Agenda item - Budget report 2019/20 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2019/20 to 2022/23 (General Fund)

Agenda item

Budget report 2019/20 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2019/20 to 2022/23 (General Fund)

To receive the report of the Director of Finance, presenting for approval the Budget for 2019/20 and Medium-Term Financial Plan 2019/20 to 2022/23  (General Fund). 

                                                                                                   (Report No:160)

                                                              (Key Decision – Reference No: 4744)

 

The report will need to be considered in conjunction with Report No: 172 on the Part Two Council agenda.

 

Members are asked to note that Cabinet considered the report at their meeting on 13 February 2019 and recommended it to Council. 

Minutes:

Councillor Maguire moved and Councillor Caliskan seconded the report of the Director of Finance, (Report No: 160) presenting for approval the Budget for 2019/20 and the Medium -Term Financial Plan. 

 

NOTED

 

1.            Recommendations 2.1 – 2.10 had been endorsed and recommended onto Council for formal approval by Cabinet on 13 February 2019.

 

2.            The tabled note setting out how the discussion of the item would be considered at the meeting.

 

3.            The following comments highlighted by Councillor Maguire, Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement when moving the report. 

 

a.            The Cabinet Member thanked officers for all their hard work in putting together the budget and for putting up with the rigorous interrogation of the available options.

b.            The budget sets an increase in the core Council tax of 2.99% plus a 1% increase for adult social care and an increase in the GLA precept of 8.93%, making an increase overall of 4.92%.  This equated to 97p per week for a Band D property. 

c.            This is a robust, realistic and balanced budget set in extremely challenging circumstances.  By 2020 Enfield will have a £187m funding gap due to austerity.  £18m has had to be saved this financial year. 

d.            Savings and cuts have had to be made because of the level of the Local Government Financial Settlement, the lowest for years, and the increasing cost pressures in children and adult services, increasing homelessness and poverty and deprivation.

e.            The local government grant across London has been cut in real terms by 6.5% this year which will make a total of 63% by 2020. 

f.             The Capital Programme and Treasury Management Strategy had been included in separate reports for greater transparency.

g.            The Government’s new fair funding formula with be unfair to Enfield because the deprivation indicators were being removed.

h.            The collection fund was currently in surplus.

i.              The proposed budget was balanced, sustainable and resilient whilst continuing to support those on low incomes, address crime and youth violence and improve street cleansing and fly-tipping.

j.              Costs have been reduced and money saved through reducing agency staff, providing temporary accommodation through Housing Gateway and bringing contracts back in house. 

 

4.            Councillor Vince moved and Councillor David-Sanders seconded an amendment proposing an alternative budget for 2018/19. 

 

5.            A debate took place on the substantive report and the amendment. 

 

6.            The comments of the Majority Group: 

 

a.         The budget was balanced, resilient, responsible and protecting services for the most vulnerable.  It was a Labour budget with Labour values providing for residents’ needs in difficult circumstances.

b.         Enfield residents were each poorer by £800 because of the Conservative cuts.  Public services had been decimated.  Local government had lost 60p in every £1 since 2010.  In all councils there was a risk to the viability of services.  All councils were very close to the edge. 

c.         If weekly collections were important to the Government, why had they cut the £2.4m grant which had funded them.  £2.8m would have had to have been found to cover the cost of continuing the current waste collection system. 

d.         The administration supported the spending of £500,000 on street cleansing and fly tipping, £1m investment in CCTV, £500,000 to tackle youth violence, £1m extra on children’s services, £10m on people not potholes, as well as preserving the council tax support scheme. 

e.         There had been a £40m cut to adult social care.  Proper funding was needed to help both adults and children lead active and independent lives.

f.          Thanks to the colleagues in adult’s and children’s services, public health, environment for the often-unrecognised work that they did to support the people of Enfield.

g.         There was only so far that the Council could go in reducing costs and although the administration was proposing to invest an extra £1m in children’s services, this was not enough. Costs were increasing, Enfield had a growing population, the birth rate was increasing, as were the numbers of looked after children.

h.         The Government should stop forcing schools to become academies.

i.          Cuts to public health funding were damaging. Twenty five percent of Year 6 children were obese.  Yet, despite the cuts to the public health grant, Enfield had won awards for healthy food and sexual health services.

j.          In a recent visit to Enfield, the Chief Executive of Public Health England, was asked to explain why Enfield was only funded at £49 per person compared with Kensington on £131.

k.         £59.6m was being invested to keep Enfield green and safe.  Income was being generated where possible.

