Agenda item

This report sets out the budget proposals for the services covered by the Housing and Homelessness Policy and Accountability Committee. An update is also provided on any proposed changes in fees and charges in the budget.

Councillor Rowan Ree (Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform) expressed his appreciation for staff in the Finance team who had worked out the current Budget under the difficult circumstances of rising rates of inflation and bank interests and a tight timeframe. He also highlighted the contributions of Cabinet Members in the tough processes. The Budget had based on realistic assumptions to achieve savings and efficiency.  Councillor Ree said he was proud that despite a 56% cut in the resources from the general government grant funding as compared to 2010/11, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) was able to provide unique services such as providing free breakfasts to school children, establishing a local Law Enforcement Team to keep the streets safe and clean and stopping the use of bailiffs to collect Council Tax debt.

Sukvinder Kalsi (Director of Finance) presented the item which covered the Budget 2023/24 and Mid Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2024/25+. He outlined the national and local strategic operating environment, proposed revenue budget strategy 2023/24 and the key principles, Council Tax considerations, major savings proposals and growth allocations, and a Reserve summary. Members noted the dates for the proposals to be presented to the relevant committees, the Cabinet and Full Council.

In reply to Councillor Asif Siddique’s enquiry, Sukvinder Kalsi highlighted that the Council’s Reserve stood at a reasonable and adequate level comparable to those of other London Authorities. In case of emergency like the past pandemic, he expected that funding support would be made available by the Central Government. Councillor Ree noted that it was prudent for the Council to set aside funds in the General Reserve for IT upgrading works in the next few years.

Responding to Councillor Paul Alexander’s concern, Councillor Ree noted that it was proposed to earmark £1.5 million (m) for refuse collection which aimed at keeping as well as improving the current services.

Councillor Alexander and officers exchanged views on the ways of calculating rent arrears. Daniel Rochford (Head of Finance) noted that while all monies received were kept in the same bank account, they were listed separately as ‘rent’ and ‘rent in advance’ for accounting purpose.  Overpayment involving the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), if any, would be sorted out fairly by the Council every accounting year through individual reconciliation.  Martin Calleja (Assistant Director, Service Improvement) assured members that colleagues in the Rent Income Team and Welfare Team were very aware of the financial pressures faced by the residents in managing the utility and food bills.  They endeavoured to help the tenants in resolving the rent arrears carefully to prevent the situations to get worse.

In response to Councillor Adronie Alford’s question, Sukvinder Kalsi noted that the developer contributions of £46 m (Table 9) were the balance of the lumpsum already received as of March 2022. This was included to show the overall position in terms of financial planning. He said that the developer and sales contributions were always based on legal agreements and they could be difficult to be projected.  Hence, the Council was not in a position to give a longer-term forecast but listed them until the actual figures emerged.

Councillor Alford was concerned about the measures taken under the Housing Solution to tackle the volatile housing market and the soaring rents.  Daniel Rochford referred to the Budget Strategy under which a provision of £0.9 m had been set aside to, amongst others, support residents with the cost-of-living pressures.  In addition, the Council proposed a budget of £0.9 m to procure more affordable properties in response to the expected increase in the number of clients needing temporary accommodation.

Officers agreed to address the following concerns raised in respect of the Strategic Operating Environment (page 34) by Councillor Alexander after the meeting:

• Stock Condition/ /Disrepair Claims/Damp & Mould – how a damp and mould complaint was assessed;
• Building Safety Requirements – information on the relevant schedule;
• Meeting the Green Agenda – definition of thermal efficiency, details of the gas boiler phasing out programme;
• Underperforming Repairs Service with Resident and Member Concerns – schedule of the performance.

ACTION: Richard Buckley

The Chair asked what concessions needed to be made because of  the rising cost of living and the impact of the mini-budget in September.  Sukvinder Kalsi explained that a pay award provision of 2% was allowed in the Budget of 2022/23 and this ended up to be 5% with the extra amount of some £3.8 m to be funded from the policy contingency set aside for the year, on top of the ongoing efforts to bridge the gap through expenditure cuts.  Councillor Ree added that the biggest impact on Councils generally was the increased cost of borrowing. However, thanks to prudent financial management, H&F Council had not had to resort to any additional in-year borrowings.

Addressing Councillor Alford’s concern on fees and charges levied by the Council, Sukvinder Kalsi noted that those for Adult Social Care, Children’s Services and Housing in line with administration policy were frozen.  Commercial services that were charged on a for-profit basis would be reviewed on an ongoing basis in response to market conditions and changed as appropriate with due authorisations according to the Council constitution.

RESOLVED

1.     That the Committee considered the budget proposals and agreed to make recommendations to the Cabinet as appropriate.

2.     That the Committee considered the proposed changes to fees and charges and agreed to make recommendations as appropriate.