Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Brine, Brown, Trina Davis, Davies, Gray, Hoskin, Mossman, Tucker, Patrick, Pearson, and Robinson.

To receive declarations of interest.

There were none.

Councillor Martin Brown was nominated for the position of Vice-Chair of Council.

RESOLVED      That Councillor Martin Brown be elected Vice-Chair of Council for the Civic Year 2023-24

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 26 October and 14 December 2023 and the minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on 25 January 2024.

RESOLVED   That the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2023 and 25 January 2024 were approved as a correct record

To receive announcements from the Chair of Council, Leader of Council or Chief Executive.

The Leader provided an update on the local plan examination process. Correspondence with planning inspectors had led to a 10-month pause in the examination, with the first seven months allocated for implementing the Joint Action Plan and the subsequent three months for public consultation. The concerns raised by the inspectors were being addressed collaboratively.

The Chair of the relevant Committee will answer questions from members of the public submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures laid out in Section 3, Paragraph 8, of the Constitution.

There were none.

See Agenda Item 5 deadlines for submissions.

There were none.

This report outlines the Council’s prudential indicators for 2024/25 – 2026/27 and sets out the treasury strategy for this period. It fulfils three key reports required by the Local Government Act 2003:

·        reporting prudential indicators required by the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities;

·        a treasury management strategy in accordance with the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management;

·        an investment strategy in accordance with the DLUHC investment guidance.

It also fulfils the statutory duty to approve a minimum revenue policy (MRP) statement for 2024/25.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy, Chair of Audit and Standards Committee presented the report and drew Members attention to the following key points:

• The capital and treasury management issues which had to be taken into account whilst producing the report were included on page 45, section 1.3
• Table 1 on page 46 included changes to the figures considered by Audit and Standards Committee for the Capital Expenditure 2023/24 and estimates for 2024/25 for Strategy and Resources Committee
• The capital spending plans were included in Table 2 on page 46
• The forecast for the councils need to borrow (Capital Financing Requirement) was set out on Table 6 on page 49
• The Liability Benchmark graph was included in section 2.8
• Table 4 on page 48 showed the expected sharp decrease in available investments between 2022/23 and 2026/27
• Table 5 on page 49 showed the ratio of financing costs to net revenue stream
• At the end of 2024/25 there was an estimated internal borrowing position of £30.228m
• The Section 151 Officer would monitor the MTFP forecast and the forecasted changes in interest rates and adjust the strategy where necessary
• The Council would aim to achieve the optimum return on its investments commensurate with proper levels of security and liquidity
• Table 12 on page 54 showed the maximum specified investments to ensure that all funds were not kept in the same bank
• The Council maintained an investment risk reserve to provide a sum to protect the Council General Fund against future changes in capital values, the sum stood at £820k and was reviewed on an annual basis

Councillor Schoemaker stated that there appeared to be very little investment in the UK and that most investments had been made overseas, he asked whether this could be changed. Councillor Studdert-Kennedy advised that the Council had a fundamental duty to get the best possible return for the money invested. The Section 151 Officer confirmed that they had to follow guidelines for security, liquidity and yield and there was nothing in the policies that allowed them to consider country of origin to select investments. He advised that the Council did have an ethical investment policy and they had therefore changed a few investments last year due to the ethical investment reviews.

Councillor Turner asked a question in relation to the impact investments section of the ethical policy, she asked if there had been any opportunities for more innovative investments. Councillor Studdert-Kennedy advised that discussions had taken place recently and there were further schemes which would come forward but the return rates were not equal at that time.

Proposed by Councillor Studdert-Kennedy and seconded by Councillor Pearcy.

Councillor Jockel commended the report and the work of the Audit and Standards Committee, he also raised concerns that the ratings of the investments required further evidence. He advised that he had attended a conference for financial investors regarding sustainability recently and they had advised that the accuracy of ratings agencies was ± 25% for the same company and they therefore should view them with  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.062

To set a Council Tax Support Scheme for the period 01 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

Councillor Bennett, Vice-Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee, introduced the report which set out the details of the Local Council Tax Support Scheme for the upcoming year. She advised that the Welfare Reform Act 2012 had abolished Council Tax Benefit from 2013 whilst at the same time councils faced cuts on funding for localised support. Since 2013 the Council had adopted the governments default scheme which ensured no changes or reductions to the level of support provided. She confirmed that there were no major changes proposed in the scheme for the current year and support would still be available for up to 100% of the Council Tax Bill for those who needed it.

