Agenda item

A report of the Head of Finance to advise the Loughborough Area Committee of the draft Loughborough Special Expenses budget for 2024/25.

A report of the Head of Finance to advise the Loughborough Area Committee on the draft Loughborough Special Expenses Budget 2024/25, was submitted (item 5 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

Post meeting note: The Acting Head of Finance highlighted an error in the report under the ‘Policy Justification and Previous Decisions’ section. The consultation period was from 15th December 2023 to 16th January 2024, not 15th December 2023 to 16th January 2023, as stated in the report.

The Acting Head of Finance and the Head of Contracts (Leisure, Waste and Environment) assisted with the consideration of this item. The following summarised the discussion:

       i.          The increased spend in CCTV was praised.

      ii.          Officers in attendance were unsure of the reason for the increased budget for the Loughborough Fair for 2024/25. The Acting Head of Finance agreed to liaise with the relevant Head of Service and provide a response following the meeting.

Post meeting note: There was a net reduction in cost between years of £4,800. This was due to a reduction in recharges from the Head of Economic Development and Regeneration. This was a consequence of a Senior Leadership review within Charnwood Borough Council, in which the above post had been funded for the next 3 years to the benefit of the Loughborough Special Expense Rate.

    iii.          The increase in costs towards the Shelthorpe Golf Course was a result of the extended contract period with contractors Ideverde, The 2024/25 financial year was the first year within the new contract period and a renegotiation had taken place. The maintenance costs of Shelthorpe Golf Course had increased and the income had decreased. The target income for the Shelthorpe Golf Course had been reduced as income had decreased.

    iv.          The council would work with Ideverde to try to increase the usage of the Shelthorpe Golf Course. There had been a number of methods trialled previously. A standardised payment was made to the council by Ideverde each year and this was not based on the usage of Shelthorpe Golf Course.

     v.          The management of open spaces would not be cheaper if moved in house. An 8% saving was made when the council decided to use a contractor to provide this service. The inflationary costs associated with open spaces contracts could be seen across local authorities, and the main cost pressures were employee costs and fuel prices.

    vi.          Officers in attendance were unsure about the small increase in funding towards the community hubs aspect of the budget. The increase was not in line with current inflation and there was concern that this would mean a reduction in services. The Acting Head of Finance agreed to liaise with the relevant Head of Service and provide a response following the meeting.

Post meeting note: The change was due to an increase of £1,000 Business rates/National Non-Domestic Rates. There had been a national revaluation following an updated valuation list which had resulted in the £1k increase in costs.

RESOLVED that the Loughborough Area Committee note the draft Loughborough Special Expenses budget for 2024/25 set out in Appendix 1 to this report.

Reason

To enable the views of the Committee to be sought on the draft Loughborough Special Expenses for 2024/25 in accordance with its terms of reference, prior to the final Cabinet budget report on the 8th February 2024 and Council 26th February 2024.