2
There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance & Resources relative to the Revenue Budget and Council Tax for 2018/19, together with appendices detailing revenue estimates for 2018/19; estimates of expenditure and income for the year ended 31 March 2019; and the General Fund probable outturn for 2017/18.
The report provided members with an overview of the Council’s projected financial position on the General Fund revenue budget and detailed the information required for the Council to set its budget and Council Tax for 2018/19. The report also recommended that Members considered the medium and longer-term financial context for the Council and the ongoing financial pressures and challenges facing the public sector more generally, as detailed within the report.
The report intimated that the Scottish Government had not provided any material details of spending plans beyond 2018/19 but had published some high-level figures at an overall budget level for 2019/20. As previously intimated, at the meeting of the Leadership Board held on 12 December 2017, the Scottish Government had re-affirmed their policy priorities over the course of the current parliamentary period in relation to growing in real terms spending in the NHS, protecting Police spending in real terms and the commitment to almost double the level of free early years nursery hours.
The Scottish Government had allocated £299.581 million grant funding to Renfrewshire Council for 2018/19 subject to compliance with a number of associated conditions. This included the continuation of the Council Tax cap, which contained the maximum increase that could be applied locally by an individual council as part of the 2018/19 budget to 3% maintaining, at a national level, the overall pupil teacher ratio of 13.7 and providing places for all probationers who required one; and the continued prioritisation of financial support for social care including the use of funding provided through the health budget to support Adult Social Care services provided through Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership. The Scottish Government had indicated that should the conditions not be met, the funding allocation would be reduced, however the scale of any reduction had not been confirmed.
Councillor Shaw tabled a motion on behalf of the Administration.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting then adjourned at 2.07pm to allow members to consider the motion. The meeting reconvened at 2.23pm.
Councillor Shaw, seconded by Councillor Nicolson, moved:
"1. That this Administration’s first budget will deliver on its commitments set out in its manifesto to the citizens of Renfrewshire to invest in inclusive economic growth, the environment, local communities and support the most vulnerable in Renfrewshire.
2. That as recommended by the Director, these budget proposals take a holistic view of resources available and include the use of the £7.500 million of available capital resources outlined in Agenda item 3.
3. Further and in line with the recommendations of the Director, that unallocated General Fund balances are budgeted to be maintained at £7.000 million moving into 2018/19 and that on the closure of the 2017/18 accounts, any unallocated balances in excess of this amount be transferred to the Investment Programme Capital Fund to provide additional capacity in future years to the ongoing debt smoothing strategy.
4. Commit £2.500 million of revenue resources to sustain for the next 5 years, investment by this Administration in enhanced environmental cleaning across Renfrewshire. This will double to £0.500 million per annum the uplift in environmental cleaning already made by this administration in 2017/18 and which will be subject to a report each year to the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board to agree the annual deployment of these additional resources to key priority areas across Renfrewshire.
5. Commit £1.870 million of resources (£1.000 million of capital resources and £0.870 million of revenue resources) to support a £1.500 million programme of investment in green spaces and playparks and a further £0.370 million of revenue resources to support the establishment of a villages investment fund. The full deployment of these resources will be the subject of a detailed report back to a future Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board but at this stage £0.110 million of the green space and playpark funding is committed in consultation with the community to the re-provision of a Multi-Use Games Area or alternative facility in the Bargarran area of Erskine. The full programme of deployment of the resources will examine opportunities to support community-led projects where Council resources can be deployed as match funding in support of applications for other sources of grant and income, providing the potential to grow the overall level of deliverable investment.
6. Commit £1.500 million (£0.5 million in revenue resources and £1.000 million in capital resources) to establish a Community Empowerment Fund that will be used to support community asset transfers by providing up-front investment in the condition of assets prior to transfer. The deployment of the fund to specific asset transfers will be subject to consideration as part of individual projects progressing through the asset transfer approval arrangements.
