Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Suite, North Warehouse, The Docks, Gloucester, GL1 2EP

Contact: Democratic and Electoral Services 

Items
No. Item

67.

Declarations of Interest

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda Notes.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

68.

Declaration of Party Whipping

To declare if any issues to be covered in the Agenda are under party whip.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of party whipping.

69.

Public Question Time (15 minutes)

To receive any questions from members of the public provided that a question does not relate to:

 

·       Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings or

·       Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers.

 

To ask a question at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 30th November 2022 or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

70.

Petitions and Deputations (15 minutes)

To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

 

·       Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·       Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings.

 

To present a petition or deputation at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 30th November 2022.

Minutes:

There were no petitions nor deputations.

71.

Draft Money Plan 2023-28 and Budget Proposals for 2023-24 pdf icon PDF 192 KB

To consider the report of the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources which sets out the Draft Money Plan for the period 2023 to 2028 and Budget Proposals for 2023 to 2024.

 

The format for the session will be as follows:

 

1.    Leader of the Council will introduce the report.

 

2.    The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources will add her comments on the report.

 

Each Cabinet Member will then present their respective portfolios in the following order:

 

1.    Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources.

2.    Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure.

3.    Cabinet Member for Environment.

4.    Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods.

5.    Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy.

 

During their presentations the Cabinet Member will address the following points: -

 

1.    Current staffing levels.

 

2.    Financial pressures for next year, including any potential reduction in income streams.

 

3.    The proposed budget savings for next year and how these will impact on the services they provide.

 

4.    Any new income streams identified during the process.

 

5.    The main priorities for their portfolio and whether any have changed as a result of the Draft Money Plan.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

71.1    The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment introduced the report and provided an overview of the Draft Money Plan from 2023/24 to 2027/28. He confirmed that there were many unknowns in terms of the future income and expenditure of the council, and that the year-end position was still uncertain. The Leader of the Council advised Members that the Covid-19 pandemic and the cyber incident the council experienced back in December 2021 had brought further uncertainty.

 

71.2    The Leader of the Council confirmed that the council had identified savings, however these savings were unlikely to have any significant impact on staffing numbers. In relation to capital financing, he confirmed that the Kings Square regeneration had been completed earlier in the year, and informed Members that the regeneration of the Kings Quarter area had commenced on site. The Leader of the Council added that the council had managed to see some income growth through recycling income, and that part of the Budget Savings programme included a small increase in Garden Waste and Parking charges. He advised Members that the administration was open to cross-party input on the Draft Money Plan and Budget proposals, and that there would be an opportunity for residents to share their views. He encouraged Members to raise awareness of this opportunity within their communities and thanked the Finance Team for their efforts in preparing the Draft Money Plan report.

 

71.3    The Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy confirmed that the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources had given her apologies for the meeting and advised that she would be adding comments on the report on her behalf. She informed Members that the financial outlook for Local Government continued to be difficult and noted that the current high inflation and cost of living crisis were placing significant pressure on the council’s revenue budgets. The Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy explained that the Draft Money Plan had made the best estimates on the ongoing implications for the council.

 

71.4    The Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy advised Members that it was likely that the Government would stick to the Spending Review 2021 allocations which meant that there was unlikely to be new funding for Local Government. This in turn meant that there would be real-term cuts in funding for the sector and the Draft Money Plan had been produced on this basis. She confirmed that the council planned to draw down on its Business Rates reserve and make a small increase to Council Tax. The Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy paid tribute to the Finance Team and the council’s Section 151 Officer for preparing the Draft Money Plan report under the difficult circumstances posed by the cyber incident, and thanked all staff for finding creative work arounds to ensure the council continued to deliver services despite the cyber incident.

 

71.5    The Chair asked for an explanation as to why the full detailed breakdown of each Cabinet Member’s portfolio had not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

72.

Date of Next Meeting

Monday 9th January 2023.

Minutes:

Monday 9th January 2023.