Agenda item

A report of the Head of Finance and Property Services to consider the proposed General Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Revenue Budgets for 2020/21, incorporating the proposed Council Tax levy, and the 2020/21 proposals to increase rent and service charges within the ring fenced Housing Revenue Account, for recommendation to Council.

Key Decison

Considered, a report of the Head of Finance and Property Services to consider the proposed General Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Revenue Budgets for 2020/21, incorporating the proposed Council Tax levy, and the 2020/21 proposals to increase rent and service charges within the ring fenced Housing Revenue Account, for recommendation to Council (item 7 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Head of Finance and Property Services assisted with consideration of the report.

RESOLVED thatCouncilberecommended:

1.         to approve the OriginalGeneralFund Revenue Budget for 2020/21at £17,771,035 as set out in Appendix 1 to the report of the Head of Finance and Property Services;

2.         toseta baseCouncilTaxat£126.52atBandD, anincreaseof£4.43on the 2019/20 rate, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report of the Head of Finance and Property Services;

3.         tosettheLoughboroughSpecialLevyat£76.46, a 1.99% increase on 2019/20 rate, as set out in Appendix 3 to the report of the Head of Finance and Property Services;

4.         toapprove thefollowingitemtotheLoughboroughSpecialLevy:

ongoing annual funding of £5K for the Remembrance Day Parade for essential health and safety event management costs;

5.         toapprovetheOriginal HRA Budgetfor 2020/21 assetoutin Appendix5 to the report of the Head of Finance and Property Services;

6.         to amend theHRA weekly rents in line with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) guidance;

7.         to amend the non-HRA dwelling properties in line with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) guidance;

8.      to approve the HRA service charges in accordancewith the MHCLG Guidance;

9.      to approve that the shop rents retain their current rents in accordance with an assessment by the Valuation Office;

10     to approve that garage rents retain their current rents in accordance with an assessment by the Valuation Office;

11.    to approve thattheLeaseholdManagementandAdministrationcharge increases to £116.11perannum;

12.    that the Lifeline weekly charge is increased in line with MHCLG Guidance;

13.    to determinethatthe basic amountof CouncilTax for 2020/21isnot excessive accordingto theprinciples set out by the SecretaryofState;

14.    that delegation be given to the s151 Officer, in conjunction with the Lead Member for Finance and Property Services, to amend this report for Council in line with the final settlement and updated NNDR figures.

Reasons

1.         So thatthenecessaryfinanceis approvedtocarry outservicesin2020/21.

2.         So that theCouncil Tax canbe set in accordance with legal and statutoryrequirements.

3.         So thata LoughboroughSpecialLevycanbesetinaccordancewithlegal and statutoryrequirements.

4.         Toenableitemsto beaddedtotheLoughboroughSpecialRate: this being ongoing funding of £5K for the Remembrance Day Parade in order to comply with health and safety requirements in management of this event.

5.         ToensuresufficientfundingfortheHousingRevenueAccountin 2020/21.

6.         Tocomply with social housing rents guidance.

7.         To be consistent with the other council house stock.

8.         To ensure the correct alignment of costs and service charges for tenantsin accordancewithbestpractice.

9.         So that shop rents follow the assessment and guidance provided by the Valuation Office.

10.      Toincrease the rent generated for garages in line with the guidance from the Valuation Office.

11.      So that thereis sufficientrecovery of thecosts associatedwithoperating theleaseholdflatandshopservices.

12.      So that there is sufficient recovery of the costs associated with operating the Lifeline service.

13.      To comply withtherequirementsoftheLocal GovernmentFinanceAct 1992.

14.      To update the budget report in line with final settlement figures once these are received.