7. Deliver the following strategic investments that will support this Administration’s commitment towards inclusive economic growth across Renfrewshire:
£4.5 million of revenue resources invested in a new 5 year Employability Programme for Renfrewshire. This new programme will take account of the developing changes in Renfrewshire’s economy, ensuring citizens across Renfrewshire are prepared and supported to fully participate and benefit from the economic growth and job opportunities that this Administration will deliver through:
- the £275 million of City Deal investment projects across Renfrewshire,
- the initial £65 million investment to deliver a National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland in Renfrewshire,
- the capital and revenue investment, exceeding £100 million that will be invested in Cultural and Heritage led regeneration across Paisley and Renfrewshire,
- the growth in new jobs that will emerge across the care sector including those linked to the planned increase in the Early Learning and Childcare workforce.
The programme will also allow available European Funding of at least £2.4 million, to be drawn down through to 2022, lifting the overall programme investment to £6.9 million. A report will be brought to the next appropriate Leadership Policy Board outlining full details of the new programme.
£4.000 million of capital resources to boost investment in the roads infrastructure across Renfrewshire. This additional investment will be focused on those key routes that keep the Renfrewshire economy moving and lifts planned capital investment in 2018/19 to £7.239, the biggest ever single year investment in the roads, cycling and pathway infrastructure across Renfrewshire and is in addition to the strategic transport infrastructure investment that will be delivered as part of the City Deal projects across Renfrewshire.
A £2.000 million commitment of resources (being £1.500 million of capital resources and £0.500 million of revenue resources) to support further investment in digital infrastructure. These resources will provide match funding for a bid to a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Full Fibre Network Fund, which will seek to secure a further £5 million - £7 million for Renfrewshire, providing total investment potential of between £7 million - £9 million. This will deliver a step change for Renfrewshire, connecting schools and public buildings to a leading-edge fibre network and growing access to businesses and homes, ensuring Renfrewshire is at the forefront of being an attractive, modern and inclusive area for learning, living and investing. This investment will be in addition to investment that will accrue to Renfrewshire from the Scottish Government’s recently announced £600 million digital infrastructure investment across Scotland.
8. Invest an additional £4.500 million of revenue resources to support a new 5 year tackling poverty programme through to the end of 2022/23. These resources, along with £0.5 million of existing resources that are anticipated to remain at the end of 2017/18, will provide a total of £5 million to support the new programme. This funding will be focused on delivering initiatives from the existing programme that are evaluated as having the greatest impact across Renfrewshire. A report will be presented to the next Leadership Board which will outline the full detail of the evaluation and the new 2018 – 2023 programme which will effectively integrate with mainline service arrangements. It can be confirmed at this stage that the new programme will include the continuation of:
• Families First Programme
• Cost of the School Day and Breakfast Clubs
• Skoobmobile
• School counselling and healthier & wealthier children projects
• Claimant Support and Advice Services, including energy advice
• Support for Streetstuff
• Digital inclusion
9. Commit £0.050 million of revenue resources to further alleviate poverty through the development and implementation of arrangements for the provision of an affordable Respectful Funeral Service for Renfrewshire to support families at the most difficult of times and to allow the scrapping of burial and registration fees linked to the loss of a child under 16. In addition, we will commit £1.000 million of revenue resources to deliver improvements in the Cemetery estate across Renfrewshire.
10. Commit £0.810 million of revenue resources to assist in managing the impact on Renfrewshire residents of a further phase of UK Government Welfare Reform changes, in particular the roll out of Universal Credit due to commence in September 2018 across Renfrewshire. This Fund will be flexibly utilised to allow responsive interventions to be quickly deployed over the short term by the Council in response to the developing needs of communities impacted by this ongoing programme of change.
11. Commit £0.200 million of revenue resources to support a programme to increase music participation, tuition and free instrument provision across Renfrewshire School pupils, which will also support lower income households. A full report on the delivery of this programme will be presented to a future meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board.
12. Commit £0.090 million to lift the school clothing grant allowance from £55 to £70.
13. Commit £0.050 million of revenue resources to provide funding to support sportingly gifted schoolchildren from lower income households across Renfrewshire’s schools participate in key sporting events. A full report on how this funding will be administered will be presented to a future meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board.
