Agenda item

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services informed Council that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government had recently advised councils of a change in regulations which came in to force on 25 February 2014 and required the Council’s standing orders to be changed to require a recorded vote on the budget and Council Tax.  Due to the shortness of notice of the change in regulations, it had not been practicable to amend the Council’s Standing Orders to reflect this change in regulations.  Correspondence received from the Department for Communities and Local Government had suggested that where it had not been practicable to change the standing orders, councils could still require a recorded vote.

 

Council agreed that recorded votes be taken in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 16.4 when considering budget and Council Tax matters at the meeting.

 

The Council considered a report from Cabinet which detailed budget recommendations for 2014/15 and the Medium Term Financial Plan 2014/15 to 2016/17.  In Moving adoption of the Cabinet report, Councillor Henig made a statement on the Budget and Precept for 2012/13, summarised as follows:

 

The budget process for the forthcoming financial year had been subject to an extensive consultation process which had involved 4,000 members of the public, trade unions, businesses and overview and scrutiny.  Councillor Henig thanked all those who had taken part in the consultation process.

 

In 2014/15 the Council would need to make savings of £23m, with savings of £87m needed in the two years thereafter.  Although the Council would continue to protect frontline services wherever possible, this was becoming increasingly difficult given the size of the current and proposed budget cuts.  During the consultation process on the budget, members of the public had been shocked when told of the scale of cuts the Council faced.

 

The Chancellor had announced the need for a further £25bn of public expenditure reductions for 2016/17 and 2017/18.  With £12bn expected to be found from Welfare budgets, £13bn would need to be found from Government Departments.  It was expected that Health, Education and Aid budgets would continue to be protected which would result in increased pressure upon the remaining Government Departments.  It was therefore forecast that the Government grant reductions for local government in 2016/17 and 2017/18 would be similar in magnitude to those of 2014/15 and 2015/16.

 

Councillor Henig referred to table 2 on page 47 of the papers which showed that the Revenue Support Grant Reduction for Durham between 2013/14 and 2015/16 was 41%, which was 2% more than the national average and 13% more than Surrey.  He called upon Members from both coalition parties in Durham to condemn the unfairness of the distribution of the budget cuts.

 

The Council would need to make some very tough decisions over the next few years to meet the required spending cuts, and no areas would be exempt.  Councillor Henig informed Council that he had been heartened by work carried out by communities and partners in the current period of austerity and invited the County Durham Partnership, AAP’s, voluntary sector and Town and Parish Council’s to work with the County Council to help provide services.

 

The Budget for 2014/15 was a sensible and prudent budget which protected frontline services as much as possible and was aligned to the County Council’s priorities.  This included an increase of £1.3m in the Winter Maintenance Budget for 2014/15, which was identified as a high priority area during public consultation.  The proposed Capital Programme was shown at Appendices 8 and 9 of the report included investment in highways and road maintenance, bus and road development, broadband provision and flood prevention, all of which were aimed to protect and create jobs and stimulate the local economy.

 

Since 2010 the Council had proposed no increase in levels of Council Tax,  However, two-thirds  of public responses to consultation had favoured an increase of Council Tax of up to 2% for 2014/15 as an alternative to deeper cuts in services.  The Council was therefore proposing an increase of 1.99% in levels of Council Tax.  Although the Council had in previous years accepted the Government’s Council Tax Freeze Grant, this had resulted in the Council actually losing income over these years, estimated at £7m.  To accept the Grant for 2014/15 would result in even greater loss of income.

 

IN Seconding the adoption of the Cabinet report, Councillor Napier added his thanks to all involved in the budget process.  Government cuts had fallen disproportionately in those areas which least could afford them yet the Council had managed to achieve savings of £23m, to achieve a balanced budget for 2014/15.  The Council’s Capital Programme was designed to generate jobs and stimulate the economy of the County.

 

Although job losses would be inevitable, the Council would continue to attempt to keep compulsory redundancies to a minimum, and the Council had enhanced its strategic reserve by £15m to cover the costs or early retirement and voluntary redundancy.

