Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED-

That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2013 be agreed as a correct record.

There were none.

Councillor Joanna Tambourides declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of Agenda Item 7 as a trustee of MIND in Barnet and Friend in Need.

Details are appended of the questions asked of, and the answers given by, the Chairman. Verbal responses were given to supplementary questions at the meeting.

Prior to this item, a public comment was received from Ms Janet Leifer, and a petition was presented which would be handled in line with the Council’s Constitution.

Cabinet received a presentation from Councillor Maureen Braun, Chairman of the Task and Finish Group, and considered the recommendations made in their report.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

i) support recommendations 1 and 2 of the Task and Finish Group;

ii) support recommendation 3 of the Task and Finish Group and agree that the Council as well as Your Choice Barnet could explore such alternative funding models;

iii) is of the opinion that recommendation 4 be revisited at a future date pending the Barnet Group’s review of its structure, and implementation of the Council’s new governance arrangements.

Cabinet received a presentation from Councillor Brian Gordon, Chairman of the Task and Finish Group, and considered the recommendations.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet support each of the recommendations which will inform the presentation of an Early Years Strategy to Cabinet.

It was noted that at Para 9.6.2, the words ‘the 2013/14 taxbase to be 125,294’, should state: ‘the 2014/15 taxbase to be 128,463.’

For the reasons set out in the Cabinet Members report,

RESOLVED:

Corporate Plan

1.1         That Cabinet note the council’s Corporate Plan included at Appendix A. This sets out the council’s priorities for the forthcoming year.

            Consultation

1.2         That Cabinet consider the consultation outcomes when making their decisions. The outcome of consultation is set out in Appendix B;

            Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)

1.3         That Cabinet approve the MTFS attached at Appendix C. The MTFS sets out all of the budget changes over the period from 2014/15 to 2015/16, including assumptions around inflation, changes to levies, pressures, savings and grant funding. It is the model around which the council’s financial strategy is based;

Detailed Revenue Budgets, Savings and Pressures

1.4         That Cabinet recommend to Council for approval the estimates for income and expenditure, savings, pressures and council tax schedules as set out in Appendix D.

That Cabinet note that budget has been prepared on the basis of a 1% reduction in council tax for 2014/15 and a council tax freeze in 2015/16.

Overall the 2014/15 budget requirement totals £260,575,218.

1.5         That Cabinet note that the Chief Finance Officer under his delegated powers has calculated the amount of 128,463 (band D equivalents) as the council tax base for the year 2014/15 [Item T in the formula in Section 31B (3) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the “Act”)];

1.6         That Cabinet note that the council tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2014/15 (excluding precepts) is £141,575,218.

1.7         That Cabinet recommend to Council for approval the following amounts be now calculated for the year 2014/15 in accordance with Sections 31, 34, 35 and 36 of the Act:

(a)  £949,451,502 being the aggregate of the amounts which the council estimates for the items set out in the Section 31A(2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by precepting authorities.

(b)  £807,876,284 being the aggregate of the amounts which the council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

(c)  £141,575,218 being the amount by which the aggregate at 1.7(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 1.7 (b) above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act as its council tax requirement for the year (Item R in the formula in Section 31A(4) of the Act).

(d)  £1,102.07 being the amount at 1.7(c) above (Item R), all divided by Item T (Item 1.6 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 (excluding precepts).

(e)  The Chief Finance Officer has determined that the Council’s basic amount of council tax for 2014/15 is not excessive in accordance with the principles approved under Section 52ZB and 52ZC of the Local Government Act 1992.

(f)   £1,102.07 being the amount at 1.6  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

There were none.