14. Commit £0.100 million of revenue resources to establish support for the provision of Sign Language and Braille training to parents and siblings of deaf and blind children across Renfrewshire.
15. Commit £0.040 million of revenue resources to support the Year of Young People across Renfrewshire.
16. Commit £0.030 million of revenue resources to deliver free concessionary swimming for parents accompanying a child under the age of 1 year old, providing targeted support to young families and those mothers and fathers on maternity and paternity leave.
17. Commit £0.010 million to support the work of Renfrewshire Fairtrade steering group and Fairtrade community.
18. To protect services to the most vulnerable in Renfrewshire, agree to recommendation 2.4 to make available £2.112 million of resources to support cost and demand pressures on Adult Social Care Services as outlined in the Director’s report and which will form part of the resources being made available under delegation to Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (RHSCP) on the 1st April 2018. Further that as part of this delegation process, agree to work in pro-active partnership with RHSCP and social care providers to secure the payment of the £8.75 living wage across all care staff providing services to the Council in addition to those directly employed by the Council. In addition, agree that the required draw is made in 2018/19 from the resources carried forward to support Adult Social Care as referred to in paragraph 1.10 of the Director’s report, to fund the Health and Social Care Partnership for the provision of Day Care services currently provided at West Lane Gardens in Johnstone and Whitehaugh in Paisley until the end of 2018/19, providing greater time to support families to meet the choices being made by clients as to their care requirements.
19. To agree the base budget assessment for all services for 2018/19 as recommended by the Director of Finance and Resources, and subject to agreement of item 18 above, agree a 2018/19 base budget of £371.649 million.
20. To agree to make provision of £6.730 million in 2018/19 for pay inflation and Living Wage across all staff groups and make no provision for general non-pay inflation, as recommended by the Director of Finance and Resources.
21. To agree to increase charges for services by 2.5% to generate additional income of £0.150 million, subject to the note at paragraph 26 below and to agree the proposals outlined at paragraph 5.3 of the report to move the current subsidised internal rate for self-funding placements within Council owned Care Homes closer to charges applied by external providers.
22. To agree the resource allocations for 2018/19 for all services, as amended by these proposals.
23. To agree the detailed Revenue Estimates for all services be amended to reflect these proposals and the necessary allocation of central support costs, central repairs costs, capital charges, specific grants and loan charges provision with Directors authorised to take any action necessary to implement these decisions.
24. Subject to agreement of the above, to agree that the council tax for 2018/19 be set at £1,199.63 for Band D subjects, representing a 3% increase on the 2017/18 level, and for all bandings to be set at:
Council Tax
Band 2018/19
A 799.75
B 933.05
C 1,066.34
D 1,199.63
E 1,576.18
F 1,949.40
G 2,349.28
H 2,939.09
25. Subject to agreement of the points above, agree that the Council’s budget is underpinned by appropriate decisions and makes appropriate provision to meet the specified commitments in the package of conditions linked to the Council’s grant settlement.
26. To agree to increase other charges for services by 2.5% (as detailed in paragraph 21 above) or where appropriate by the rate set in national regulations or guidance, or where charges are based on full cost recovery by the appropriate increase to maintain this position, subject to Directors being authorised
(a) to round the charge up or down to a figure deemed by them appropriate, and
(b) not to impose any increase, if having reviewed the implications of the increase, he or she determines it would be inappropriate to do so, having regard to any material factor applicable to the goods or services to which the charge relates.
To note the requirement of financial code 14a that Directors review the amounts their departments charge for goods or services and if they think any charge needs to be increase they will recommend this to the appropriate Board. The Council therefore agrees that when a Director carries out such a review and believes a charge for goods or services should be levied greater than the increase of 2.5% or the rate set in national guidance, he or she will be entitled to recommend the same to the appropriate Board for approval."
