Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 2 December 2019 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillors Andrew Jones and Ben Coleman.

There were no declarations of interest.

That the Council will, for another year, continue to support our most vulnerable residents by protecting our local scheme. Once again for the eighth year running, we are proposing providing the maximum 100% support to our residents where they are on low incomes. This is at a time when we continue to have reduced funding from Central Government and are observing that many other local authorities, including our neighbours, are asking their vulnerable residents to now contribute towards their council tax, at levels often up to 25% of their actual charge.

1.    That the estimated numbers of properties for each Valuation Band as set out in this report be approved.

2.    That an estimated Collection rate of 97.5% be approved.

3.    That the Council Tax Base of 80,495 Band “D” equivalent properties be approved.

4.    To delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Finance and Governance in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Commercial Services, to determine the business rates tax base for 2020/21.

5.    To approve the recommendations in the Council Tax Support Scheme 2020/21 report, prior to the recommendations in this report, as they are reflected as Band “D” equivalents in the Council’s Tax base calculations in section 8 below.

6.    To confirm that the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham wishes to continue in a pan-London business rates pool in 2020/21.

7.    To delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Finance and Governance in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Commercial Services, to agree the recommendations in this report from 2021/22 in advance of budget setting.

1.    To approve the proposed budget variations to the capital programme totalling £12.45m (summarised in Table 1 and detailed in Appendix 2).

2.    To approve a budget virement of £100,000 from the Corporate Planned Maintenance Programme to the Column Replacement programme reported within the Environment Department.

3.    To establish a disposals programme that will enable reserves to be maintained and reduce reliance on additional borrowing.

4.    To note the proposed change in the Minimum Revenue Payment (MRP) rate from 3.24% to 3.01% and that this will reduce the charge against revenue budgets by approximately £200,000 over the next 4 years.

5.    To note that the recent government decision to increase the PWLB rate (the rate at which local authorities can borrow from the government) by 1% will potentially increase the Council’s borrowing costs by £1.38m per year by 2022/23 and by £69m over a 50-year loan period.

6.    To note the potential risks regarding the Housing Capital Programme, as summarised in section 5 of the report.

1.     That Directors and Cabinet members urgently identify and deliver actions that offset the forecast General Fund overspend of £9.4 million.

2.     To note the HRA forecast overspend.

3.     To approve the virement requests set out in Appendix 9 of the report.

This report has two appendices which contain information exempt within the meaning of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and are not for publication. The appendices have therefore been circulated to Cabinet Members only.

Any discussions on the contents of an exempt appendix will require Cabinet to pass the proposed resolution identified at the end of the agenda to exclude members of the public and the press from the proceedings for that discussion.

1.    To note that appendices 1 and 2 of the report are not for publication on the basis that they contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of any person (including the authority holding that information) as set out in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). 

2.    To delegate to the Strategic Director for the Economy, in consultation with the Borough Solicitor and Cabinet Member for Finance and Commercial Services to agree the property legal agreements

3.    To acquire the freehold interest of 145-155 King Street, W6 on the terms set out in Appendix 2 of the report. 

4.    To approve a capital budget of up to £19.81 million in 2019/20, to be funded by borrowing, represented by an increase in the Council’s Capital Financing Requirement. 

The Key Decision List was noted.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 - ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Proposed resolution:

Under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that they contain the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.     

The Queen's New Year's Honours - Steve Miley OBE

The Leader extended the Council’s congratulations to Steve Miley, our former Director of Children's Services, who was awarded an OBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours.

The West Kensington and Gibbs Green Estates

With delight the Leader stated that the Council had received back the West Kensington and Gibbs Green Estates. The nightmare was now over for the 1000s of residents who had been worrying about their homes.

The return of the two estates and the Gibbs Green School Site completed the Administration’s 2014 manifesto commitments. The Council was happy that it had been able to help our residents to save their homes from demolition.

The Leader thanked the Officers, Members and Lewis Silkin LLP (Solicitors) who had worked together tirelessly to achieve this great success.