Agenda and minutes

To approve and sign as an accurate record the minutes of the two Council meetings held on22 January 2020.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the two Council meetings held on 22 January 2020 were confirmed and signed as an accurate record.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler and Belinda Donovan.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Andrew Brown and Ben Coleman.

The Mayor paid tribute to Hitesh Jolapara, Strategic Director for Finance and Governance, who was leaving after ten years of dedicated service to the borough.

Speeches were made by Councillors Stephen Cowan, Max Schmid, and Alex Karmel paying tribute to him.

No public questions were submitted.

No public questions were submitted.

The 2020/21 revenue budget proposals are set out regarding:

·         Council tax levels

·         Investment and savings proposals

·         Changes to fees and charges

·         Budget risks, reserves and balances

·         Equalities Impact Assessments

7.14pm – In accordance with Council convention, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan, and the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Andrew Brown, were given unlimited time to speak on the Budget report.

Speeches on the report were also made by Councillors Christabel Cooper, Andrew Jones and Max Schmid (for the Administration).

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan, then made a speech winding up the debate.

The report and recommendations were put to the vote and a roll-call was undertaken, in accordance with Council convention when voting on the budget:

FOR                            33

AGAINST                   9

NOT VOTING            1

The report and the recommendations were declared CARRIED.

8.29pm – RESOLVED

That Council, for the reasons set out in this report and appendices, agree:

1.            To increase the Hammersmith & Fulham element of council tax by 1.99% for 2020/21.

2.            To apply central government’s modelled “adult social care precept” levy of 2% for 2020/21.

3.            To set council tax for 2020/21 for each category of dwelling, as calculated in accordance with Sections 31A to 49B of the Localism Act 2011, as outlined in the table below and in full in Appendix A:

(a)       The element of council tax charged for Hammersmith & Fulham Council will be £792.42 per Band D property in 2020/21.

(b)      The overall Council Tax to be set at £1,124.49 per Band D property in 2020/21 as follows.

4.            To note the element of council tax charged by the Greater London Authority in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 will be £332.07 per Band D property in 2020/21.

5.            To set the Council’s own total net expenditure budget for 2020/21 at £121.003m.

6.            To approve £8.3m of new investment on key services for residents.

7.            To approve fees and charges as set out in paragraph 3.1 below including freezing charges in adult social care, children’s services and housing.

8.            To note the budget projections to 2023/24 made by the Strategic Director, Finance and Governance in consultation with the Strategic Leadership Team.

9.            To note the statement of the Strategic Director, Finance and Governance, under Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003, regarding the adequacy of reserves and robustness of estimates (section 10).

10.         To approve the reserves strategy and realignment of reserves as set out in Appendix J and Appendix K.

11.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.1

This report presents the Council’s four-year Capital Programme for the period 2020/2024 and the Capital Strategy for 2020/21.

8.30pm – The report and recommendations were formally moved by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan. A speech on the report was made by Councillor Max Schmid (for the Administration).

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR                            UNANIMOUS

AGAINST                   0

NOT VOTING            0

The report and the recommendations were declared CARRIED.

8.34pm – RESOLVED

1.    To approve the four-year General Fund Capital Programme budget at £492.2m for the period 2020/21-2023/24 (paragraph 2.1, Table 2 and Appendix 1).

2.    To approve the four-year rolling programmes, set out in Table 3 (paragraph 2.2), funded from the Council’s mainstream resources:

·         Capital receipts and borrowing:

·         Contributions from revenue (Parking):

3.    To note the existing mainstream funded schemes previously approved, but now reprofiled to 2020/21 and future years as detailed in Table 3 (paragraph 2.2).

4.    To approve the four-year Housing Capital Programme at £199.97m for the period 2020/21-2023/24 as set out in Table 5 (paragraph 3.2) and Appendix 1.

5.    To delegate the potential application of capital receipts brought forward (up to £3.5m) under the Government’s Flexible Use of Capital Receipts provisions to fund Invest to Save schemes in 2019/20 and 2020/21 (as identified in Appendix 5) to the Strategic Director, Finance and Governance, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Commercial Services, as part of the closure of the 2019/20 and 2020/21 accounts.

6.    To approve an additional budget envelope of £50m, from 2020/21 onwards, to provide operational flexibility, for taking forward the major projects set out in Capital Strategy Report. Use of this budget will be subject to Cabinet approval, agreement of funding sources and sign-off of an appropriate business case. 

7.    To approve Capital Strategy 2020/21, as set out in Appendix 4.

8.    To approve annual Minimum Revenue Provision policy statement for 2020/21, as set out in Appendix 6.

This report sets out the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy for 2020/2021.

8.35pm – The report and recommendations were moved by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Commercial Services, Councillor Max Schmid, before being put to the vote:

FOR                            33

AGAINST                   0

NOT VOTING            10

The report and recommendations were declared CARRIED.

8.37pm – RESOLVED

1.    That approval is given to the future borrowing and investment strategies as outlined in this report.

2.    That the Strategic Director of Finance and Governance, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Commercial Services, be delegated authority to manage the Council’s cash flow, borrowing and investments in 2020/21 in line with this report.

3.    In relation to the Council’s overall borrowing for the financial year, to approve the Prudential Indicators as set out in this report and the revised Annual Investment Strategy set out in Appendix E.

This report sets out the Council’s pay policy statement for the financial year 2020/21.

8.37pm – The report and recommendations were moved by the Cabinet Member for Public Services Reform, Councillor Adam Connell. Councillor Adam Connell made a speech on the report before it was put to the vote:

FOR                            UNANIMOUS

AGAINST                   0

NOT VOTING            0

The report and recommendations were declared CARRIED.

8.43pm – RESOLVED

1.    That Council approve the pay policy statement for 2020/21 as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

2.    That Council note the benchmarking of the Council’s median pay multiple against the average of other Inner London Boroughs contained in section 2.5 of the report.

3.    That Council note the new Senior Manager Pay Scheme from 1^st April 2020.

This report is the statutory annual review of Members’ allowances for the 2020/2021 financial year.

8.43pm – The report and recommendations were formally moved by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan.

Speeches on the report were made by Councillors PJ Murphy, Larry Culhane, and Patricia Quigley (for the Administration).

(The Opposition left the room at 8.45pm during the speeches)

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR                            UNANIMOUS

AGAINST                   0

NOT VOTING            0

The report and recommendations were declared CARRIED.

8.57pm – RESOLVED

That the Members’ Allowances Scheme 2020/21 as set out in Appendix 1 be adopted.

This report presents the Council’s calendar of meetings for 2020/21.

8.57pm – The report and recommendations were formally moved by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan, before being put to the vote:

FOR                            UNANIMOUS

AGAINST                   0

NOT VOTING            0

The report and recommendations were declared CARRIED.

8.57pm – RESOLVED

That the schedule of meetings in the 2020/21 Council calendar be approved.