Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Allen, Chapman, Duncan, Jackson, and Kauffman.

 

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 17 January 2019 (attached)

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 January 2019 be approved as a correct record.

In respect of Item 6: General Fund Revenue Budget, Housing Revenue Account and Capital Programme 2019/20, Members declared the following non-pecuniary interests:

 

Councillor Curling, as he was a Governor at The Harefield Academy.

 

Councillor Eginton, as he was a Governor at Minet Nursery and Infants School and Hillside Junior School.

 

Councillor Lavery, as he was a Governor at Ruislip High School and a Trustee of the Vanguard Learning Trust.

 

Councillor Morse, as he was a Governor at Harlington School.

 

Councillor Prince, as she was a Governor at Minet Junior School and the Middlesex Learning Partnership.

 

Councillor Tuckwell, as he was a Governor at Ruislip High School.

The Mayor welcomed attendees from Brunel University and the Northwood College for Girls.

 

The Mayor detailed recent Holocaust Memorial events, and thanked all who attended his recent Civic Service.

 

Future events included a Mayoral walk on 28/29 March, a Dick Whittington walk on 10 March, and the final Mayor’s Quiz Night on 3 April. The Mayor encouraged Members to join and/or contribute to sponsorship of the events, where able.

i)      Urgent Implementation of Decisions

 

Councillor Puddifoot moved, and Councillor Simmonds seconded, the recommendation as set out on the Order of Business.

 

RESOLVED:  That the Urgency decisions detailed in the report be noted.

 

ii)     Membership of Council Committees 2018/19

 

Councillor Puddifoot moved, and Councillor Simmonds seconded, the recommendation as set out on the Order of Business.

 

RESOLVED:  That, upon the recommendation of the Conservative group, Councillor Goddard replace Councillor Radia on both the North and the Major Applications Planning Committees.

iii)    Members’ Allowances 2019/20

 

Councillor Puddifoot moved the recommendation as set out on the Order of Business. The motion was seconded by Councillor Simmonds.

RESOLVED:  That the current Members’ Allowances Scheme be revoked as of 31 March 2019 and the new scheme for 2019/20 be approved, as shown in Appendix A, for implementation from 1 April 2019, including, for 2019/20 a Basic Allowance of £11,482.59 to be payable to all Councillors and Special Responsibility Allowances (SRAs) to be paid in equal monthly instalments to Councillors holding the responsibilities listed 1 to 16 in the following table:

 

That the Head of Democratic Services be authorised to increase the level of Basic Allowance and any SRAs agreed under this recommendation and recommendation b) below, each subsequent year in line with the annual Local Government Pay Settlement. All payments to be made in equal monthly instalments. The Basic Allowance includes intra borough travel and subsistence costs.

 

		(£)
1.	Mayor	23,090.28
2.	Deputy Mayor	9,005.07
3.	Leader of the Council	57,129.24
4.	Deputy Leader of the Council	48,124.17
5.	Chief Whip of Largest Party	23,090.28
6.	Cabinet Member	40,244.82
7.	Chairman of Scrutiny and Policy Overview Committee	23,090.28
8.	Chairman of Planning Committee	23,090.28
9.	Chairman of Licensing Committee	9,761.87
10.	Vice Chairman of Licensing Committee	6,507.96
11.	Chairman of Standards Committee	3,253.98
12.	Standards Committee Independent Person	1,626.99
13.	Chairman of Audit Committee*	3,095.70
14.	Champion	5,937.79
15.	Council representative on Adoption and Permanency Panel	13,015.93
16.	Cabinet Assistant	9,005.07

* Where a non-Councillor is Chairman or Vice Chairman a co-optees’ allowance is payable as set out in the Scheme under section 9.

iii)    b) Members’ Allowances 2019/20

 

Councillor Puddifoot moved the recommendation as set out on the Order of Business. The motion was seconded by Councillor Simmonds and put to a recorded vote:

 

Those voting for:  Councillors Bliss, Curling, Dhillon, Dhot, Eginton, Farley, Gardner, Lakhmana, Mathers, Milani, Money, Morse, Nelson, Oswell, Prince, Sansarpuri, Singh and Sweeting.

 

Those voting against: none. 