 

An Amendment was Moved by Councillor Shuttleworth, Seconded by Councillor Savory as follows:

 

(1)      Reduce the number of FTEs in the Press Office and Comms Team to 1 x Tier 4 Manager + 3 support employees.  Saving = £0.319m

 

(2)      Abolish Durham County News.  Saving = £0.238m

 

(3)      Reduce Revenue Contingency Budget by £2.343m.   Saving = £2.343m

 

Total Savings = £2.9m

 

(1)      Remove the £2.9m ‘profit’ target from Highways Team programme of works so that they can reduce their pricing of internal projects and thereby be able to do an extra £2.9m of highways maintenance work in 2014/15. 

 

(2)      In so doing, this will also make the Highways Service more competitive when bidding for external contracts.

 

Total Additional Costs = £2.9m

 

In addition to these proposals

 

Maintain General Reserves at 4% as opposed to between 5% and 7.5%, thereby allowing up to a further £10m to be utilised for highway maintenance

 

For the Amendment

Councillors A Bell, R Bell, G Richardson, A Savory and J Shuttleworth

 

Against the Amendment

Councillors E Adam, J Allen, J Alvey, B Armstrong, J Armstrong, L Armstrong, B Avery, A Batey, E Bell, J Bell, H Bennett, J Blakey, G Bleasdale, D Boyes, P Brookes, J Brown, C Carr, J Charlton, P Charlton, J Clare, J Clark, P Conway, K Corrigan, P Crathorne, R Crute, K Davidson, M Davinson, K Dearden, M Dixon, S Forster, N Foster, D Freeman, I Geldard, B Glass, B Graham, J Gray, O Gunn, S Guy, D Hall, J Hart, K Henig, S Henig, D Hicks, J Hillary, M Hodgson, G Holland, A Hopgood, K Hopper, L Hovvels, E Huntington, S Iveson, I Jewell, O Johnson, C Kay, A Laing, P Lawton, J Lethbridge, H Liddle, R Lumsdon, J Maitland, C Marshall, L Marshall, N Martin, J Maslin, P May, O Milburn, B Moir, A Napier, M Nicholls, H Nicholson, R Ormerod, A Patterson, T Pemberton, M Plews, C Potts, L Pounder, J Robinson, K Shaw, A Shield, M Simmons, T Smith, B Stephens, P Stradling, A Surtees, P Taylor, L Taylor, O Temple, R Todd, E Tomlinson, J Turnbull, A Turner, A Watson, R Yorke, R Young, Mac Williams, A Willis, C Wilson and S Wilson

 

Abstentions

None

 

The Amendment was Lost.

 

 

An Amendment was Moved by Councillor R Bell, Seconded by Councillor G Richardson as follows:

 

In respect of the Cabinet’s 2014/15 Revenue Budget, I move an amendment for the Council to freeze Council Tax and accept the Government Grant. This would cost an estimated £1,250,000 a year and would be funded by:

 

·       Stopping the publication of County Durham News from April 2014 but retaining  the Events Guide and Guide to Services. This would result in an annual saving of £150,000.

 

·       Reducing the level of the Corporate Risk Contingency budget for one year only in 2014/2015, utilising £1,100,000.

 

The Corporate Risk Contingency budget would be replenished and augmented by 31 March 2015 by commencing in 2014 a programme of unitising (centralising) all back office, and support service functions including:

 

·       Policy, planning and performance(estimated full year effect saving £500,000)

·       Administration Support (estimated full year effect saving £500,000)

·       Communications and marketing (estimated full year effect saving £350,000)

 

(estimated full year effect total saving of £1,350,000)

 

Total planned savings £1,500,000

 

For the Amendment

Councillors R Bell, D Freeman, G Holland, A Hopgood, N Martin, R Ormerod, G Richardson, M Simmons and O Temple

 