l.          Housing Gateway had resulted in cost avoidances of more than £5m.

m.       The opposition should join with the administration to petition the government to stop austerity and to provide more money for public services.

n.         The view that devastation had been inflicted on public services by the Conservative Government.  Devastation to vulnerable people, poverty and crime were increasing, four out of ten children were living in poverty, money was being lost to schools, and there are increasing numbers of homeless people and people sleeping on the streets.  It was difficult to support any budget that was implementing Conservative government cuts.

o.         That it was not possible to set an illegal budget but that this budget was the fairest possible in the circumstances.  It had been costed to impose the least harm, putting older and younger people first.  It was supported with reluctance.

p.         The only way to avoid the cuts was to support a Labour Government.

q.         Concern about the use of expensive consultants by the former Conservative Mayor of London, about his failed projects such as the garden bridge and the Government’s failed procurements.

r.          The view that the increase in knife crime in the borough was a consequence of the huge reduction in police numbers and the devastation of youth services.

s.         The associate cabinet members did provide value for money.

 

7.            The following issues highlighted by the Opposition Group:

 

a.         Councillor Laban welcomed part of the budget, especially the measures relating to children’s and adult services, but felt that more should be done to keep weekly waste collections as this was a priority for local residents, supported by them in the recent waste consultation.

b.         The belief that keeping the weekly collections would help restore trust in democracy.

c.         The Opposition’s budget amendment proposing an alternative budget with weekly collections and more money for community safety was balanced and had been checked by the Section 151 officer.

d.         The Opposition group supported the administration proposals adding £600,000 to community safety to help tackle crime and help fund 16 extra police officers as well as providing a special £100,000 fund for community projects.

e.         The Opposition felt that more savings could be found and more done to reduce Council operating costs including security costs for vacant buildings, ensuring the traded services broke even and gaining more income from halls for hire as well as getting rid of the associate cabinet members.  The Conservatives were proposing a 5% reduction in the £140m operating costs which could deliver an extra £7.5m.

f.          Concern that the current administration was wasting money and running down reserves. There was a lack of planning shown in the proposals for the Learning Difficulties team.  The impending OfSTED inspection could lead to the need for more money for children’s services. 

g.         Concern that too much money was being invested in risky capital projects.  Concern about the delays to the Meridian Water and the small housing sites projects. 

h.         Poor publicity meant many were not aware that consultations were taking place.

i.          The current Labour administration had been in power since 2010 and Opposition members felt that poor decisions had been make and that much more could have been done to reduce operating costs and make savings.

j.          The Conservative Government had put more money into schools and children’s services and through the pupil premium, and yet the administration had decided to abolish school crossing patrols.

k.         The government was moving from a system of grant funding to self-funding so it was not surprising that the revenue grant was being run down.

l.          Extra government funding had been provided for adult social care. 

m.       Concern about the Mayor of London’s precept which had increased by 9% on the previous year. 

n.         There were now record levels of employment and tax thresholds had been raised so that people do not have to pay tax on the first £12,000 of their income. 

 

8.            Councillor Vince’s right to reply on the opposition’s amended budget proposals, welcoming the extra £1m for children’s services, thanking the staff of the vital work that they did and expressing the hope that the administration would support the alternative budget, approved by the Director of Finance and listen to local residents.

 

9.            Councillor Maguire’s summing up, rejecting the Opposition amended budget proposals which she felt were short term, did not address the issues, and showed a lack of humility in face of the damage that the Conservative Government had inflicted on local government through extensive cuts.  A few crumbs would not help. The budget had been prepared in a responsible way. 

 

Following the debate, the opposition amendment was put to the vote and not agreed with the following result:

 

For:  14

Against:  41

Abstentions: 0

 

The recommendations in the substantive report were put to the vote and approved with the following results.

 

AGREED

 

1.           With regard to the revenue budget for 2019/20:

 

(i)            To set the Council Tax Requirement for Enfield at £127.311m in 2019/20;

(ii)          To set the Council Tax at Band D for Enfield’s services for 2019/20 at £1,311.48 (section 6), being a 2.99% general Council Tax increase and a 1.00% Adult Social Care Precept.

(iii)         To approve the statutory calculations and resolutions set out in Appendix 15 of the report.

 

2.           To approve the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP), including: 

 

(i)      the pressures set out in Appendix 3, £26.8m in 2019/20, which includes:

      an investment of £1m for Children’s Social Workers in order to   reduce caseloads

      an additional £11.4m allocated in 2019/20 to address Adults and Children’s Social Care pressures, partly funded from the new Social Care Support Grant and increased Better Care Fund totalling £5.3m.