Councillor Bennett highlighted to Members the two minor administrative changes which had been included in Section 3 and the commitment from Gloucestershire Local Authorities to consider how a joint scheme could work across the County, any revised scheme would be taken to Strategy and Resources Committee and Council for consideration.

Proposed by Councillor Bennett and seconded by Councillor Layfield.

Councillor Layfield urged Councillors to support the scheme as it ensured that those who faced the greatest financial challenges during the cost-of-living emergency were supported.

Councillor Watson expressed her pride that Stroud District Council was able to continue to provide support through the scheme.

Councillor Turner echoed comments made by Councillor Watson and drew on the positive experience the scheme had had on a local resident.

Councillor Wilsher offered his full support for the scheme and drew Members attention to section 2.3 regarding administrative changes and advised that it was an example of pragmatism overcoming bureaucracy.

Councillor Bennett stated that she was proud to be part of a Council that was able to provide that level of support to people who were in financially difficult situations and thanked the Revenue and Benefits Team for their work.

On being put to the Vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

FOR: 39 Votes

Councillors

AGAINST: 0 Votes

ABSTENTIONS: 0 Votes

To implement a Council Tax Premium on second homes from 01 April 2025 and amend the Council Tax Premium for empty homes to be 100% for properties empty between one and five years (currently two and five years) from 01 April 2025.

Councillor Bennett, Vice-Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee, presented the report which gave the required one years notice of the intention to introduce additional Council Tax Premiums effective from 1 April 2025. She advised that they were waiting for further guidance from Central Government for both schemes, with specific details on the operation of the Premium, including exemptions. The proposed reduction of the Empty Homes Premium period from two years to one year aligned with the new powers granted by the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, and would affect an estimated 152 properties. Additionally, a premium on second homes, addressing loopholes in the current system, was expected to impact 535 properties. For both schemes the final detail would be considered by Strategy and Resources Committee.

Councillor Davies asked whether they had completed any analysis on how much the Council would have to pay for empty properties if the schemes were applied straight away. The Accountancy Manager advised that there were currently 7 properties, including properties that were awaiting development, that were within the 1 to 2 year bracket.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy asked for clarity as to whether the properties described in section 2.7 of the report were included within the total in section 2.5 of the report. Councillor Bennett confirmed that they were separate figures.

In response to a question from Councillor Smith, the Strategic Director of Resources confirmed that there had been a change in the law in 2023 which made it clear when a property being rented out would be liable for business rates, a formula was used which was based on the number of nights the property was available for rent and how many nights it was rented.

The Strategic Director of Resources also confirmed, in response to a question from Councillor Tipper, that if someone was not occupying the home then this would attract a second homes premium, if the property was rented out on a longer term basis then council tax would be payable at the standard rate and if the property was rented on a periodic basis then there would be a business rates arrangement.

Proposed by Councillor Bennett and seconded by Councillor Layfield.

Councillor Watson advised that she was concerned about what discretionary details might emerge from central government but hoped that the council would be able to review the terms to ensure that compassion could be shown throughout the process for families going through bereavement. She confirmed that she would probably support the report on the understanding that they would review the discretionary criteria and ensure that the Council were not forced to implement an uncomfortable position dictated from a national level.

Councillor Wilsher also hoped that there would be scope for discretion in the scheme in particular for registered providers who may be going through a regeneration scheme which could take more than a year.

Councillor Ross took on board points raised by Councillor Watson and Wilsher regarding discretion but also raised concerns about the number of people on the list  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.064

Section 13A(3) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 gives the council discretion to reduce the amount of council tax payable. This can be for individual cases or by determining a class of case.

This report proposes that a class of case is determined for Care Leavers and the existing scheme extends the qualifying age from18- 21 to 24 including for those from outside of Gloucestershire.

Councillor Bennett, Vice-Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee, presented the proposal which sought Council approval to extend the 100% Council Tax discount for care leavers, currently available to 18-21 year olds, until their 25th birthday. The extension would include care leavers not under Gloucestershire County Council's care. She confirmed that the County Council would cover the associated costs, typically borne by SDC as the Billing Authority and that all Gloucestershire Districts were looking to adopt the change.