 

Those abstaining: The Mayor (Councillor Morgan), the Deputy Mayor (Councillor Yarrow), Councillors Ahmad-Wallana, Arnold, Barnes, Bianco, Birah, Bridges, Brightman, Burrows, Chamdal, Choubedar, Cooper, Corthorne, Denys, Deville, Edwards, Flynn, Fyfe, Goddard, Graham, Haggar, Hensley, Higgins, Hurhangee, Lavery, Lewis, Makwana, Markham, Melvin, D Mills, R Mills, O’Brien, Palmer, Puddifoot, Radia, Riley, Rodrigues, Seaman-Digby, Simmonds, Stead and Tuckwell.

 

The motion was carried and it was:

 

RESOLVED:  That SRAs of the following amounts be paid in equal monthly instalments to Councillors holding the following responsibilities:

 

		(£)
17.	Leader of 2nd Party	23,090.28
18.	Deputy Leader of 2nd Party	5,937.79
19.	Chief Whip of 2nd Party	5,937.79
20.	2nd Party Lead on Scrutiny and Policy Overview Committee	5,937.79
21.	Party Lead on Planning Committee	5,937.79

 

 

 

To consider the recommendations of Cabinet which will be published, once agreed. The report to Cabinet is available in the Group Offices, on request to the Head of Democratic Services or online at:

 

https://modgov.hillingdon.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=115&MId=3175&Ver=4

 

Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 will apply to the recommendations of this item. Any Member who is more than two months in arrears with their Council Tax or has arrears of Council Tax must declare that fact and must not vote on this item.

 

Budget Conflict Resolution Procedures – Council is asked to consider the Cabinet’s proposals. It may adopt the proposals, submit objections to Cabinet or invite the Cabinet to make amendments specified by Council. If Council votes to object to the Cabinet proposals or to invite Cabinet to make amendments then the Conflict Resolution Procedure will come into operation.

 

The Council meeting will be adjourned while a special meeting of the Cabinet is held, after which the Council will resume and consider any revised proposals submitted by the Cabinet or the reasons why the Cabinet disagrees with Council’s objections or proposed amendments. The budget would then be open for debate and amendment until a final decision is made.

 

Members are asked to note that, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, recorded votes will be taken at the annual budget setting meeting on any motion, amendment to motion or substantive motion regarding the General Fund Revenue Budget, Housing Revenue Account and Capital Programme.

Councillor O’Brien moved, and Councillor Denys seconded, the suspension of Council procedure rule 14.4 to allow unlimited speaking time for the mover and seconder of the motion and the principal speaker / mover of the amendment and seconder of the amendment from the Labour Group. 

 

RESOLVED: That the mover and seconder of the budget motion and the principal speaker / mover and seconder of the principal amendment from the Labour Group be allowed unlimited speaking time on this item.

 

Councillor Bianco moved, and Councillor Puddifoot seconded, the budget recommendations, as set out on the Order of Business. 

 

Councillor Dhillon moved, and Councillor Eginton seconded, the following amendment:

 

a)        That Cabinet be invited to consider the Labour Group's amendments to the Cabinet's budget proposals set out in the Council Tax Resolution and report back to the Council. These amendments would result in a Council Tax Requirement of £114,499,631 and Hillingdon Share of Band D Council Tax of £1,139.64:

 

i)     In relation to the General Fund Revenue Budget, the proposals are based on the budget proposals approved by Cabinet on 14 February 2019, subject to the following amendments:

 

