Agenda and minutes

This meeting was held remotely, in accordance with the Local Authorities and Police & Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police & Crime Panel Meetings) (England & Wales) Regulations 2020.

AGREED      that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 February 2021 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

There were no declarations of interest and the Council noted the interests previously declared by Members in Agenda Item No. 19 – Minutes for Noting.

Other than the Council recording in accordance with usual practice, there were no declarations of intention to record the meeting. The Chairman advised that the meeting was being streamed live.

The Chief Executive informed the Council that written confirmation had been received from the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government in respect of the successful bid for up to £25m for the Newark Towns Deal.  He thanked colleagues and partners who had been instrumental in putting together the funding bid.

The Council considered the report of the Leader of the Council relating to the Revenue Budget and Council Tax Setting for 2021/22.

The report indicated that, in setting the level of Council Tax for 2021/2022, it was necessary to consider the requirements of the Council Tax Collection Fund for 2021/2022.  This incorporated the District Council’s Council Tax Requirement, Parish Council Precepts and the Council Tax requirements of Nottinghamshire County Council, the Nottinghamshire Police & Crime Commissioner and the Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service.

The Policy & Finance Committee, at its meeting held on 22 February 2021, recommended that the District Council's Council Tax Requirement for 2021/2022, excluding Parish Council precepts, should be £15,917,480.00as detailed in the Council's Budget Book for 2021/2022.  As part of the budget process, the views of the operational committees had been taken into account along with views of the Commercial Ratepayers through the statutory consultation.

It was reported that all Parish Council precepts had been received.  Parish precepts totalled £3,237,196.84. Consequently the total Council Tax Requirement for the District Council was £19,154,676.84.

Nottinghamshire County Council had set a precept on Newark & Sherwood District Council’s Collection fund for 2021/2022 of £63,237,241.00.  The Nottinghamshire Police & Crime Commissioner had set a precept on Newark & Sherwood District Council's Collection fund for 2021/2022 of £9,770,900.73, and the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service had proposed a precept on Newark & Sherwood District Council’s Collection fund for 2021/2022 of £3,318,170.03.

AGREED      (unanimously) that the recommendations as set out in the report and attached as Appendix A to these minutes be approved.

In accordance with Procedure Rule No. 28a.1 a recorded vote was taken as follows:

The Council considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive / Director – Resources and Section 151 Officer which sought approval for the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for the four financial years between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2025 (2021/22 to 2024/25).  A copy of the Plan was attached as an Appendix to the report. The MTFP aimed to provide both Members and officers with a clear financial framework for delivering the Council’s Community Plan objectives over the next four years. Updating the MTFP was an essential pre-requisite to the annual budget setting for future years.

The MTFP showed that the Council was able to set a balanced budget for 2021/22, whilst being able to contribute funds to reserves in order to mitigate future anticipated shortfalls in funding. The Council would need to continually consider how best to manage demand for its services, as well as monitoring and reviewing how best to deliver services.

AGREED      (unanimously) that the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2021/22 to 2024/25 be approved.

The Council considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive / Director – Resources and Section 151 Officer which set out the proposed Capital Programme for the period 2021/22 to 2024/25.  Following the Policy & Finance Committee’s consideration of the Capital Programme at its meeting on 22 February 2021 and in accordance with Financial Regulation 6.2.3, the final programme was recommended to Council for approval.  Attached as Appendix 1 to the report was the report submitted to Policy & Finance Committee held on 22 February 2021 which detailed the resources available, the Council’s existing committed programme and the priority schemes identified.

The Capital Programme for 2021/22 to 2024/25 proposed investment of £116.534m over the 4 year programme, including Housing Services £56.895m (made up of Property Investment and the New Build Programme) and General Fund £59.639m (made up of various general fund projects). The expenditure was financed by a combination of Government Grants, Third Party Contributions, Capital Receipts, Revenue Support (through the HRA Major Repairs Reserve, General Fund reserves) and borrowing.

AGREED      (unanimously) that:

(a)          the General Fund schemes shown in Appendix A and the Housing Services Programme shown in Appendix B be approved as committed expenditure in the Capital Programme;

(b)          the Capital Programme be managed in accordance with Financial Regulation 6.2.3;

(c)          in accordance with the delegation to the Section 151 Officer in the Council’s Constitution to arrange financing of the Council’s Capital Programme, the Capital Programme for the financial years 2021/22 to 2024/25 be financed to maximise the resources available, having regard to the provisions of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and subsequent legislation; and

(d)          any changes above the limit delegated to the Section 151 Officer (i.e. £10,000), either in funding or the total cost of the capital scheme, be reported to the Policy & Finance Committee for consideration.

The Council considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive / Director - Resources and Section 151 Officer which sought approval for the Capital Strategy 2021/22 which incorporated the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy and Capital Prudential Indicators.  The Strategy had been updated in accordance with the latest guidance.

The Capital Strategy outlined the principles and framework that shaped the Council’s capital decisions.  The principle aim was to deliver a programme of capital investment that contributed to the achievement of the Council’s priorities and objectives as set out in the Corporate Plan.  The Strategy was attached as appendices to the report.

AGREED      (with 34 votes for and 1 against) that:

The Council considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive / Director - Resources and Section 151 Officer which sought approval for the Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2021/22. This Statement incorporated the Borrowing Strategy, Investment Strategy and Treasury Prudential Indicators updated in accordance with the latest guidance. The Statement was attached as Appendix A to the report.

AGREED      (with 34 votes for and 1 against) that:

(a)     the Treasury Management Strategy 2021/22, incorporating the Borrowing Strategy and the Annual Investment Strategy be approved;

(b)     the Treasury Prudential Indicators and Limits be approved; and

(c)     the Authorised Limit Treasury Prudential Indicator be approved.

The Council considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive / Director – Resources and Section 151 Officer which sought approval for the Investment Strategy for 2021/22. This Investment Strategy met the requirements of statutory guidance issued by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Investment Guidance in January 2018.  The definition of an investment covered all of the financial assets of the Council, as well as the other non-financial assets that the organisation holds, primarily or partially to generate a profit including investment property portfolios. The Strategy therefore, may include investments that were not managed as part of normal treasury management processes or under treasury management delegations. A copy of the Investment Strategy was attached as Appendix A to the report.

AGREED      (unanimously) that:

(a)     the Investment Strategy 2021/22 be approved; and

(b)     the Investment Prudential Indicators and Limits be approved.

The Council considered the report of the Director – Governance & Organisational Development which sought approval of the Pay Policy Statement for 2021/22.  In accordance with Section 38(1) of the Localism Act 2011, the Council was required to produce a Pay Policy Statement for each financial year.  The Pay Policy Statement set out the authority’s policies for the financial year relating to:

•   the remuneration of the authority’s lowest-paid employees (together with a definition of “lowest-paid employees”) and the reasons for adopting that definition;

•   the relationship between remuneration of Chief Officers and that of other officers (pay multiples); and

•   the remuneration of Chief Officers.

The report summarised the minimal changes to the Statement and it was noted that given the Trade Unions had yet to present a pay claim for 2021/22, the document showed pay scales as of April 2020.

The Policy & Finance Committee, at their meeting held on 22 February 2021, recommended the Pay Policy Statement to the Council for adoption.

AGREED      (unanimously) that the Pay Policy Statement 2021/22 be approved.

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive which informed the Council of the report and recommendations of the Members Independent Remuneration Panel. A copy of the Panel’s report was attached as Appendix A. In accordance with the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) Regulations, a Panel was convened to review the current Scheme of Members Allowances, which was last approved by the Council on 6 February 2016, following the previous Panel report.

The Councillors’ Commission considered the Independent Review Panel report at their meeting held on 25 February 2021, and were minded to recommend Council to approve the proposed new Scheme of Members Allowances as set out in the Panel report, but recognising that the Council may consider that it may not be appropriate to implement at the current time. The Commission also wished to consider further the report findings in respect of the Planning Committee, but this would not impact on any implementation.

AGREED      (with 34 votes for and 1 against) that:

(a)          the Council thank the Independent Remuneration Panel for their report;

(b)          the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel be approved in full; and

(c)          the changes recommended by the Panel to the Members Allowances Scheme are not implemented at the current time given the ongoing pandemic, the constraints on public sector pay and the current review of the Council’s governance arrangements. 

The Council considered the report of the Director – Resources / Deputy Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer which sought approval to appoint an Independent Member, on a non-voting basis onto the Audit & Accounts Committee.

At their meeting held on 3 February 2021, the Audit & Accounts Committee considered a report concerning co-opting an Independent, non-voting Member onto the Committee. The report detailed recommendations from the Sir Tony Redmond review on the arrangements in place to support the transparency and quality of local authority financial reporting.

The Audit & Accounts Committee unanimously agreed in recommending to Full Council to co-opt an Independent Member onto the committee.  The proposed role profile for the Independent Member was attached at Appendix B of the report.

AGREED      (unanimously) that:

(a)     the Council approve the creation of a Co-opted Independent member on a non-voting basis onto the Audit & Accounts Committee; and

(b)     the process for selecting and recommending an appropriate candidate be delegated to the Business Manager – Financial Services in consultation with the Chairman of the Audit & Accounts Committee, and that a report is brought back to the Council to approve the appointment of the recommended candidate.