11
Council received and considered the report from the Finance Director.
The Leader of the Council presented for approval the revenue and capital budgets for the General Fund for 2022/23. The budget as presented, was the culmination of significant work and had been informed by the one-year local government finance settlement, for which the final announcement earlier this month, confirmed an additional £80,000 of funding for 2022/23, which had allowed for the continuation of the Member ward budgets for a further year.
The Leader reported that whilst Council was only being asked to approve the budget for 2022/23, the detail in the report did include the following two financial year forecasts, for which there were still budget challenges. As the Council awaited the outcome of the fair funding review and review of business rates, the Council continued to prioritise work aligned to the key themes of the Councils business strategy to reduce the forecast funding gap, which included:-
• ensuring that we operated in the most effective and efficient manner,
• delivering and facilitating growth; be it new homes or business,
• ensuring that our assets were being utilised in the most efficient way, for example, reviewing opportunities for income generation and also opportunities for disposals where capital receipts could be used to fund the capital programme and deliver ongoing savings to the revenue account; and
• regeneration.
The Leader of the Council reported that the regeneration of the borough continued to be a priority and this was being delivered by both Norfolk County Council projects, namely the third river crossing and the Operations and Maintenance development, but also by direct investment by the Borough. For example, this summer we would see the opening of the new Marina Centre on the seafront. The investment of £26m would be a significant boost for the local economy, whilst supporting the health and well-being for the whole borough and be an attraction for visitors all year round.
Furthermore, the Leader reported that the Council was starting to see the benefits from the £13.7m investment from the Government’s future high street fund which would transform and revive Great Yarmouth’s town centre, the first significant project being the redevelopment of the market place for which the first phase was nearing completion.
The Leader of the Council reported that during the current year, we had received the confirmation of the allocation of £20.1m from the Town Deal Fund, which would deliver a number of projects over the next few years, including a new learning centre in the centre of Great Yarmouth, business incubator units linked to the new Operations and Maintenance campus, restoration and re-purposing of vacant historic buildings and the restoration of the iconic Wintergardens which had been possible by the allocation of nearly £10m award from the National Lottery Heritage Horizon Awards.
The Leader of the Council informed Members that the report covered the 2022/23 budget only and made recommendations for the setting of the council tax for the borough element, which was in line with the national assumptions of council tax increases, which amounted to a £5 increase for a Band D property per annum, and £3.33 increase for a Band A property. When taken into account with the level of parish precepts for the borough, Great Yarmouth would continue to be one of the lowest nationally.
The Leader reported that Council continued to hold a number of earmarked reserves which together with the general reserve provided some financial stability. Whilst the transfers from reserves should only be seen as a one-off source of funding, use of reserves in this way could provide one-off upfront funding for projects and schemes that could deliver future savings and efficiencies.
The Leader of the Council reported that despite the challenges of the last two years, the budget continued to support delivery of vital services to the residents and businesses within the borough including:-
• waste and recycling,
• grounds maintenance,
• housing including support for homelessness; and
• essential support to households through local council tax support.
The Leader of the Council reported that the Council had continued to provide support to businesses throughout the pandemic, through the administration of grants which were now in excess of £66m, that had been paid out since the start of the pandemic. There would also be continued business rate relief of 50% for retail, hospitality and leisure sector for 2022/23.
In addition, the Council had continued to provide support to our residents and those that were most vulnerable in our communities, including further assistance via council tax hardship and support for energy, food and housing.
The Leader reported that Members would have heard the recent announcements of the £150 energy rebate scheme which would be paid to all households in council tax bands A to D in April 2022. The Council is aware that there will be some households that do not fall into this criteria and there will be £144m allocated nationally for Council’s to develop their own discretionary scheme. Guidance on discretionary schemes together with funding allocations had not yet been issued. However, in order to administer a discretionary scheme in a swift manner, it was proposed that delegation be given to the Head of Customer Services and Finance Director, in consultation with myself as the Leader and Councillor Wainwright as the Leader of the Labour Group, to develop our local scheme.
In summary, the Leader of the Council reported that he was confident that the budget, as presented, continued to support the residents and businesses across the borough, was achievable and supported the delivery of the Corporate Plan and he therefore recommended the budget for 2022/23 as detailed on the agenda report.
The Leader of the Council reported that he would like to thank the Finance Director and her team for their work on the budget, which at times must have been a challenge. I would also like to thank the Head of Customer Services and the Head of Inward Investment and their teams for the way in which they had administered the Covid and ARG grants over the last two years. These grants had been a lifeline to businesses, enabling many to survive over this difficult period.
Councillor Wainwright informed Council that once again Great Yarmouth was being levelled- down instead of levelled-up by this administration and central government, with the borough still having to receive one-off Lower Tier Grants and Services Grants to balance its budgets.
The revenue support grant increasing by 3.1% (£63,331) to £2,136,919 was way below what the borough actually needed. Councillor Wainwright recalled when Great Yarmouth received from a Labour Government RSG increases of 14% which was still not enough for the Conservatives.
Councillor Wainwright reported that Local Authorities across the country had been given levelling-up monies of approximately £2 Billion, to areas that had lost £25 Billion since 2010, one of those areas being Great Yarmouth.
