Agenda item

Council is asked to resolve recommendations in respect of:

 

·         Capital Programme 2012/13 - 2014/15

·         Revenue Budget 2012/13

·         Council Tax 2012/13

·         Proposed Fees and Charges for 2012/13.

 

The Supporting Information has been circulated separately.

The Council considered the report by the Borough Treasurer which set out the financial plans and revenue budgets for the financial year 2012/13 and supporting information which presented the Council’s spending plans for 2012/13 and detailed budgets for the General Fund and capital programme.

 

Councillor Ward gave a comprehensive presentation elaborating on the proposals and highlighting some of the key issues including feedback from the consultation and the proposal not to increase Council Tax with the support of the Government Grant. He highlighted reductions including:

• Closure of four Children’s Centres
• Reduced services from School Improvement team
• Introduction of new charges and increased charges and
• Reduction in grant to South Hill Park

 

On the proposition of Councillor Mrs Temperton, Leader of the Opposition and seconded by Councillor Ms Brown an amended motion was put to the meeting that no changes to the budget proposals were required except for the following additional items of expenditure:

• £14,000 to retain the Sycamores Children Centre
• £92,000 for School Improvement
• £100,000 to extend the Aiming High Scheme
• £85,000 to support career guidance in schools
• £75,000 for targeted mental health support
• £50,000 for health education for young people

The additional expenditure to be met from £1.66m of balances, to be drawn down over four years.

 

On being put to the meeting the amendment fell. Councillors Mrs Temperton and Ms Brown requested that their vote in support of the amendment be recorded.

 

During the following debate Councillor Mrs Pile requested a written response from the Executive Member for Environment on the proposed charges for recyling bins asking “Can you reassure me in writing that charging for brown bins is not the thin end of the wedge for introducing further charges, including for blue and/ or brown bins?”.

 

On the proposition of Councillor Ward, Executive Member for Finance, Resources and Assets and seconded by Councillor Bettison it was

 

RESOLVED that

 

1          Capital Programme 2012/13 - 2014/15

           

i)                    General fund capital funding of £9.760m for 2012/13 in respect of new schemes listed on pages 283 to 287 of the summary report be approved;

ii)                   the inclusion of an additional budget of £1m for ‘Invest to Save’ schemes be approved;

iii)                 those schemes that attract external grant funding be approved for inclusion within the 2012/13 capital programme, at the level of funding received;

iv)                 the release of £2.054m from S106 monies be approved to fund capital projects outlined in paragraph 5.23 of the 21 February 2012 Executive report and included on pages 283 to 287 of the summary report;

v)                  those schemes which require external funding can only proceed once the Council is certain of receiving the grant; and

vi)                 the indicative programme for 2013/14 and 2014/15 be reviewed in the light of resources available and spending priorities in December 2012.

 

2          Revenue Budget 2012/13

 

i)                    No changes to the budget proposals were required as a result of the budget consultation;

ii)                   fees and charges as set out in Annexe G be approved (pages 75 to 162 of the summary report);

iii)                 a provision for inflation of £1.521m be approved;

iv)                 the commitment budget as set out in Annexe A be approved (page 19 of the summary report);

v)                  the changes to the budget proposals identified in sections 3.5 (pages 6 to 8) and 5.2 (page 15) of the summary report be agreed;

            vi)        the Schools Budget be set at the level set out in section 4.1 (page 8) of the summary report for Council, subject to any amendments agreed by the Executive Member for Education;

vii)        a contingency of £1.000m be included, use of which is authorised by the Chief Executive in consultation with the Borough Treasurer in accordance with the delegations included in the Council’s constitution;

viii)       subject to the above recommendations the revised draft budget proposals be agreed;

ix)        a contribution of £0.394m be made from revenue balances to support revenue expenditure;

            x)         total net expenditure of £71.936m, be approved;

            xi)        the Council’s Council Tax requirement, excluding Parish Council precepts, be set at £48.812m;

xii)        the Council Tax for the Council’s services for each Valuation Band be set as follows:

 

Band	Tax Level Relative to Band D	£
A	6/9	729.30
B	7/9	850.85
C	8/9	972.40
D	9/9	1093.95
E	11/9	1337.05
F	13/9	1580.15
G	15/9	1823.25
H	18/9	2187.90

 

            xiii)       the following indicators, limits, strategies and policies included in Annexe E (pages 50 to 68 of the summary report) be approved:

·         The Prudential Indicators and Limits for 2012/13 to 2014/15 contained within Annexe E(i);

·         The Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy contained within Annexe E(ii);

·         The Treasury Management Strategy Statement, and the Treasury Prudential Indicators contained in Annexe E(iii);

·         The Authorised Limit Prudential Indicator in Annexe E(iii);

·         The Investment Strategy 2012/13 to 2014/15 and Treasury Management Limits on Activity contained in Annexe E(iv);

xiv)             the virement requests relating to the 2011/12 budget set out in Annexe A to the Council report be approved.

3          Council Tax Resolution

 

3.1       the recommendations of the Executive outlined in section 2 be agreed.

