and the Schools Forum and summarised in Section 9.

 

RESOLVED that Full Council AGREED: (with 47 members voting in favour, 18 against, 3 abstentions)

o)     The Gross HRA revenue budget for  the year 2020/21 as £119.1 million

p)     No increase in Housing Rents for 2020/21 for existing tenants.

q)     The use of flexibility in the rent standard with effect from April 2020, for new tenants:

•        up to 5% for Housing.

•        up to 10% for Supported Housing.

r)       Increase of 2.7% (CPI +1%) with effect from April 2020 for Garage Rents.

s)      Authorise the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration to set Service Charge budgets in line with the anticipated cost of delivery.

t)      The HRA capital budget for the years 2020/21 – 2024/25 totalling £354.0 million as detailed in Appendix 2  and including the following for 2020/21:

•        £33.0 million capital expenditure on existing stock.

•        £40.8 million on the Development Programme.

•        £5.0 million on improvements to Sandy Park site subject to Business Case approval.

•        £0.9 million for other capital projects including the ICT project.