Agenda item

A report of the Head of Finance to advise the Loughborough Area Committee of the draft Loughborough Special Expenses budget for 2021/22.

For information, further meetings of the group are scheduled as follows:

16th June 2021

15th December 2021

Councillor Smidowicz left the meeting at 6:25pm.

Councillor K Harris joined the meeting at 6:39pm.

A report of the Head of Finance to advise the Loughborough Area Committee on the draft Loughborough Special Expense Budget for 2021/22, was submitted (item 7 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Strategic Director for Environmental and Corporate Services, the Head of Finance, the Head of Cleansing and Open Spaces, the Head of Leisure and Culture, the Head of Neighbourhood Services and the Head of Strategic Support attended the meeting to provide assistance in consideration of this item and gave the following responses to questions raised:

i)             The loss of income due to cancellation of the Loughborough Fair in Autumn 2020 had been balanced off from the Council’s Covid Emergency Fund to avoid any impacts on the Rate or balances in the next financial year.

ii)            The quantity of CCTV charged to Loughborough Special Rate had remained unchanged, but this had increased as a proportion of costs due to less cameras being monitored overall. The costs charged to Loughborough had then increased due to annual increases in service charges.

iii)           A breakdown was provided for the Festive Decorations and Illuminations costs. It was explained that the proposed £7400 increase in funding for this area for 2021/22 was mainly due to more time being spent in this area by the Head of Leisure & Culture and the Markets and Fairs team in delivery within Government Covid-19 secure guidelines, whilst maintaining the present level of service.

iv)           The savings in the budget for Community Grants were taken from the Loughborough Grants budget following a service review. Ahead of the Community Development & Engagement and Loughborough Grants being amalgamated into a new scheme.

v)            The proposed increases in Support Service Recharges were due to increases in salary costs for all staff earning under £24,000 per annum, and the identified increases in time spent in individual areas was as a result of detailed service reviews undertaken by Heads of Service. It was agreed details of these reviews would be circulated to Members outside of the meeting.

vi)           Overall income gained from public toilets had continued to fall as consumer use moved towards toilets provided by retailers, leading to the decision to close Biggin Street toilets to allow funds and staff time to be allocated for maintenance of marketplace toilets in 2021/22. It was also explained that the relevant officer had advised an Equalities Impact Assessment was not required for this decision*.

vii)          Following queries on provision of bus shelters, it was explained that although the Council had an obligation to maintain several current shelters there was not capital funding presently available for provision of additional shelters. It was also clarified that there would be additional cleaning and maintenance costs arising from any new bus shelters and it would be unlikely for any advertising revenue to be sufficient to address this.

viii)        Covid-19, rather than a potential no-deal Brexit was the primary reason for anticipated reduced trader confidence and footfall in the town centre for 2021/22.

ix)           Exact clarification on the Council Tax Base and adjustments from previous years could not be provided until the base was calculated in January 2021 and any subsequent adjustments taken into account in the final approval of the budget. However, the 1.99% increase in the Loughborough Special Rate was confirmed as a definite proposal. It was agreed that clarification on these and the total District/Capital Charges for 2021/22 would be provided outside of the meeting.

x)            It was confirmed that the proposed new centre at Thorpe Acre was one of the Community Hubs in the draft budget and had been allocated £6500 for 2021/22 as in previous years. 

xi)           It was also advised that any additional expenditure for the Loughborough Special Expenses Budget would directly lead to an increase in the budget deficit and thus additional use of reserves.

*Since the meeting, the Head of Leisure and Culture had advised that the intention was to complete Equality Impact Assessments for various aspects prior to the meeting of the Cabinet on 11th February 2021, where the final budget would be presented.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Loughborough Area Committee note the draft Loughborough Special Expense budget for 2021/22 set out in Appendix 1 to this report.

2.    That Cabinet be recommended to remove £6500 of Community Hub funding for Thorpe Acre Community Centre, and £7000 of the planned increase in the budget for Festive Decorations and Illuminations from the draft budget, whilst also taking looking into any underspends in the funds allocated to Parks and Sports Grounds and;

3.    That these funds instead be utilised to keep the Biggin Street Toilets open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays

4.    That Cabinet be recommended to ask officers to investigate and report to the Loughborough Area Committee on future options for the financing of additional bus shelters within the Loughborough Special Expense Area.

5.    That the Loughborough Area Committee wishes that as part of the next Constitutional Review, its authority to commission officers to produce reports for consideration at its future meetings be re-instated. 

Reasons

1.     To enable the views of the Committee to be sought on the draft Loughborough Special Expenses for 2021/22 in accordance with its terms of reference, prior to the final Cabinet report on the 11th February 2021and Council on the 22nd February 2021.

2&3. To facilitate the retention of Biggin Street toilets without significantly drawing on reserves. 

4.    To enable the Loughborough Area Committee to better understand the costings around provision of bus shelters in the Loughborough Special Expenses Area. 

5.    To allow the Loughborough Area Committee to commission officers to produce reports in order to make future recommendations to Cabinet.