Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Remote Meeting

Contact: Maureen Potter 01352 702322  Email: maureen.potter@flintshire.gov.uk

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Items
No. Item

88.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Councillor Chris Bithell declared a personal interest on the Council Fund Revenue Budget 2022/23 – Final Closing Stage (agenda item 4) and North Wales Population Needs Assessment and Market Stability Report (agenda item 9) as a Board Member and Trustee of DASU.

 

Councillors Bernie Attridge, Chris Bithell and Ted Palmer declared a personal interest on the Council Fund Revenue Budget 2022/23 – Final Closing Stage (agenda item 4) as they each had family members who were employed by the Social Care sector within Flintshire County Council. 

 

Councillors Andy Dunbobbin, Chris Bithell and Arnold Woolley declared a personal interest on the Council Tax Setting for 2022/23 (agenda item 5).  Councillor Dunbobbin in his capacity as Police and Crime Commissioner and Councillors Bithell and Woolley as Members of the North Wales Police and Crime Panel, as the report detailed the precept for North Wales Police. 

 

Councillors Ted Palmer and Martin White declared a personal interest on the Housing Revenue Account 30 year Financial Business Plan (agenda item 6) as Council house tenants.

Minutes:

Councillor Chris Bithell declared a personal interest on the Council Fund Revenue Budget 2022/23 – Final Closing Stage (agenda item 4) and North Wales Population Needs Assessment and Market Stability Report (agenda item 9) as a Board Member and Trustee of DASU.

 

Councillors Bernie Attridge, Chris Bithell and Ted Palmer declared a personal interest on the Council Fund Revenue Budget 2022/23 – Final Closing Stage (agenda item 4) as they each had family members who were employed by the Social Care sector within Flintshire County Council. 

 

Councillors Andy Dunbobbin, Chris Bithell and Arnold Woolley declared a personal interest on the Council Tax Setting for 2022/23 (agenda item 5).  Councillor Dunbobbin in his capacity as Police and Crime Commissioner and Councillors Bithell and Woolley as Members of the North Wales Police and Crime Panel, as the report detailed the precept for North Wales Police. 

 

Councillors Ted Palmer and Martin White declared a personal interest on the Housing Revenue Account 30 year Financial Business Plan (agenda item 6) as Council house tenants.

89.

Petitions

This is an opportunity for Members of Council to submit petitions on behalf of people in their ward. Once received, petitions are passed to the appropriate Chief Officer for action and response.

Additional documents:

Decision:

None were received.

Minutes:

None were received.

90.

Council Fund Revenue Budget 2022/23 - Final Closing Stage pdf icon PDF 78 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

(a)       That the recommendations of Cabinet, as detailed above, for balancing the budget for 2022/23 be approved; and

 

(b)       That the level of Council Tax for 2022/23 as recommended by Cabinet be approved.

Minutes:

The Chief Executive introduced a report to receive the recommendations from Cabinet for the Council to set a legal and balanced Council Fund Revenue Budget for 2022/23.

 

The Chief Executive, Corporate Finance Manager, Strategic Finance Manager and Revenues Manager gave a presentation covering the following:

 

·         Setting a legal and balanced budget

·         The Journey so far…

·         Changes to the Additional Budget Requirement 2022/23

·         Budget Solutions 2022/23

·         Council Tax 2022/23

·         Schools and Social Care Budgets

·         Open risks

·         Reserves

·         Professional opinions and concluding remarks

·         Looking ahead and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)

 

The Council had received full reports on previous stages of the budget setting process for 2022/23 and previous reports and appendices had been provided as background information.  Cabinet had sent a revised minimum budget requirement for 2022/23 of £20.696m at its meeting on 14 December and received an update on the key headlines and financial impacts of the Welsh Local Government Provisional Settlement at its meeting on 18 January 2022. 

 

In previous years, the Council had set a clear direction that any annual increase should be 5% or less.  The Council had had to include a number of additional pressures to provide for the new responsibilities identified in the Welsh Local Government Provisional Settlement which had increased the budget requirement.  Based on the final additional budget requirement of £30.562m an overall annual increase of 3.3% is required on Council tax for Council Services and 0.65% for additional contributions to North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Regional Coroners Service and Regional Education Consortium GwE.  This equated to an overall uplift of 3.95%.     