Councillor Wainwright informed Council that from April 2022, this government would be hitting working families with a £12 Billion hike in National Insurance, the biggest tax hike in 70 years, with personal tax allowances frozen until 2026, millions to be hit by crippling rises in energy bills, fuel prices and food and with inflation at a 30 year high. Council Tax increase for a Band D Property in Great Yarmouth would be increasing by £61.64 a year without any
noticeable increase in services. Once again, cuts to local government funding had forced Councils to raise council tax, this being acknowledged by Andrew Procter, Leader of Norfolk County Council, and he asked the Leader of the Council what his response to this was. Councillor Wainwright highlighted that the £150 Council Tax rebate announced by the Government was not a Council Tax Rebate but was actually a £150 payment using council tax records and based on council tax bands.
Councillor Wainwright reported that he would not be presenting an alternative budget or moving amendments much to the dismay perhaps of Councillor Wells, as there was little or no scope to do this, with forecast deficits for the next three years increasing to £1.9m by 2024/25 and the General Reserve at its recommended balance of £3.5m.
Councillor Wainwright questioned whether the Leader of the Council knew something that he did not and that the Fair Funding review in 2022/23, or the UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation being announced in the Spring, would bring in millions of pounds into the Borough, although he would not hold his breath.
Councillor Wainwright once again requested that the concurrent funding given to the Parishes amounting to £142,313 in 2022/23 be looked at as there were only two local authorities in the country providing this type of funding, Great Yarmouth being one of them. Did this funding to the parish council's offer value for money, or should GYBS be commissioned to carry out the works or parish councils be responsible to cover this amount. The funding given is for maintenance of Burial Grounds, Beach Cleaning, Parks and Open Spaces and Bus Shelters and for example, two parishes also received monies from the BID totalling £8394. Parish Precepts for 2022/23 would raise by an average of 15% to £596,030 equating to £20.31 for a Band D property. At the same time, Bradwell Parish Council is taking away Football Provision on the Green Lane Playing Field through lack of funds, which I did not vote for. Therefore, I would ask again that these concurrent function grants are looked at again during 2022/23.
Councillor Wainwright summed up that this budget presented to us today was an indictment of the failure of the current administration to grasp the magnitude of the challenges ahead, and their focus now seemed to be moving to a Cabinet System from May 2022, in the hope that this change of governance would make everything alright.
Councillor Myers questioned why there was still an element of social care precept within council tax which resulted in residents paying twice and that the government needed to address this matter urgently.
Councillor A Wright informed Council why his group had been unable to put forward an alternative budget due to the continued funding cuts sustained over the last ten years which had left them unable to do anything. Councillor A Wright alluded to the significant amount of improvement works to the borough and likened them to a beauty pageant as the results would be lovely to look at but would not address the grass root problems of local residents struggling with the cost of living on a daily basis.
Councillor Talbot reported that she had been listening to the views of local residents on social media who were concerned that the increases in car parking and council tax had been made to cover the increases Members had voted through to increase their Member allowances.
The Leader of the Council reported that he was constantly talking to the government regarding the Council's four year settlement. The Leader regretted the increase in council tax but reported it was necessary to balance the budget as the Council worked to cover the deficit and advised that a report would be brought back to Council in six months time when it was hoped that the deficit would be covered. The Leader reported that he had asked the S151 Officer to look into the concurrent funding for the parish councils and a report would come to Council.
Proposer: Councillor Smith
Seconder: Councillor Candon
That Council approve the following:-
1) The general fund revenue budget as detailed at Appendix A;
2) The Council Tax for 2022/23 for the Borough Council tax be £176.48 (for an average Band D);
3) That the demand on the Collection Fund for 2022/23 be:
a. £5,085,693 for the Borough Council purposes;
b. £596,030 for Parish Precepts.
4) The statement of and movement on the reserves as detailed at Appendix D and within section 8 of the report;
5) The Policy framework for reserves as detailed at Appendix E;
6) The updated Capital Programme and financing for 2021/22 to 2022/23 as detailed at
Appendix F;
7) New capital bid proposals at Appendix G;
8) The Minimum Revenue Provision Statement 2022/23 as included at Appendix H;
9) The underwriting of the £3.5million funding for the Learning Centre project as outlined at
section 5;
10) The inclusion of ward budgets for 2022/23 totalling £39,000; and
11) That delegation be given to the Head of Customer Services and the Finance Director, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and Councillor Wainwright to develop the local discretionary energy rebate grant scheme.
CARRIED
That a recorded vote be taken on this item as follows:-
For the motion:- Councillors Annison, Bensly, Bird, Candon, G Carpenter, P Carpenter, Flaxman-Taylor, Freeman, Galer, Grant, Hacon, D Hammond, P Hammond, Hanton, Lawn, Mogford, Plant, Smith, Stenhouse,Thompson & Wells.
Against the motion:- Councillor Talbot
Abstentions:- Councillor Borg, Cordiner-Achenbach, Fairhead, Jeal, Martin, Myers, Robinson-Payne, Smith-Clare, Wainwright, Williamson, B Walker, C Walker, Waters-Bunn, A Wright & B Wright.