Proposed by Councillor Bennett and Seconded by Councillor Layfield.

Councillor Layfield was pleased to see the Council working in partnership with other Local Authorities on a joint scheme that offered equity of opportunity for care leavers no matter where they lived in Gloucestershire.

Councillor Davies spoke about the concept used at the County Council that every Councillor was a corporate parent and so they all had a corporate responsibility to do whatever they could to provide support. He advised that he had regularly met with care leavers and that they were incredibly impressive individuals. He hoped that all Councillors would support the proposal.

Councillor Turner echoed comments from Councillor Davies and stated that she was shocked to learn that there were over 800 children in care in Gloucestershire and how much worse the outcomes were for care leavers. She was pleased to see all of the different packages of work that were being put in place for care leavers and offered her support for the scheme.

Councillor Jockel stated that as a former residential social worker he had witnessed the lifelong disadvantage that people growing up in care could experience and that they had a moral duty to balance out any disadvantage.

Councillor Bennett stated that they should support the scheme to help give care leavers the best start to their adult life.

On being put to the Vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

The Council is required under the Localism Act 2011 to approve and publish a policy statement on Senior Pay.

Councillor Braun, Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee introduced the report and advised that the Council was required, under section 38 of the Localism Act 2011, to have a pay policy statement for each financial year. She confirmed that the ratio between the highest and lowest paid employees was 1 to 9 and that Government guidance was that the ratio in the public sector should not exceed 1 to 20. A comparison between the lowest staff grade Stroud 1 which included the living wage, and Stroud 12, was a ratio of 1 to 6, which was well within the national guidelines. She clarified that the report detailed the current levels of remuneration for staff, the Council paid spot salaries and there were no bonuses, annual increments, nor performance related payments. She affirmed that in 2022, the Council proactively opted to implement the living wage increase in December 2022 instead of April 2023 for those employees who were on the lowest grade, and that the same principal was followed in 2023 to help support those staff who were at the lower end of the pay scales.

Proposed by Councillor Braun and seconded by Councillor Bennett.

Councillor Bennett stated that it was good to see the Council were well within the guidelines in relation to pay ratios and the report ensured they were open and transparent.

On being put to the Vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

To approve the Council’s Capital Strategy.

Councillor Braun, the Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee, presented the report and advised that the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Prudential Code required the Council to have a Capital Strategy and that the strategy was reviewed annually. The strategy set out the general principles that the Council followed with the capital programme, as well as how capital schemes were approved and monitored. She highlighted the amendments to the Capital Strategy to link it to the agreed refreshed Council Plan and the change to the way that the Council must account for leases set out on page 124.

Proposed by Councillor Braun and Seconded by Councillor Schoemaker

Councillor Schoemaker thanked Officers for the strategy and commended it to all Councillors.

Councillor Braun stated that it was a very clearly presented strategy and that it was important to recall the lines of work that they were undertaking in relation to the capital schemes.

On being put to the Vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

To consider the Council’s financial position over the medium term and set a budget requirement and the level of council tax for 2024/25.

Councillor Braun, the Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee, introduced the report and highlighted the following key points:

• Estimates of Major Funding

-       Table 3 on page 138 provided an overview of the main funding sources and their relative proportions as estimated over the next 5 financial years.

-       A Council Tax increase is proposed of 2.99% for the year.

-       The Government core spending power calculations assume that the Council will increase by the maximum amount allowable and therefore that is built into the local funding settlement.

-       The Local Council Tax support scheme will continue at 100%

-       Council Tax base growth has been 1.6% for the upcoming year but there has also been a further downward change has also been made in the estimated amount of tax collected from 98.5% to 98%.

-       For Business Rates, the multiplier for small business has been frozen by Central Government but larger business will see an inflation based rates increase.

-       The Gloucestershire Business Rates Pool is again continuing. As with previous years it is not included in the base budget but will be allocated by Strategy and Resources Committee at year end.

-       The position on other grants is set out in a table 2 on page 138.

·         Financial Adjustments

-       In terms of inflationary pressures, pay and contracts were the regular items included for increases.

-       The pay award for 2023/24 was agreed at £1925 or 3.88% whichever was higher, for most staff.

-       The budget included an allowance of 5.6% for the upcoming year

-       The single largest contract was Ubico and the report included the detail of those changes.