(ii)     an allocation of £0.5m per annum within the 2019/20 and 2020/21 budgets which is recommended to provide mentoring related to serious youth violence and improve data to better target resources (para 9.1.4).

(iv)      the savings of £10.7m and income proposals of £2.4m in 2019/20 set out in Appendix 2a.

(v)       full year effects of prior year savings and income generation totalling £3.4m set out in Appendix 2b.

(vi)      adopt the key principles set out in section 10.

(vii)    to note the additional £0.3m capital budget needed to deliver an annual saving of £0.4m on the CCTV budget, which will be recommended as part of the Capital Strategy (2019/20) and 4 year Capital Programme (2019/20 – 2022/23) report on this agenda.

 

3.               With regard to the robustness of the 2019/20 budget and the adequacy of the Council’s earmarked reserves and balances:

 

(i)        To note the risks and uncertainties inherent in the 2019/20 budget and the Medium-Term Financial Plan (section11) and agree the actions in hand to mitigate them;

(ii)       To note the advice of the Director of Finance regarding the recommended levels of contingencies, balances and earmarked reserves (section 12 and Appendix 8a) and have regard to the comments of the Director of Finance (section 14 and Appendix 8a) when making final decisions on the 2019/20 budget;

(iii)      To agree the recommended levels of central contingency and general balances (section 12).

 

4.            To agree the Schools Budget for 2019/20 (Section 7.6 and Appendix 5).

 

5.            To agree the changes in Fees and Charges for 2019/20 as set out in Sections 9.3 to 9.8 and appendices 11 to 14.

 

6.            To note the gap remaining in in the MTFP for 2020/21 to 2022/23 and the actions being taken to address this (Section 13)

 

7.            To agree that the New Homes Bonus £1.594m is applied as a one-off contribution to the General Fund in 2019/20.

 

8.            To agree the planned flexible use of capital receipts in 2018/19 being £4.212m and to approve the planned flexible use of capital receipts in 2019/20 being £1.851m. (Section 9.9 and Appendix 10)

 

9.            To note the feedback and minutes from the Budget Consultation and Overview and Scrutiny Committee Budget Meeting on 31st January 2019 as set out in Appendices 1a and 1b.

 

10.         To approve the financial implications reported to Cabinet on 13th February regarding changes to the Waste and Recycling Service and to delegate authority to the Director of Finance to make necessary changes to the approved 2019/20 budget, which has no impact on the 2019/20 council tax recommendations and reflect the changes in the medium-term financial plan for 2020/21 and beyond. (paragraph 9.2.4)

 

In accordance with standing order regulations 2014, the vote was recorded in relation to the decisions in 2.1 - 2.9 excluding 2.1(iii)

 

For: 53

 

Councillor Huseyin Akpinar

Councillor Mahmut Aksanoglu

Councillor Daniel Anderson

Councillor Kate Anolue

Councillor Ian Barnes

Councillor Dinah Barry

Councillor Mahym Bedekova

Councillor Chris Bond

Councillor Sinan Boztas

Councillor Yasemin Brett

Councillor Anne Brown

Councillor Nesil Caliskan

Councillor Alev Cazimoglu

Councillor Mustafa Cetinkaya

Councillor Catherine Chibah

Councillor Lee David-Sanders

Councillor Birsen Demirel

Councillor Clare De Silva

Councillor Chris Dey

Councillor Guney Dogan

Councillor Elif Erbil

Councillor Susan Erbil

Councillor Ergin Erbil

Councillor Achilleas Georgiou

Councillor Margaret Greer

Councillor Charith Gunawardena

Councillor Christine Hamilton

Councillor Ahmet Hasan

Councillor Stephanos Ioannou

Councillor Rick Jewell

Councillor Nneka Keazor

Councillor Joanne Laban

Councillor Bernadette Lappage

Councillor Tim Leaver

Councillor Dino Lemonides

Councillor Derek Levy

Councillor Mary Maguire

Councillor Andy Milne

Councillor Gina Needs

Councillor Terence Neville

Councillor Ayfer Orhan

Councillor Ahmet Oykener

Councillor Sabri Ozaydin

Councillor Vicki Pite

Councillor Lindsay Rawlings

Councillor Michael Rye

Councillor George Savva

Councillor Edward Smith

Councillor Jim Steven

Councillor Claire Stewart

Councillor Doug Taylor

Councillor Glynis Vince

Councillor Hass Yusuf

 