 

The recommendations for Council were moved by the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Ian Roberts, who thanked the Chief Executive and officers for their work throughout the budget setting process.  He also thanked the National Government and Welsh Government (WG) for the settlement provided but said that there was a need to recognise that the Council had been particularly dependent on the COVID Reserve with a number of claims having been made to WG.  He assured Members that the budget proposals had been robustly challenged by all Cabinet Members, with particular emphasis around Earmarked Reserves, and reported that Members continued to make representations on the need to review the funding formula for Local Government through the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA).  He said he was fully aware of the proposed rise in Council Tax at a time when energy costs and National Insurance contributions were rising, and applauded WG’s ambition to move towards a real living wage, but outlined the challenges that would face the future Council administration if the Council Tax level was to be reduced or the use of reserves was proposed.  He therefore moved the following recommendations: -

 

(a)       That Council approves the revised additional budget requirement for 2022/23;

 

(b)       That Council approves the final proposals for the corporate efficiencies which would contribute to the budget;

 

(c)       That Council sets a legal and balanced budget based on the calculations as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

Item 4 - Budget presentation slides pdf icon PDF 402 KB

Additional documents:

91.

Council Tax setting for 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

(a)       That the 2022-23 Council Tax be set as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report;

 

(b)       That the continuation of the policy of not providing a discount in the level of 2022/23 Council Tax charges for second homes and long-term empty homes be endorsed.  Also, where exceptions do not apply, to charge the Council Tax Premium rate of 50% above the standard rate of Council Tax for second homes and long-term empty dwellings; and

 

(c)       That approval be given for designated officers to issue legal proceedings and appear on behalf of the Council in the Magistrates’ Court for unpaid taxes.

Minutes:

The Revenues Manager introduced the report to formally set the Council Tax charges and associated statutory resolutions for 2022/23 as part of the wider budget strategy on the basis of the decision taken on the previous item.  Members were asked to endorse the continuation of the Council Tax Premium scheme and the practice for designated officers to lead on legal proceedings on behalf of the Council.

 

As mentioned in the previous item, three separate precepts made up the overall level of Council Tax charges against each property.  The 3.95% increase in the Council’s element met expectations of affordability and would, along with central government funding and Revenue Support Grant, help to protect front-line services and maintain the scale and complexity of demand for services.  The overall amount raised by Council Tax consisted of the County Council’s total precept of £94,503,918; the North Wales Police & Crime Commissioner’s total precept of £20,653,459; and the collective precept of £3,195,763 across 34 Town and Community Councils.

 

The recommendations were moved by Councillor Ian Roberts and seconded by Councillor Paul Johnson.

 

Councillor Mike Peers sought advice from the Chief Officer (Governance).  He commented on Members who had voted against the Council tax increase as part of the recommendations in the previous item and asked whether their vote would carry over for this item.  The Chief Officer (Governance) suggested that Members may wish to keep their vote, and therefore if a Member voted for the proposal in the previous item, they would be voting against the recommendations contained within the report. 

 

Councillor Marion Bateman indicated that she wanted to amend her vote and therefore would now be voting for the proposal. 

 

Having been moved and seconded, the recommendations were put to the vote and carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)       That the 2022-23 Council Tax be set as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report;

 

(b)       That the continuation of the policy of not providing a discount in the level of 2022/23 Council Tax charges for second homes and long-term empty homes be endorsed.  Also, where exceptions do not apply, to charge the Council Tax Premium rate of 50% above the standard rate of Council Tax for second homes and long-term empty dwellings; and

 

(c)       That approval be given for designated officers to issue legal proceedings and appear on behalf of the Council in the Magistrates’ Court for unpaid taxes.

92.

Housing Revenue Account (HRA) 30 Year Financial Business Plan pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

That the Housing Revenue Account budget for 2022/23 as set out in the appendices be supported and approved.

Minutes:

The Chief Executive introduced a report to approve the proposed Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Revenue and Capital budget for 2022/23, the HRA Business Plan and the summary 30-year Financial Business Plan as recommended by Cabinet.  The Chief Executive and Strategic Finance Manager (Corporate Finance) gave a presentation covering:

 

·         Welsh Government (WG) Rent Policy

·         Proposed Rent Uplift 2022/23

·         Welsh Government - Wider Rental Agreement

·         Service Charges

·         Other Income

·         Invest to Save Proposal

·         Proposed Pressures and Efficiencies

·         Reserves

·         HRA Business Plan 2022/23

·         HRA Capital Investment

·         Capital Programme

·         Development of the revised Welsh Housing Quality Standards (WHQS)

·         Capital Programme 2022/23

·         HRA Capital Funding 2022/23

 

The proposed rent increase met requirements of the WG Rent Policy to consider affordability and value for money for tenants.  In 2020/21 it was agreed to delay the final phased increase in service charges, with a view to protecting tenants who may be experiencing financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19.  It was proposed that these increases be frozen again in 2022/23 due to the ongoing impact of the pandemic.  It was proposed that further work would be undertaken to ensure services provided were of a high standard, represented value for money and that the true costs reflected in the service charges calculations.

 

The recommendation was moved by Councillor Dave Hughes and seconded by Councillor Ian Dunbar.  Councillor Dunbar spoke in support of the Capital Programme which indicated that four schemes were due to start on site immediately which would provide an additional 77 properties to the housing stock. 

 

Councillor Ian Smith spoke in support of the proposed rent increase which he felt was not too high and tenants would welcome given the high rise in the cost of living and energy costs. 

 

Having been moved and seconded, the recommendation was put to the vote and carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Housing Revenue Account budget for 2022/23 as set out in the appendices be supported and approved.

93.

Treasury Management Strategy 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 87 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

(a)       That the Treasury Management Strategy for 2022/23 be approved;

 

(b)       That the Treasury Management Policy Statement 2022 to 2025 be approved; and

 

(c)        That the Treasury Management Practices and Schedules 2022 to 2025 be approved.

Minutes:

The Corporate Finance Manager presented the draft Treasury Management Strategy for 2022/23, shown at Appendix 1, in conjunction with:

 

  • Draft Treasury Management Policy Statement 2022 to 2025, shown at Appendix 2; and
  • Draft Treasury Management Practices and Schedules 2022 to 2025, shown at Appendix 3 and 4.

 

The main body of the 2022/23 Strategy had not changed significantly from that of the 2021/22 Strategy.  Matters that merited the attention of Members were outlined in section 1.08 of the Cabinet report.  The counterparty limits for local authorities and other government entities for banks and building societies had been increased to £3m.  This was considered necessary due to the higher levels of surplus cash held by the Council resulting from the receipt of additional Covid-19 funding in 2020/21 and 2021/22.

 

The Corporate Finance Manager reported that no significant changes had been made to the Strategy, Policy, Practices and Schedules and no specific issues had been raised following consultation with the Governance and Audit Committee and Cabinet.

 

The recommendations were moved by Councillor Paul Johnson and seconded by Councillor Chris Dolphin.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)       That the Treasury Management Strategy for 2022/23 be approved;

 

(b)       That the Treasury Management Policy Statement 2022 to 2025 be approved; and

 

(c)        That the Treasury Management Practices and Schedules 2022 to 2025 be approved.

94.

Minimum Revenue Provision - 2022/23 Policy pdf icon PDF 85 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

(a)       That the following be approved for Council Fund (CF): -

 

  • Option 3 (Asset Life Method) be used for the calculation of the MRP in financial year 2022/23 for the balance of outstanding capital expenditure funded from supported borrowing fixed as at 31st March 2017. The calculation will be the ‘annuity’ method over 49 years. 

 

  • Option 3 (Asset Life Method) be used for the calculation of the MRP in 2022/23 for all capital expenditure funded from supported borrowing from 1st April 2016 onwards. The calculation will be the ‘annuity’ method over an appropriate number of years, dependent on the period of time that the capital expenditure is likely to generate benefits. 

 

  • Option 3 (Asset Life Method) be used for the calculation of the MRP in 2022/23 for all capital expenditure funded from unsupported (prudential) borrowing or credit arrangements. The calculation will be the ‘annuity’ method over an appropriate number of years, dependent on the period of time that the capital expenditure is likely to generate benefits.  

 

(b)       That the following be approved for Housing Revenue Account (HRA): -

 

  • Option 3 (Asset Life Method) be used for the calculation of the HRA’s MRP in 2022/23 for the balance of outstanding capital expenditure funded from debt fixed as at 31st March 2021. The calculation will be the ‘annuity’ method over 49 years.

 

  • Option 3 (Asset Life Method) be used for the calculation of the HRA’s MRP in 2022/23 for all capital expenditure funded from debt from 1st April 2021 onwards. The calculation will be the ‘annuity’ method over an appropriate number of years, dependent on the period of time that the capital expenditure is likely to generate benefits. 

 

(c)        Members approve that MRP on loans from the Council to NEW Homes to build affordable homes through the Strategic Housing and Regeneration Programme (SHARP) (which qualify as capital expenditure in accounting terms) be as follows: -

 

  • No MRP is made during the construction period (of short duration) as the asset has not been brought into use and no benefit is being derived from its use.  

 

  • Once the assets are brought into use, capital (loan) repayments will be made by NEW Homes. The Council’s MRP will be equal to the repayments made by NEW Homes. The repayments made by NEW Homes will be classed, in accounting terms, as capital receipts, which can only be used to fund capital expenditure or repay debt.  The capital repayment / capital receipt will be set aside to repay debt and is the Council’s MRP policy for repaying the loan. 

Minutes:

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced the report to approve the annual policy for the Minimum Revenue Provision for the prudent repayment of debt.  He confirmed that there were no changes to the recommendations made by Cabinet.

 

The recommendations were moved by Councillor Paul Johnsonand seconded by Councillor Chris Dolphin.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)       That the following be approved for Council Fund (CF): -

 

  • Option 3 (Asset Life Method) be used for the calculation of the MRP in financial year 2022/23 for the balance of outstanding capital expenditure funded from supported borrowing fixed as at 31st March 2017. The calculation will be the ‘annuity’ method over 49 years. 

 

  • Option 3 (Asset Life Method) be used for the calculation of the MRP in 2022/23 for all capital expenditure funded from supported borrowing from 1st April 2016 onwards. The calculation will be the ‘annuity’ method over an appropriate number of years, dependent on the period of time that the capital expenditure is likely to generate benefits. 

 

  • Option 3 (Asset Life Method) be used for the calculation of the MRP in 2022/23 for all capital expenditure funded from unsupported (prudential) borrowing or credit arrangements. The calculation will be the ‘annuity’ method over an appropriate number of years, dependent on the period of time that the capital expenditure is likely to generate benefits.  

 

(b)       That the following be approved for Housing Revenue Account (HRA): -

 

  • Option 3 (Asset Life Method) be used for the calculation of the HRA’s MRP in 2022/23 for the balance of outstanding capital expenditure funded from debt fixed as at 31st March 2021. The calculation will be the ‘annuity’ method over 49 years.

 

  • Option 3 (Asset Life Method) be used for the calculation of the HRA’s MRP in 2022/23 for all capital expenditure funded from debt from 1st April 2021 onwards. The calculation will be the ‘annuity’ method over an appropriate number of years, dependent on the period of time that the capital expenditure is likely to generate benefits. 

 

(c)        Members approve that MRP on loans from the Council to NEW Homes to build affordable homes through the Strategic Housing and Regeneration Programme (SHARP) (which qualify as capital expenditure in accounting terms) be as follows: -

 

  • No MRP is made during the construction period (of short duration) as the asset has not been brought into use and no benefit is being derived from its use.  

 

  • Once the assets are brought into use, capital (loan) repayments will be made by NEW Homes. The Council’s MRP will be equal to the repayments made by NEW Homes. The repayments made by NEW Homes will be classed, in accounting terms, as capital receipts, which can only be used to fund capital expenditure or repay debt.  The capital repayment / capital receipt will be set aside to repay debt and is the Council’s MRP policy for repaying the loan. 

95.

North Wales Population Needs Assessment and Market Stability Report pdf icon PDF 115 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

(a)       That the North Wales Population Needs Assessment be supported; and

 

(b)       That the process for the approval of the Regional Market Stability Report, as outlined in the report, be approved.

Minutes:

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced the report to provide an overview of the North Wales Population Needs Assessment 2022 which had been produced as a requirement of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. 

 

The North Wales Population Needs Assessment was a statutory requirement and was an assessment of the care and support needs of the population and the support needs of carers throughout North Wales. The reports development was led by the North Wales Social Care and Well-being services improvement collaborative with information from the six North Wales Councils and the Health Board.  The report must be approved by all partners prior to being published on 1 April 2022.

 

The Regional Market Stability report which followed on from the Population Needs Assessment and provided an assessment of the sufficiency of care and support in meeting the needs and demand for social care must also be published in June 2022.  Together, both documents should help to provide those commissioning care and support with a comprehensive understanding of the current and projected demand and supply.  The next phase of the project would involve using the Population needs assessment to develop an area plan for the region which was to be developed and published in 2023.

 

In moving and seconding the recommendations, both Councillor Christine Jones and Councillor Hilary McGuill spoke in support of the comprehensive report and thanked both Emma Murphy and Katrina Shankar for their work in collating the information.

 

Councillor Chris Bithell paid tribute to the officers who had contributed to the report and commented on the number of responses received from Flintshire residents, staff and partner organisations which was welcoming.  He also commented on the future population trajectories which he felt would be challenging and the implications for future funding to provide social care services for an ageing population. 

 

The Chief Officer (Social Services) thanked Members for the comments and said that he would pass on the thanks of Members to the officers.  He agreed with the concerns from Councillor Bithell around an ageing population and explained that documents like the one presented allows for the Council to prepare for the development of extra care housing and in-house care provision for older people.       

 

Having been moved and seconded, the recommendations were put to the vote and carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)       That the North Wales Population Needs Assessment be supported; and

 

(b)       That the process for the approval of the Regional Market Stability Report, as outlined in the report, be approved.

 

96.

Public Question Time

This item is to receive any Public Questions: none were received by the deadline.

Additional documents:

Decision:

None were received.

 

Minutes:

None were received.

 

97.

Questions

To note the answers to any questions submitted in accordance with County Council Standing Order No. 9.4(A): none were received by the deadline.

Additional documents:

Decision:

None were received.

Minutes:

None were received.

98.

Notice of Motion

This item is to receive any Notices of Motion: none were received by the deadline.

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

None were received.

Minutes:

None were received.

99.

Members of the Press in Attendance

Additional documents:

Decision:

There were no members of the press in attendance.

Minutes:

There were no members of the press in attendance.