3.2       the amounts calculated for the year 2012/13 in accordance with Section 67 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 be noted as :-

(a)       £44,620           TAX BASE FOR THE WHOLE COUNCIL AREA

                        being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992, as amended, as its council tax base for the year

       (b)       TAX BASE FOR PART OF THE COUNCIL’S AREA

                                                            EACH PARISH AREA

	£
Binfield	3,555
Bracknell	19,350
Crowthorne	2,615
Sandhurst	7,990
Warfield	4,510
Winkfield	6,600

            being the amounts calculated by the Council, in accordance with regulation 6 of the Regulations, as amended, as the amounts of its council tax base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate

3.3       the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2012/13 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government and Finance Act 1992as amended (the Act):-

(a)

£257,842,769

TOTAL EXPENDITURE INCLUDING GENERAL FUND, PARISH PRECEPTS AND THE COUNCIL’S SHARE OF ANY DEFICIT ON THE COLLECTION FUND

            being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act

 

(b)

£206,188,461

TOTAL INCOME INCLUDING GOVERNMENT SUPPORT AND THE COUNCIL’S SHARE OF ANY SURPLUS ON THE COLLECTION FUND

            being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act

 

(c)

£51,654,308

BOROUGH AND PARISH PRECEPTS NET EXPENDITURE TO BE FINANCED FROM COUNCIL TAX

            being the amount by which the aggregate at 3.3(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 3.3(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act, as its council tax requirement for the year

 

(d)

£ 1,157.65

AVERAGE BAND "D" COUNCIL TAX FOR WHOLE BOROUGH

            being the amount at 3.3(c) above, divided by the amount at 3.2(a) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B(1) of the Act, as the basic amount of its council tax for the year (including Parish precepts)

(e)

£2,842,259

PARISH PRECEPTS

            being the aggregate amount of all special items referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act

(f)

£1,093.95

BOROUGH COUNCIL TAX FOR BAND "D" PROPERTIES

being the amount at 3.3(d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at 3.3(e) above by the amount at 3.2(a) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its council tax for the year if there were an area of the Borough to which no special item relates

(g)	Part of the Council’s area	BOROUGH AND PARISH COUNCIL TAX FOR EACH PARISH FOR BAND “D”
		Binfield	£1,131.36
		Bracknell	£1,168.10
		Crowthorne	£1,163.95
		Sandhurst	£1,164.42
		Warfield	£1,123.35
		Winkfield	£1,153.90

            being the amounts given by adding to the amount at 3.3(f) above the amounts of the special item or items relating to dwellings in those parts of the Council's area mentioned above divided in each case by the amount at 3.2(b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(3) of the Act, as the basic amounts of its council tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate

(h)

Part of the Council's area

BOROUGH AND PARISH COUNCIL TAX IN EACH PARISH FOR EACH VALUATION BAND

 

Parish	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Binfield	754.24	879.95	1,005.65	1,131.36	1,382.77	1,634.19	1,885.60	2,262.72
Bracknell	778.73	908.52	1,038.31	1,168.10	1,427.68	1,687.26	1,946.83	2,336.20
Crowthorne	775.97	905.29	1,034.62	1,163.95	1,422.61	1,681.26	1,939.92	2,327.90
Sandhurst	776.28	905.66	1,035.04	1,164.42	1,423.18	1,681.94	1,940.70	2,328.84
Warfield	748.90	873.72	998.53	1,123.35	1,372.98	1,622.62	1,872.25	2,246.70
Winkfield	769.27	897.48	1,025.69	1,153.90	1,410.32	1,666.74	1,923.17	2,307.80

being the amounts given by multiplying the amounts at 3.3(g) above by the number which, in the proportion set out in Section 5(1) of the Act, is applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band divided by the number which in that proportion is applicable to dwellings listed in valuation band D, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 36(1) of the Act, as the amounts to be taken into account for the year in respect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuation bands

 

3.4       it be noted that for the year 2012/13 the Thames Valley Police Authority have stated the following amounts in precepts issued to the Council, in accordance with Section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:-

 

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Thames Valley Police Authority	102.87	120.01	137.16	154.30	188.59	222.88	257.17	308.60

 

 

3.5       it be noted that for the year 2012/13 the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority have stated the following amounts in precepts issued to the Council, in accordance with Section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:-

 

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Royal Berkshire Fire Authority	37.11	43.29	49.48	55.66	68.03	80.40	92.77	111.32

 

3.6       having calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts at 3.3(h), 3.4 and 3.5 above, the Council, in accordance with Section 30(2) of the Act, hereby sets the following amounts as the amounts of council tax for the year 2012/13 for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:-

 

(a)

Part of the Council's area

TOTAL COUNCIL TAX FOR EACH VALUATION BAND

 

Parish	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Binfield	894.22	1,043.25	1,192.29	1,341.32	1,639.39	1,937.47	2,235.54	2,682.64
Bracknell	918.71	1,071.82	1,224.95	1,378.06	1,684.30	1,990.54	2,296.77	2,756.12
Crowthorne	915.95	1,068.59	1,221.26	1,373.91	1,679.23	1,984.54	2,289.86	2,747.82
Sandhurst	916.26	1,068.96	1,221.68	1,374.38	1,679.80	1,985.22	2,290.64	2,748.76
Warfield	888.88	1,037.02	1,185.17	1,333.31	1,629.60	1,925.90	2,222.19	2,666.62
Winkfield	909.25	1,060.78	1,212.33	1,363.86	1,666.94	1,970.02	2,273.11	2,727.72