Against the Amendment

Councillors E Adam, J Allen, J Alvey, B Armstrong, J Armstrong, L Armstrong, B Avery, A Batey, A Bell, E Bell, J Bell, H Bennett, J Blakey, G Bleasdale, D Boyes, P Brookes, J Brown, C Carr, J Charlton, P Charlton, J Clare, J Clark, P Conway, K Corrigan, P Crathorne, R Crute, K Davidson, M Davinson, K Dearden, M Dixon, S Forster, N Foster, I Geldard, B Glass, B Graham, J Gray, O Gunn, S Guy, D Hall, J Hart, K Henig, S Henig, D Hicks, J Hillary, M Hodgson, K Hopper, L Hovvels, E Huntington, S Iveson, I Jewell, O Johnson, C Kay, A Laing, P Lawton, J Lethbridge, H Liddle, R Lumsdon, J Maitland, C Marshall, L Marshall, J Maslin, P May, O Milburn, B Moir, A Napier, M Nicholls, H Nicholson, A Patterson, T Pemberton, M Plews, C Potts, L Pounder, J Robinson, A Savory, K Shaw, A Shield, J Shuttleworth, T Smith, B Stephens, P Stradling, A Surtees, P Taylor, L Taylor, R Todd, E Tomlinson, J Turnbull, A Turner, A Watson, R Yorke, R Young, Mac Williams, A Willis, C Wilson and S Wilson

 

Abstentions

None

 

The Amendment was Lost.

 

 

An amendment was Moved by Councillor Hopgood, Seconded by Councillor Martin as follows:

 

In respect of the Cabinet’s 2014/15 Revenue Budget, I move an amendment for the Council to freeze Council Tax and accept the Government Grant

 

This would cost an estimated £1,250,000 in a full financial year and would be funded by initially reducing the level of General Reserves by £1,250,000.

 

The General Reserves would be replenished before 31 March 2015 by commencing as soon as possible in 2014 a programme of savings that would deliver and augment the full £1,250,000 savings required to bring the budget into balance and would be funded by:

 

       i.          Reducing the Corporate Management Team from a Chief Executive and Five Corporate Directors, to a Chief Executive and Three Corporate Directors with corresponding reduction in posts of Two Corporate Directors; Four Heads of Service; Nine Tier 4 Managers and Four Personal Assistants, making an annual saving of £1,500,000;

 

      ii.          Unitising and rationalising the public relations and marketing services within Service Groupings with the aim of reducing the number of employees by ten full time equivalent employees (including two managers) plus corresponding savings from the supplies and services budgets that support these functions. This would make an annual saving of £350,000.

 

The additional £600,000 savings that would be generated should be added to the Corporate Risk Contingency Budget.

 

For the Amendment

Councillors R Bell, J Charlton, D Freeman, G Holland, A Hopgood, N Martin, R Ormerod, G Richardson, A Shield, M Simmons, O Temple and A Willis.

 

Against the Amendment

Councillors E Adam, J Allen, J Alvey, B Armstrong, J Armstrong, L Armstrong, A Batey, A Bell, E Bell, J Bell, H Bennett, J Blakey, G Bleasdale, D Boyes, P Brookes, J Brown, C Carr, P Charlton, J Clare, J Clark, P Conway, K Corrigan, P Crathorne, R Crute, K Davidson, M Davinson, K Dearden, M Dixon, S Forster, N Foster, I Geldard, B Glass, B Graham, J Gray, O Gunn, S Guy, D Hall, J Hart, K Henig, S Henig, D Hicks, J Hillary, M Hodgson, K Hopper, L Hovvels, E Huntington, S Iveson, I Jewell, O Johnson, C Kay, A Laing, P Lawton, J Lethbridge, H Liddle, R Lumsdon, J Maitland, C Marshall, L Marshall, J Maslin, P May, O Milburn, B Moir, A Napier, M Nicholls, H Nicholson, A Patterson, T Pemberton, M Plews, C Potts, L Pounder, J Robinson, A Savory, K Shaw, J Shuttleworth, T Smith, B Stephens, P Stradling, A Surtees, P Taylor, L Taylor, R Todd, E Tomlinson, J Turnbull, A Turner, A Watson, R Yorke, R Young, Mac Williams, C Wilson and S Wilson

 

Abstentions

None

 

The Amendment was Lost.