Councillor J MacLaren, seconded by Councillor McIntyre, moved as an amendment:
"1. That council tax for 2018/19 be frozen at the 2017/18 level of £1,164.69 for Band D subjects, and for all bandings to be set at:
Council Tax
Band 2018/19
A 776.46
B 905.87
C 1,035.28
D 1,164.69
E 1,530.27
F 1,892.62
G 2,280.85
H 2,853.49
2. That the following additional spend commitments are made for 2018/19:
a. Commit £0.300 million of revenue resource to support bringing non-adopted roads up to adoptable standards, allowing them to be adopted and brought into the council estate. Further that the Director of Environment and Communities be instructed to bring forward a report to the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board outlining detailed operational proposals for the administration of the scheme in 2018/19, which will include the underlying principles that funds will be offered where a majority of owners are in agreement and should be offered on a match funding basis of up to a maximum of 50% of the costs, with the remaining funds coming from the owners.
b. Commit £0.100 million of revenue resources in 2018/19 to provide a fund to support communal repairs in private housing stock where repair work has stalled owing to a lack of agreement from each owner to pay for repairs. Further, that the Director of Development & Housing Services be instructed to develop a report for the Communities, Housing and Planning Board consideration with regards to the implementation of this proposal within the 2018/19 financial year.
3. That the adjustments outlined in the table below be made to the relevant investment proposals detailed in the Administration motion.
Motion Motion
Motion Investment Investment
Paragraph £m £m
7 Employability Programme 4.500 3.488
4 Environmental Improvements 2.500 2.000
3 Unallocated Reserves 7.000 6.000"
On the roll being called, the following members voted for the amendment: Councillors Begg, Binks, Graham, Kerr, Mackay, J MacLaren, McIntyre and Strang.
The following members voted for the motion: Councillors Adam-McGregor, Burns, J Cameron, Provost L Cameron, and Councillors Campbell, Andy Doig, Audrey Doig, Don, Hughes, K MacLaren, M MacLaren, McCartin, McEwan, McGurk, McNaughtan, Mylet, Nicolson, Paterson, Rodden, Shaw and Steel.
The following members abstained: Councillors Bibby, Brown, Davidson, Devine, Dowling, Harte, Hood, Kennedy, McCulloch, Montgomery, Sharkey and Sheridan.
8 members having voted for the amendment, 12 members having abstained and 21 members having voted for the motion, the motion was accordingly declared carried.
DECIDED:
(a) That this Administration’s first budget would deliver on its commitments set out in its manifesto to the citizens of Renfrewshire to invest in inclusive economic growth, the environment, local communities and support the most vulnerable in Renfrewshire;
(b) That as recommended by the Director, these budget proposals take a holistic view of resources available and include the use of the £7.5 million of available capital resources outlined in Agenda item 3;
(c) That further and in line with the recommendations of the Director, unallocated General Fund balances were budgeted to be maintained at £7 million moving into 2018/19 and that on the closure of the 2017/18 accounts, any unallocated balances in excess of this amount be transferred to the Investment Programme Capital Fund to provide additional capacity in future years to the ongoing debt smoothing strategy;
(d) That £2.5 million of revenue resources be committed to sustain for the next 5 years, investment by this Administration in enhanced environmental cleaning across Renfrewshire. This would double to £0.5 million per annum the uplift in environmental cleaning already made by this administration in 2017/18 and would be subject to a report each year to the Infrastructure, Land & Environment Policy Board to agree the annual deployment of these additional resources to key priority areas across Renfrewshire;
(e) That £1.870 million of resources (£1.000 million of capital resources and £0.870 million of revenue resources) be committed to support a £1.5 million programme of investment in green spaces and playparks and a further £0.370 million of revenue resources to support the establishment of a villages investment fund. The full deployment of these resources would be the subject of a detailed report to a future meeting of the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board but at this stage £0.110 million of the green space and playpark funding was committed in consultation with the community to the re-provision of a Multi-Use Games Area or alternative facility in the Bargarran area of Erskine. The full programme of deployment of the resources would examine opportunities to support community-led projects where Council resources could be deployed as match funding in support of applications for other sources of grant and income, providing the potential to grow the overall level of deliverable investment;
(f) That £1.5 million (£0.5 million in revenue resources and £1 million in capital resources) be committed to establish a Community Empowerment Fund that would be used to support community asset transfers by providing up-front investment in the condition of assets prior to transfer. The deployment of the fund to specific asset transfers would be subject to consideration as part of individual projects progressing through the asset transfer approval arrangements;
(g) That the following strategic investments be delivered that would support this Administration’s commitment towards inclusive economic growth across Renfrewshire:
£4.5 million of revenue resources invested in a new 5 year Employability Programme for Renfrewshire. This new programme would take account of the developing changes in Renfrewshire’s economy, ensuring citizens across Renfrewshire were prepared and supported to fully participate and benefit from the economic growth and job opportunities that this Administration would deliver through:
- the £275 million of City Deal investment projects across Renfrewshire,
- the initial £65 million investment to deliver a National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland in Renfrewshire,
- the capital and revenue investment, exceeding £100 million that would be invested in cultural and heritage-led regeneration across Paisley and Renfrewshire,
- the growth in new jobs that would emerge across the care sector including those linked to the planned increase in the Early Learning and Childcare workforce.