-       Following discussions with Stroud Town Council they were proposing to freeze all parking tariffs in the flexible stay car parks and the free after 3pm proposal would be extended to free after 2pm.

-       Additional savings and pressures on services were detailed in the report and Appendix B.

• Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP)

-          General Fund reserves have fallen slightly in the last couple of years.

-          Reserves had been grouped into three categories to make it easier to review; reserves which had been allocated to specific projects within the councils budget, reserves held against specific and known risks and reserves held to mitigate the impact of future funding reform.

-          The budget gap at the end of the MTFP now assumed to be £2.5 million even after applying reserve balances.

• The Capital Programme

-          The major new scheme included in the budget for 2024/25 is the programme for improvements around Stroud Train Station at £200k and will be fully funded from existing capital receipts.

• Chief Financial Officers report

-          The S151 Officer has confirmed that estimates are robust, and reserves are adequate. It also includes my commentary on major risks.

-          The major risk to the Council, and to all District Councils, is the reform of the Local Government finance system and this is expected after the General Election.

In response to questions from Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.068

To present to the committee the Housing Revenue Account revised budget estimates for 2023/24 and the original estimates for 2024/25.

Councillor Ross, Chair of Housing Committee, presented the report and advised that following on from the position reported in the previous year the financial outlook continued to be challenging. She highlighted the following key points:

• A balanced budget was being proposed for 2024/25.
• Changes to regulation would put additional pressure on the housing service.
• Rents were proposed to increase by Consumer Price Index plus 1%, which was 7.7%. This equated to an average of £102.62 per week which was an increase of £7.34.
• Shared ownership rents would increase in line with the lease agreements which would be between 5.4% and 9.4%, depending on the individual lease.
• Service charges and garage rents were to rise in line with rents.
• Where there were increased costs, Independent Living Service charges and District Heating charges had been limited to overall increases of 10% to protect tenants.
• A decision had been included in the report to charge 105% of formula rent in social housing and up to 80% of the market rents in affordable properties where the property had a SAP rating of A. This would only be for new tenancies.
• Pay inflation had been adjusted in 2023/24 as well as an uplift in 2024/25, in line with the General Fund.
• A summary of changes to the budget was set out in Table 1 on page 279.
• Overall the amount being taken out of HRA general reserves was reducing from £1.814m in 2023/24 to £0.648m in 2024/25.
• The medium-term position set out on page 286 showed that HRA reserves were due to drop to negative values in 2025/26 and therefore changes would need to be made.
• There were options to prevent the reserves dropping into negative values in the short term and there was not a significant concern from Officers about being able to set a balanced budget for 2025/26.
• Options to be considered were:

-          Reviewing capital works including major works such as kitchens and bathrooms as well as the sustainable energy programme

-          Reviewing revenue repairs, cyclical works and the lettable standard

-          Establishing the level of service offered to tenants

-          Reviewing charges for supplementary services where appropriate (depooling)

-          Maximising grants and other income, especially for the sustainable energy programme

-          Reviewing the repayment of borrowing

• The current 10 year rent agreement would end in March 2025 and the forecast included rents increased at inflation (CPI) only. They expected to hear from government on future rent guidance for April 2025 later in the year.
• The 10 year rent agreement in place was for rent increases of CPI plus 1%. Of the 10 years, only five years had been allowed at CPI plus 1%. 5 years had been lower than this, with a four year period of -1% rent reductions and a rent cap at 7% in 2023/24.
• Had rents raised with inflation over the 10 year rent agreement period rents would be over 8% higher, which would have been over £2 million a year and if rents had risen in line  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.069

To agree a timetable for the civic year 2023/24.

The Leader, Councillor Braun, advised that consideration had been given to avoid the Gloucestershire School term dates for all meetings in the Civic Timetable.

On being put to the Vote, the Motion was carried with 35 votes in favour and 4 abstentions.

Development Control Committee – Councillor Evans to replace Councillor H Jones.

Audit and Standards Committee – Appointment of Councillors Brown, Hurst and Smith.

The Chair announced the following changes to Committee memberships:

Development Control Committee

Councillor Christopher Evans replaced Councillor Haydn Jones

Audit and Standards Committee

Additional Members:

• Councillor Martin Brown
• Councillor Nick Hurst
• Councillor Ashley Smith