 

 

An amendment was Moved by Councillor Temple, Seconded by Councillor Holland as follows:

 

Allocate £280,000 of revenue funding to fund prudential borrowing costs in order to fund an additional £3m of highways capital maintenance work.

 

The £280,000 cost would be met by reducing the car mileage rates for ‘green book’ employees from 48p per mile to 45p per mile. This would make an annual saving of £280,000.

 

For the Amendment

Councillors R Bell, A Bell, J Charlton, D Freeman, D Hicks, G Holland, A Hopgood, N Martin, R Ormerod, A Shield, M Simmons, O Temple and A Willis.

 

Against the Amendment

Councillors E Adam, J Allen, J Alvey, B Armstrong, J Armstrong, L Armstrong, A Batey, E Bell, J Bell, H Bennett, J Blakey, G Bleasdale, D Boyes, P Brookes, J Brown, C Carr, P Charlton, J Clare, J Clark, P Conway, K Corrigan, P Crathorne, R Crute, K Davidson, M Davinson, K Dearden, M Dixon, S Forster, N Foster, I Geldard, B Glass, B Graham, J Gray, O Gunn, S Guy, D Hall, J Hart, K Henig, S Henig, J Hillary, M Hodgson, K Hopper, L Hovvels, E Huntington, S Iveson, I Jewell, O Johnson, C Kay, A Laing, P Lawton, J Lethbridge, H Liddle, R Lumsdon, J Maitland, C Marshall, L Marshall, J Maslin, P May, O Milburn, B Moir, A Napier, M Nicholls, H Nicholson, A Patterson, T Pemberton, M Plews, C Potts, L Pounder, G Richardson, J Robinson, A Savory, K Shaw, J Shuttleworth, T Smith, B Stephens, P Stradling, A Surtees, P Taylor, L Taylor, R Todd, E Tomlinson, J Turnbull, A Turner, A Watson, R Yorke, R Young, Mac Williams, C Wilson and S Wilson

 

Abstentions

None

 

The Amendment was Lost.

 

A vote was then taken on the main Motion which was the recommendation detailed in the report.

 

For the Motion

Councillors E Adam, J Allen, J Alvey, B Armstrong, J Armstrong, L Armstrong, A Batey, A Bell, E Bell, J Bell, H Bennett, J Blakey, G Bleasdale, D Boyes, P Brookes, J Brown, C Carr, P Charlton, J Clare, J Clark, P Conway, K Corrigan, P Crathorne, R Crute, K Davidson, M Davinson, K Dearden, M Dixon, S Forster, N Foster, I Geldard, B Glass, B Graham, J Gray, O Gunn, S Guy, D Hall, J Hart, K Henig, S Henig, D Hicks, J Hillary, M Hodgson, K Hopper, L Hovvels, E Huntington, S Iveson, I Jewell, O Johnson, C Kay, A Laing, P Lawton, J Lethbridge, H Liddle, R Lumsdon, J Maitland, C Marshall, L Marshall, J Maslin, P May, O Milburn, B Moir, A Napier, M Nicholls, H Nicholson, A Patterson, T Pemberton, M Plews, C Potts, L Pounder, J Robinson, A Savory, K Shaw, J Shuttleworth, T Smith, B Stephens, P Stradling, A Surtees, P Taylor, L Taylor, R Todd, E Tomlinson, J Turnbull, A Turner, A Watson, R Yorke, R Young, Mac Williams, C Wilson and S Wilson

 

Against the Motion

Councillors R Bell, D Freeman, G Holland, A Hopgood, N Martin, R Ormerod, G Richardson, A Shield, M Simmons, O Temple and A Willis.

 

Abstentions

None

 

The Motion was Carried.

 

Resolved

That the report of the Cabinet and its recommendations be adopted in full.