The programme would also allow available European Funding of at least £2.4 million, to be drawn down through to 2022, lifting the overall programme investment to £6.9 million. A report would be brought to the next appropriate Leadership Policy Board outlining full details of the new programme.
£4 million of capital resources to boost investment in the roads infrastructure across Renfrewshire. This additional investment would be focused on those key routes that keep the Renfrewshire economy moving and lifts planned capital investment in 2018/19 to £7.239, the biggest ever single year investment in the roads, cycling and pathway infrastructure across Renfrewshire and was in addition to the strategic transport infrastructure investment that would be delivered as part of the City Deal projects across Renfrewshire;
A £2 million commitment of resources (being £1.5 million of capital resources and £0.5 million of revenue resources) to support further investment in digital infrastructure. These resources would provide match-funding for a bid to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Full Fibre Network Fund, which would seek to secure a further £5 million - £7 million for Renfrewshire, providing total investment potential of between £7 million - £9 million. This would deliver a step change for Renfrewshire, connecting schools and public buildings to a leading-edge fibre network and growing access to businesses and homes, ensuring Renfrewshire was at the forefront of being an attractive, modern and inclusive area for learning, living and investing.
This investment would be in addition to investment that would accrue to Renfrewshire from the Scottish Government’s recently announced £600 million digital infrastructure investment across Scotland;
(h) That an additional £4.5 million of revenue resources be invested to support a new five-year tackling poverty programme through to the end of 2022/23. These resources, along with £0.5 million of existing resources that were anticipated to remain at the end of 2017/18, would provide a total of £5 million to support the new programme. This funding would be focused on delivering initiatives from the existing programme that were evaluated as having the greatest impact across Renfrewshire. A report would be submitted to the next meeting of the Leadership Board which would outline the full detail of the evaluation and the new 2018 – 2023 programme which would effectively integrate with mainline service arrangements. It could be confirmed at this stage that the new programme would include the continuation of:
• Families First Programme
• Cost of the School Day and Breakfast Clubs
• Skoobmobile
• School counselling and healthier & wealthier children projects
• Claimant Support and Advice Services, including energy advice
• Support for Streetstuff and
• Digital inclusion;
(i) That £0.050 million of revenue resources be committed to further alleviate poverty through the development and implementation of arrangements for the provision of an affordable respectful funeral service for Renfrewshire to support families at the most difficult of times and to allow the scrapping of burial and registration fees linked to the loss of a child under 16. In addition, £1 million of revenue resources would be committed to deliver improvements in the Cemetery estate across Renfrewshire.
