To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors, A Seldon, A Warmington, CA North and AR Round.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2015.

Councillor AJW Powers requested a correction to minute no 45 – for the appointment of vice chairman of the general overview and scrutiny committee, councillor AJW Powers was proposed by councillor EPJ Harvey.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on the 18 December 2015 as amended be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the chairman.

To receive the Chairman’s announcements

Council noted the chairman’s announcements as printed in the agenda papers.

The chairman highlighted the Herefordshire community champions and urged all councillors to support the scheme.

The chairman also drew member’s attention to the cathedral service on 11 June 2016 which is being held to celebrate the Queen’s birthday and asked all councillors and community leaders to give their support to the occasion.

The chairman proposed to vary the order of business and bring forward item seven, the 2016/17 budget and medium term financial strategy, in advance of agenda item 6. This was agreed by council.

A copy of the member questions and written answers, together with supplementary questions asked at the meeting and their answers, is attached to the minutes at Appendix 1.

To approve the 2016-17 budget and medium term financial strategy (MTFS) 2016-20 as recommended by cabinet.

Proposed amendments to the revenue budget have been submitted and published to the council’s website as a supplement to the agenda papers.

Guidance on how the debate on the budget will be conducted has also been published to the council’s website as a supplement.

These documents are available at the following page on the council’s website.

http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=291&MId=5386&Ver=4

The chairman drew member’s attention to the published supplement providing guidance on the conduct of the debate on the budget; Council agreed the guidance would be followed, apart from section B11, which was deleted.

The deputy leader presented the budget report. She informed council that since 2010 the council has saved £59m while keeping council tax rises below 2% per annum and balancing the budget. She welcomed the following elements included in the chancellor’s autumn statement:

·         support to secure launch funding to create a new university in Hereford

·         provision of £250m nationally over the next five years to tackle potholes

·         the introduction of a national funding formula for schools, high needs and early years.

She noted that funding reductions from central government would continue and that funding was expected to fall from the current level of £26m to less than £1m in 2020. The sparsity grant of £1.3m in 2016/17 was welcomed and the Sparse group was thanked.

The latest monitoring report indicated that the council would deliver on its budget in 2015/16, the third year in succession.  It was particularly pleasing that Adult and Wellbeing were predicting spending within their budget for the second year in succession after previous difficulties.  She congratulated officers on the performance.

It was explained that as part of the council’s medium term financial strategy it was proposed to increase council tax by 3.9% in 2016/17.  This included an additional 2.0% (£1.7m) to protect Adult Care Services and would mean a rise of around £4 a month for a band D property.  It was noted that most other councils are planning similar rises in council tax.

She proposed the budget, as amended, as set out in the report. Councillor A W Johnson seconded the motion.

The leader of the It’s Our County group (IOC) made the following observations:

• due to financial pressures there remained little scope for the IOC to make the fundamental changes they would wish to pursue;
• the fact that only minor amendments were being proposed did not necessarily indicate the group supported the remainder of the budget;
• believed the administration had made poor choices while overlooking good ones.

The leader of the Independent group made the following observations:

• he believed that this was a risky budget as there was much uncertainty in the future;
• in a few years’ time the authority will have disposed of their assets, however, if not careful, borrowing and debt levels will remain the same:
• although the authority had made savings over the last decade, those savings had been wasted due to poor decisions taken by the administration;
•  increases in council tax and car parking charges would leave less in people’s pocket.

The leader of the Liberal Democrat group made the following observations:

• the respective roles of council and the executive in determining policy meant that debate on the budget at Council would have little impact on the way in which that money would be spent;
• he remained concerned about the level of debt the council maintained;
• the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

To approve the council’s corporate plan 2016-20, following recommendation by Cabinet.

Council was asked to approve the council’s corporate plan 2016/20, following recommendation by cabinet on 21 January.

In proposing the motion to approve the plan, the deputy leader of the council noted that the corporate plan along with the medium term financial strategy provided the policy framework within which decisions will be taken and resources allocated.  The corporate plan builds on existing plans and priorities and acknowledged the outcome of budget consultation that ran throughout the summer. She added that the priorities remained substantially the same, being:

·         enabling residents to live safe, healthy and independent lives

·         keeping children and young people safe and giving them a great start in life

·         supporting the growth of our economy; and

·         securing better services, quality of life and value for money

Councillor AW Johnston seconded the motion and it was put to the vote.

RESOLVED: That the draft corporate plan 2016-2020, as set out at appendix A to thereport, be approved.

Council agreed that the meeting should continue beyond three hours.

To approve the 2016 pay policy statement for publication; and to update Council on action following Council’s resolution to consider how to introduce the living wage.

Council was asked to approve the 2016 pay policy statement for publication; following Council’s resolution to consider how to introduce the living wage.

The vice chairman of the employment panel presented the report and moved to the recommendation.

In discussion the following principal points were made:

·         Very few authorities can afford to implement the living wage foundation living wage (nlwflw).

·         By reducing the highest wages paid by the authority the nlwflw could be paid.

·         The council need to pay the market rate to attract the best staff

·         The proposals were fully discussed at employment panel meetings.

RESOLVED:

That   

a)         the pay policy statement summarising existing council policies (at appendix A be approved;

(b)       authority be delegated to the monitoring officer, following consultation with the chief executive, to make in year technical updates to the statement to reflect changes to post holder details or approved changes to local or national pay policy; and

(c)        no further action be taken in response to Council’s resolution to consider how to introduce the Living Wage Foundation living wage, following the introduction of the statutory national living wage effective April 2016.

To approve the ordinary meetings of Council for 2016/17

 (note; meetings  on 4 March 2016  and 20 May 2016 –previously agreed)

15 July 2016

30 September 2016

16 December 2016

3 February 2017

3 March 2017

19 May 2017

All meetings will start at 10:00am except for the annual meetings in May which will start at 10:30am

RESOLVED: That the dates for ordinary meeting of Council for 2016/17 be

approved:

(note; meetings on 4 March 2016 and 20 May 2016 –previously agreed)

15 July 2016

30 September 2016

16 December 2016

3 February 2017

3 March 2017

19 May 2017

All meetings will start at 10:00am except for the annual meetings in May

which will start at 10:30am

The meeting ended at 1.15 pm</AI9>

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