Against: 0

 

Abstentions:  3

 

Councillor Maria Alexandrou

Councillor Tolga Aramaz

Councillor Alessandro Georgiou

 

The vote recorded in regard to recommendation: 2.1 (iii)

 

For:  50

 

Councillor Huseyin Akpinar

Councillor Mahmut Aksanoglu

Councillor Daniel Anderson

Councillor Kate Anolue

Councillor Ian Barnes

Councillor Dinah Barry

Councillor Mahym Bedekova

Councillor Chris Bond

Councillor Sinan Boztas

Councillor Yasemin Brett

Councillor Anne Brown

Councillor Nesil Caliskan

Councillor Alev Cazimoglu

Councillor Mustafa Cetinkaya

Councillor Catherine Chibah

Councillor Lee David-Sanders

Councillor Birsen Demirel

Councillor Clare De Silva

Councillor Guney Dogan

Councillor Elif Erbil

Councillor Susan Erbil

Councillor Ergin Erbil

Councillor Achilleas Georgiou

Councillor Margaret Greer

Councillor Charith Gunawardena

Councillor Christine Hamilton

Councillor Ahmet Hasan

Councillor Rick Jewell

Councillor Nneka Keazor

Councillor Joanne Laban

Councillor Bernadette Lappage

Councillor Tim Leaver

Councillor Dino Lemonides

Councillor Derek Levy

Councillor Mary Maguire

Councillor Andy Milne

Councillor Gina Needs

Councillor Ayfer Orhan

Councillor Ahmet Oykener

Councillor Sabri Ozaydin

Councillor Vicki Pite

Councillor Lindsay Rawlings

Councillor Michael Rye

Councillor George Savva

Councillor Edward Smith

Councillor Jim Steven

Councillor Claire Stewart

Councillor Doug Taylor

Councillor Glynis Vince

Councillor Hass Yusuf

 

Against:  1

 

Councillor Terry Neville 

 

Abstentions:  5

 

Councillor Maria Alexandrou

Councillor Tolga Aramaz

Councillor Chris Dey

Councillor Alessandro Georgiou

Councillor Stephanos Ioannou

 

The vote recorded in regard to recommendation: 2.10 was as follows: 

 

For:  42

 

Councillor Huseyin Akpinar

Councillor Mahmut Aksanoglu

Councillor Maria Alexandrou

Councillor Daniel Anderson

Councillor Kate Anolue

Councillor Ian Barnes

Councillor Dinah Barry

Councillor Mahym Bedekova

Councillor Chris Bond

Councillor Sinan Boztas

Councillor Yasemin Brett

Councillor Anne Brown

Councillor Nesil Caliskan

Councillor Alev Cazimoglu

Councillor Mustafa Cetinkaya

Councillor Catherine Chibah

Councillor Birsen Demirel

Councillor Guney Dogan

Councillor Elif Erbil

Councillor Ergin Erbil

Councillor Susan Erbil

Councillor Achilleas Georgiou

Councillor Margaret Greer

Councillor Charith Gunawardena

Councillor Christine Hamilton

Councillor Ahmet Hasan

Councillor Rick Jewell

Councillor Nneka Keazor

Councillor Bernadette Lappage

Councillor Tim Leaver

Councillor Dino Lemonides

Councillor Derek Levy

Councillor Mary Maguire

Councillor Gina Needs

Councillor Ayfer Orhan

Councillor Ahmet Oykener

Councillor Sabri Ozaydin

Councillor Vicki Pite

Councillor George Savva

Councillor Claire Stewart

Councillor Doug Taylor

Councillor Hass Yusuf

 

Against: 13

 

Councillor Lee David-Sanders

Councillor Clare De Silva 

Councillor Chris Dey

Councillor Alessandro Georgiou

Councillor Stephanos Ioannou

Councillor Joanne Laban

Councillor Andy Milne

Councillor Terence Neville

Councillor Lindsay Rawlings

Councillor Michael Rye

Councillor Edward Smith

Councillor Jim Steven

Councillor Glynis Vince

 

Abstentions: 1

 

Councillor Tolga Aramaz

 

NOTED:  After the vote, Councillor Maria Alexandrou said that she had voted for recommendation 2.10 by mistake and asked for her vote to be changed.  Jeremy Chambers, Monitoring Officer, advised that she could not change her vote. 

Supporting documents: