Agenda and minutes

No declarations were received.

Apologies were received from Councillors Catt and Perkins.

5:05 – 5:35pm

The Cabinet Member for Housing, the Assistant Cabinet Member for Housing and the Housing Services Manager (Business Planning and Strategy) attended to present a report on the implications of the summer budget on the Housing Revenue Account. The Cabinet Member for Housing noted that additional policies announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review Autumn Statement could further exacerbate the implications of the summer budget on the Housing Revenue Account.

The Housing Services Manager (Business Planning and Strategy) outlined the following policies that were included in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill:

·        A Freeze on working age benefits for 4 years from 2016-17 to 2019-20.

·        The removal of automatic entitlement to housing support from April 2017 for new claims for Universal Credit from 18-21 year olds who are out of work.

·        A reduction in rents in social housing by 1% a year for 4 years from April 2016.

The Housing Services Manager provided a summary of the Housing and Planning bill, and outlined the following points to members.

·        An extension of the Right to Buy to Housing Association tenants.

·        From April 2017 Local Authorities with a Housing Revenue Account would be required ‘to make a payment to the Government for a financial year, reflecting the market value of high value housing likely to become vacant during that year less costs, whether or not receipts are realised’..

·        Social Housing Tenants with household incomes of £30,000 and above would be required to ‘Pay to Stay’ by paying a market rent or near market rent. The policy could result in Right to Buy becoming more attractive to tenants.

·        Lifetime tenancies in social housing would be reviewed to limit their use. The review would only affect new tenants to social housing and it was noted that there would be no change to existing tenants remaining in their current homes.

The Comprehensive Spending Review Autumn Statement had stated that the amount of rent that Housing Benefit would cover in the social sector would be capped to the relevant Local Housing Allowance and that Housing Benefit would no longer fully subsidise households to live in social housing. This change would only however apply to tenancies signed after 1 April 2016, with Housing Benefit entitlement changing from 1 April 2018.

The Housing Services Manager informed members that work to assess the impact of these changes was on-going, but that initial analysis had shown the changes would have significant and adverse implications for the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan.

The introduction of the 1% rent reduction over four years would mean a loss of £10 million in rental income in real terms and over the life of the Business Plan the loss would be £172.4 million in rental income. This would mean that for the council to continue delivering services and investing in the housing stock as planned it would result in borrowing up to the debt cap of £155.6 million by 2018/19 and that even with increased borrowing there would still be a significant shortfall for the Housing Capital  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

5:35 – 6:20pm

The Deputy Leader and the Chief Finance Officer attended to provide members with an update on the Council’s current budgetary situation.

The Chief Finance Officer advised that currently deficits were being forecasted in 2015/16, 2016/17, and 2017/18. It was noted that the current years’ deficit could be reduced by tight budgetary control throughout the remainder of the year, and that any residual deficit could be met from reserves. The Chief Finance Officer advised however that the use of reserves was not a sustainable situation and that the focus should be on providing longer term solutions.

The Deputy Leader informed members that at a recent meeting of the Corporate Cabinet a number of measures had been looked at to tackle the possible deficits in the short and medium-term, including vacancy control and a moratorium on non-essential expenditure. It was also noted however that attention should be maintained on the medium term where the scale of the forecast deficits was such that significant budgetary savings would need to be considered and implemented.

The Chief Finance Officer advised members that unfortunately the recent spending review announcements from the government were not quantified and lacked detail so that a great deal of uncertainty still remained in many areas of local government funding such as the future of the New Homes Bonus and the Council Tax Freeze grant. The Chief Finance Officer also noted that a wide ranging review of local government finance could mean a realignment of resources towards adult social care, and that this could consequently result in further reductions in funding for district councils. Members were informed that there could potentially be changes made to give more flexibility to authorities’ use of capital receipts; however there would be conditions applied to this.

The Chief Finance Officer confirmed that there would be 100% Business Rates retention for authorities by 2020, but again there would be conditions attached, and that as the Treasury wanted the change to be fiscally neutral it was not yet clear how this change would affect local authority finances. The Chief Finance Officer also provided information to members on the latest situation regarding Business Rates appeals and the consequent uncertainty that this created with regard to budget setting and planning.

The Deputy Leader and the Chief Finance Officer noted that some local authorities were very near the edge of financial viability and were under severe financial stress. Members expressed concern at the government’s apparent belief that local authorities had huge cash reserves they were not using. The Chief Finance Officer advised that while the council did have reserves these were declining and that they were also earmarked against planned liabilities.

The Chief Finance Officer noted that details of the provisional settlement for local government would be released on 16 or 17 December, but that details regarding the medium term could be later.

Members asked several questions about specific aspects regarding proposed changes to Business Rates and how this could affect the Council’s finances. Members also asked about the performance of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

6:20 – 6:50pm

The Scrutiny Project Group report and recommendations on Concessions on Fees and Charges were presented by Councillor Jeannie Barr, the Project Group leader. 

It was reported that Chesterfield Borough Council offered concessions on fees and charges made on chargeable services and that the review had examined the consistency, fairness and objectives in the provision and application of concessions across the council’s services.

The issue of how the Council offered concessions on fees and charges had originally been raised by Environmental Health Management as an area for Scrutiny to look at in 2012. The issue had again been raised as an area for Scrutiny work in 2015 by the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Terry Gilby and Executive Director, James Drury. It was noted that there was currently no corporate policy on the application of reduced rates (concessions) for chargeable services with regard to the rate of discount applied or eligibility criteria, as well as there being no guidance available to managers on when it was appropriate to apply concessions.

Councillor Barr gave details of how the project group had conducted the review and noted that there had been direct input from local residents via a consultation with Community Assembly members. The information gathered from the consultation had then informed the project group’s focus, as well as the group’s subsequent recommendations.

Councillor Barr outlined the report’s recommendations and how they had been formulated in order to address numerous issues in the current way concessions on fees and charges were offered by the council. The report stated that the way concessions were currently offered did not meet the council’s commitment to equalities, nor the Council Plan objectives of becoming financially self-sufficient by 2020 and being able to provide sustainable services to residents of the borough. The report also stated that services needed to have a thorough and detailed understanding of all costs involved in the service provision.  This would ensure decisions taken on pricing and concessions of individual services were well informed and were made as part of an overall charging and concessions policy that resulted in service costs of a being covered and subsidies reduced.

Members noted that targeted concessions did encourage some people to access services such as theatres and leisure centres who otherwise would not if a concession was not offered.

Members did express some concern about the group’s recommendation that concessions should not be offered to those aged over 60 on a basis of age. Councillor Barr and other members who had been on the project group acknowledged these concerns but noted that anyone aged over 60 who was financially disadvantaged would still be able to receive a discount based on one of the other concessionary categories. It was also noted that offering a discount based solely on being aged 60 or over was not compatible with the council’s equalities statement and that by offering this concession the council could be perceived as creating inequalities with regard to accessing services.  However it was accepted the offering of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.