	2019/20 £'000
Council Tax Requirement based on Cabinet Proposals		114,500
Landlord Licensing Team (2 x Full Time POA Posts)	93
Minimum Level of Landlord Licensing Income	(93)	0
Fund a 10% discount of camera-style doorbells and PIR cameras for residents	55
Topslice Ward Budgets to fund the 10% discount offered to residents for camera doorbells	(55)	0
Purchase SmartWater to sell to residents through the libraries	10
Planned income from sales of SmartWater	(10)	0
Purchase 5,000 reusable coffee cups and run a competition for children to design them for sale in the libraries	8
Planned income from sale of reusable coffee cups	(8)	0
Additional Funding for Schools	900
Grant funding to Metropolitan Police to support four additional police officers	280
Set up a Not-For-Profit energy firm to allow residents to benefit from cheaper prices	100
Increase Universal Credit support by two officers to offer support post application submission	93
Widen translation services to support a diverse community, including printing leaflets in multiple languages	50
Fund two Mental Health Preventative Officers to support the community	93
Set up and run a new Poverty Forum in partnership with the Voluntary Sector	92
Older People's Council Tax Discount	67
Purchase and run a new Youth Bus	55
Introduce a new Care Leavers Council Tax Discount	50
Introduce a Black History Month and LGBTI Pride events	10
Drawdown on Unallocated Priority Growth	(250)
Reduce General Contingency to December 2018 Cabinet Levels	(332)
Increase drawdown from General Balances	(1,208)	0
Council Tax Requirement based on Labour Group Proposals		114,500
Change in Council Tax Requirement

 

ii)        In relation to the General Fund Capital Programme, the proposals are based on the budget proposals as approved by Cabinet on 14 February 2019, subject to the addition of £250k provision for the Purchase of a bus to support Youth Services.

 

iii)       In relation to the Housing Revenue Account Budget, the proposals are based on the budget proposals approved by Cabinet on 14 February 2019, subject to the following amendments:

 

Housing Revenue Account	2019/20 £'000
Total Resources		56,186
Development of Council-owned Sites	70
Extend the free burglar alarm offer to all Council homes	100
Set up Council estates to have recycling bin availability on site	50
Increased Drawdown from Reserves	(220)	0
(Drawdown) / Contribution to Reserves based on Labour Group Proposals		56,186
Change in Total Resources		0

 

Following debate (Councillors Bianco, Curling, Lakhmana, Mathers, D.Mills, Money, Morse, Nelson, Prince, Puddifoot, Sansarpuri, Simmonds, Singh, and Sweeting), the amendment was put to a recorded vote:

 

Those voting for: Councillors Birah, Bliss, Curling, Dhillon, Dhot, Eginton, Farley, Gardner, Lakhmana, Mathers, Milani, Money, Morse, Nelson, Oswell, Prince, Sansarpuri, Singh and Sweeting.

 

Those voting against: The Mayor (Councillor Morgan), the Deputy Mayor (Councillor Yarrow), Councillors Ahmad-Wallana, Arnold, Barnes, Bianco, Bridges, Brightman, Burrows, Chamdal, Choubedar, Cooper, Corthorne, Denys, Deville, Edwards, Flynn, Fyfe, Goddard, Graham, Haggar, Hensley, Higgins, Hurhangee, Lavery, Lewis, Makwana, Markham, Melvin, D Mills, R Mills, O’Brien, Palmer, Puddifoot, Radia, Riley, Rodrigues, Seaman-Digby, Simmonds, Stead and Tuckwell.

 

The motion was lost.

 

Following further debate (Councillors Burrows, Corthorne, Curling, Denys, Lewis, Milani, D. Mills, Morse, Palmer, Riley, Simmonds and Sweeting), the original motion was put to a recorded vote: 

 

Those voting for: The Mayor (Councillor Morgan), the Deputy Mayor (Councillor Yarrow), Councillors Ahmad-Wallana, Arnold, Barnes, Bianco, Birah, Bridges, Brightman, Burrows, Chamdal, Choubedar, Cooper, Corthorne, Curling, Denys, Deville, Dhillon, Edwards, Eginton, Farley, Flynn, Fyfe, Goddard, Graham, Haggar, Hensley, Higgins, Hurhangee, Lavery, Lewis, Makwana, Markham, Mathers, Melvin, Milani, D Mills, R Mills, Money, Morse, Nelson, O’Brien, Oswell, Palmer, Prince, Puddifoot, Radia, Riley, Rodrigues, Sansarpuri, Simmonds, Singh, Stead, Sweeting and Tuckwell.

 

Those voting against: None.

 

The original motion was carried and it was:

 

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet budget recommendations as set out below, be approved.

 

1.      The General Fund revenue budget proposals made by Cabinet be approved, resulting in a Council Tax requirement for 2019/20 of £114,499,631;

 

2.      Council note that at its meeting on 17 January 2019 the Council calculated the amount of 100,470 as its Council Tax Base for the year 2019/20.  This was calculated in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012, as its Council Tax Base for the year (Item T in the formula in Section 31B (3) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992);

 

3.      The Hillingdon element of Council Tax be set at £1,139.64 for a Band D property. Taking into account the precept levied by the Greater London Authority, this results in an overall Band D Council Tax of £1,460.15 for the borough;

 

4.      The following amounts have been calculated by the Council for the year 2019/20, in accordance with Sections 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (the Act):

 

a) £450,506,042          being the aggregate of the amounts that the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (2) (a) to (f) of the Act.  (Gross Expenditure including the amount required for additions to working balances)

 

b) £336,006,411          being the aggregate of the amounts that the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (3) (a) to (d) of the Act.  (Gross Income including reserves to be used to meet Gross Expenditure)

 

c) £114,499,631          being the amount by which the aggregate at 4 (a) above exceeds the aggregate at 4 (b) above. This is calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31A (4) of the Act, as its Council Tax requirement for the year. (Item R under Section 31B of the Act)

 

d) £1,139.64                 being the amount at 4 (c) above divided by Item T (2 above). This is, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year. (Council Tax at Band D for the Council)

 

e)

The London Borough of Hillingdon Council Tax
Band A	Band B	Band C	Band D
759.76	886.39	1,013.01	1,139.64
Band E	Band F	Band G	Band H
1,392.89	1,646.15	1,899.40	2,279.28

 

being the amounts given by multiplying the amount at 4 (d) 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 B and D.  This is 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;

 

5.           Council note that for the year 2019/20 the Greater London Authority and its functional bodies have stated the following amounts in precepts. These have been issued to the Council, in accordance with Section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

 

The Greater London Authority Precept
Band A	Band B	Band C	Band D
213.67	249.29	284.90	320.51
Band E	Band F	Band G	Band H
391.73	462.96	534.18	641.02

 

6.            The Council has calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts at 4 (e) and 5 above.  The Council in accordance with Section 30 and 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 hereby sets the Council Tax for the year 2019/20 for each category of dwelling below:

 

Total Council Tax 2019/20
Band A	Band B	Band C	Band D
973.43	1,135.68	1,297.91	1,460.15
Band E	Band F	Band G	Band H
1,784.62	2,109.11	2,433.58	2,920.30

 

7.            The Council delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Finance, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Business Services, to approve amendments to the aggregate 2019/20 Council Tax set out in Recommendation 6 to reflect any late changes to Greater London Authority Precept.

 

8.            The Council Tax Discount for Older People be retained for 2019/20 with a 2.34% discount on the Hillingdon’s element of the Council Tax for those joining the scheme on or after 1 April 2019 and 7.11% for those who joined before or on 31 March 2019;

 

9.            The Capital Programme for 2019/20 to 2023/24 as set out in Appendix 9 of the background report to Cabinet be approved;

 

10.         The Housing Revenue Account budget proposals and housing rents set out in Appendix 10 of the background report be approved;

 

11.         The proposed amendments to Fees and Charges set out in Appendix 8 of the background report to Cabinet be approved;

 

12.         The Treasury Management Strategy Statement, Annual Investment Strategy, Capital Strategy and Minimum Revenue Provision Statement for 2019/20 to 2023/24 as set out in Appendix 12 of the background report to Cabinet be approved;

 

13.         The London Borough of Hillingdon Pay Policy Statement for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 13 of the background report to Cabinet be approved;

 

14.         Council note the Corporate Director of Finance’s comments regarding his responsibilities under the Local Government Act 2003;

 

15.         Council (as set out in Schedule G of the Constitution - Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules) resolves that Cabinet may utilise the general reserves or balances or approve virements between the General Fund budget, Housing Revenue Account budget or Capital budgets during the MTFF financial years 2019/20 to 2023/24 in respect of those functions which have been reserved to the Cabinet in Article 7 of the Constitution;

 

16.         Council confirm that the Council’s relevant basic amount of Council Tax for 2019/20 is not excessive in accordance with principles approved under Section 52ZB Local Government Finance Act 1992 and therefore a referendum will not be triggered.