(j) That £0.810 million of revenue resources be committed to assist in managing the impact on Renfrewshire residents of a further phase of UK Government welfare reform changes, in particular the roll out of Universal Credit due to commence in September 2018 across Renfrewshire. This Fund would be flexibly utilised to allow responsive interventions to be quickly deployed over the short term by the Council in response to the developing needs of communities impacted by this ongoing programme of change;
(k) That £0.200 million of revenue resources be committed to support a programme to increase music participation, tuition and free instrument provision across Renfrewshire School pupils, which would also support lower income households. A full report on the delivery of this programme would be submitted to a future meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board;
(l) That £0.090 million be committed to lift the school clothing grant allowance from £55 to £70;
(m) That £0.050 million of revenue resources be committed to provide funding to support sportingly gifted schoolchildren from lower income households across Renfrewshire’s schools participate in key sporting events. A full report on how this funding would be administered would be submitted to a future meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board;
(n) That £0.100 million of revenue resources be committed to establish support for the provision of sign language and braille training to parents and siblings of deaf and blind children across Renfrewshire;
(o) That £0.040 million of revenue resources be committed to support the Year of Young People across Renfrewshire;
(p) That £0.030 million of revenue resources be committed to deliver free concessionary swimming for parents accompanying a child under the age of 1 year old, providing targeted support to young families and those mothers and fathers on maternity and paternity leave;
(q) That £0.010 million be committed to support the work of Renfrewshire Fairtrade steering group and Fairtrade community;
(r) That to protect services to the most vulnerable in Renfrewshire, recommendation 2.4 of the report, to make available £2.112 million of resources to support cost and demand pressures on Adult Social Care Services as outlined in the Director’s report and which would form part of the resources being made available under delegation to Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (RHSCP) on 1 April 2018 be agreed. Further that as part of this delegation process, it be agreed to work in pro-active partnership with RHSCP and social care providers to secure the payment of the £8.75 living wage across all care staff providing services to the Council in addition to those directly employed by the Council. In addition, it be agreed that the required draw was made in 2018/19 from the resources carried forward to support Adult Social Care as referred to in paragraph 1.10 of the Director’s report, to fund the Health and Social Care Partnership for the provision of day care services currently provided at West Lane Gardens in Johnstone and Whitehaugh in Paisley until the end of 2018/19, providing greater time to support families to meet the choices being made by clients as to their care requirements;
(s) That the base budget assessment for all services for 2018/19 as recommended by the Director of Finance & Resources, be agreed and that a 2018/19 base budget of £371.649 million be agreed;
(t) That it be agreed to make provision of £6.730 million in 2018/19 for pay inflation and Living Wage across all staff groups and to make no provision for general non-pay inflation, as recommended by the Director of Finance & Resources;
(u) That it be agreed to increase charges for services by 2.5% to generate additional income of £0.150 million, subject to the note below paragraph (z) and that the proposals outlined at paragraph 5.3 of the report to move the current subsidised internal rate for self-funding placements within Council-owned care homes closer to charges applied by external providers be agreed;
(v) That the resource allocations for 2018/19 for all services, as amended by these proposals be agreed;
(w) That the detailed Revenue Estimates for all services be amended to reflect these proposals and the necessary allocation of central support costs, central repairs costs, capital charges, specific grants and loan charges provision with Directors authorised to take any action necessary to implement these decisions;
(x) That the Council Tax for 2018/19 be set at £1,199.63 for Band D subjects, representing a 3% increase on the 2017/18 level, and for all bandings to be set at:
Band Council Tax 2018/19
A 799.75
B 933.05
C 1,066.34
D 1,199.63
E 1,576.18
F 1,949.40
G 2,349.28
H 2,939.09
(y) That it be agreed that the Council’s budget was underpinned by appropriate decisions and that appropriate provision be made to meet the specified commitments in the package of conditions linked to the Council’s grant settlement;
(z) That it be agreed to increase other charges for services by 2.5% (as detailed in paragraph u above) or where appropriate by the rate set in national regulations or guidance, or where charges were based on full cost recovery by the appropriate increase to maintain this position, subject to Directors being authorised;
(i) to round the charge up or down to a figure deemed by them appropriate, and
(ii) not to impose any increase, if having reviewed the implications of the increase, he or she determined it would be inappropriate to do so, having regard to any material factor applicable to the goods or services to which the charge relates; and
That the requirement of financial code 14a that Directors review the amounts their departments charged for goods or services be noted and if they thought any charge needed to be increased they would recommend this to the appropriate Board; and that when a Director carried out such a review and believed a charge for goods or services should be levied greater than the increase of 2.5% or the rate set in national guidance it be agreed, he or she would be entitled to recommend the same to the appropriate Board for approval.