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Agenda and minutes

Budget, Council - Tuesday, 27th February, 2024 6.10 pm

Venue: Town Hall, Market Street, Tamworth. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services 01827 709264 

Media

Items
No. Item

77.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors R Kingstone, P Thompson, J Wadrup and L Clarke.

 

Apologies were also received from Councillor J Oates who was running late for the meeting and arrived at 19.37.

 

78.

To receive the Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 195 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 30th January 2024 were approved and signed as a correct record.

 

(Moved by Councillor L Wood and seconded by Councillor T Jay)

79.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of Members’ interests (pecuniary and non-pecuniary) in any matters which are to be considered at this meeting.

 

When Members are declaring a pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in respect of which they have dispensation, they should specify the nature of such interest.  Members should leave the room if they have a pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in respect of which they do not have a dispensation. 

Minutes:

There were no Declarations of Interest.

80.

To receive any announcements from the Mayor, Leader, Members of the Cabinet or the Chief Executive

Minutes:

The Mayor, Councillor J Harper made the following announcement:

 

The Mayor's ball is forthcoming on March the 8th, we are looking forward to a really lovely night being held at the assembly rooms and we got a lot of civic dignitaries coming from surrounding councils throughout the county. Not too many councillors I am afraid day it has to be said which is a shame because it's a really terrific evening which aims to raise funds for the Mayors charity, but I am sure everyone has their own reasons for not attending but it would have been nice to see a better turnout.

 

The Leader of the Council, Councillor T Jay made the following announcement:

 

Councillor Thompson will be taking a short step back from his portfolio and Councillor Cooper will be picking up the slack just in the short interim, thank you.

 

The Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor S Smith, made the following announcement:

 

I just want to update you all on a recent achievement by the opening of the Home Hub which we successfully accomplished just a few weeks ago. This significant milestone would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of Lee Bates and other individuals associated with Community Together CIC, his clear vision and strong partnership with Tamworth Borough Council has been instrumental in making this initiative a reality. The Home Hub aims to go further to reach vulnerable people by working closely with the Council and community partners, a great example being the Heart of Tamworth partnerships, supporting rough sleeping arrangements for vulnerable people. This year was the first time we submitted a zero count to the government for rough sleeping. Home Hub offers support in various areas of life, such as, skills development, financial, debt advice, rent or mortgage arrears, addiction and recovery, family support, alcohol and substance misuse, mental health support and lots, lots more. All of this, you can get help from the Home Hub. If anyone needs support, please visit the Home Hub at the Community Together CIC website or contact directly on 08081754041. I just want to say thank you again to Lee Bates and all partners and the housing teams at Tamworth Borough Council in working together to help make this happen.

 

Secondly, I would like to inform you about recent developments regarding the planning application for the site near Moor Lane, Bolehall. Whilst Tamworth Borough Council requested the submission of this application, unfortunately the information provided to support it has been insufficient. As a result, the proposal lacks the necessary details for a full and detailed consideration, including elements that align with validation requirements and policies. In light of this, Tamworth Borough Council have made the decision to draft an enforcement notice, this notice will stipulate the following required actions from the developer; removal of the access track, the existing access track must be taken down; grass seeding, required the area to be re seeded with grass and waste removal, all  material on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

81.

Question Time: pdf icon PDF 11 KB

(i)                 To answer questions from members of the public pursuant to Procedure Rule No. 10.

 

(ii)               To answer questions from members of the Council pursuant to Procedure Rule No. 11

 

Minutes:

 

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC NO. 1

 

Under Procedure Rule No 10, Simon Tracey, of Tamworth will ask the Portfolio Holder Housing and Planning, Councillor Samuel Smith, the following question:-

 

The question was read out by the Mayor in Mr Tracey’s absence:

 

Why do Tamworth Borough Council NOT enforce their Zero tolerance policy on the misuse of drugs by council tenants? We have had (and still are) having an issue with a resident who smokes drugs on a daily basis . We have been in our sheltered accommodation since October 2022 and these issues with this resident were being reported to the council even before we moved in.

 

Councillor S Smith gave the following answer:

 

The Council is aware of an allegation and are in touch with the complainants at one of our sheltered housing schemes.  As you may know, Tamworth Council prides itself on services to our council housing sheltered housing residents Every Sheltered scheme as both an on-site scheme manager who supports residents along with provision of a 24hr community lifeline service – where residents can activate the service if they have emergency concerns.  In this particular instance the Scheme Manager and Housing Manager will be visiting to reiterate that where evidence exists of ASB we will take swift and decisive enforcement action.

 

The Council does have a zero-tolerance approach to Anti-Social Behaviour and our new Neighbourhood Impact Service will be dropping in to all schemes to explain the nature of the service and where we can support residents in using our range of prevention, enforcement, and witness support tools.  This will be scheduled over the coming months – please speak to your scheme manager for more details.

 

In the meantime, any resident experiencing any kind of anti-social behaviour has a number of options.  If they believe they are at risk and a crime is in progress, then they should ring 999.  If they believe it is less urgent but still requires a police response, then they should report it to 101.  If it is to progress any other type of ASB complaint, then residents can contact the Neighbourhood Impact Service on 01827 709709 – details are on the Councils website.

 

 

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO. 1

 

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor L Smith will ask the Portfolio Holder for Waste, Recycling and Environment, Councillor A Cooper, the following question:-

 

I was contacted by residents regarding damage to the access gate onto the field at Selker Drive. The original damage took place at the start of this year and a few days ago the gate was completely cut down. I have emailed the council several times, not demanding for the gate to be fixed but simply asking for an update on the timeline so I can inform residents who have asked me about the issue. During this time, I have been told that it has been escalated to the street scene management team twice and I am yet to hear a response. So, my  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81.

82.

Corporate Vision, Priorities Plan, Budget & Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024/25 pdf icon PDF 960 KB

(Report of the Leader of the Council, Finance and Governance)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report of the Leader of the Council, Finance and Governance approved the recommended package of budget proposals (attached at Appendix 2) to enable the Council to agree the:

 

• General Fund (GF) Revenue Budget and Council Tax for 2024/25;

• Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget for 2024/25;

• 5 Year General Fund Capital Programme (2024/29);

• 5 Year HRA Capital Programme (2024/29);

• 3 Year General Fund Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) (2024/27); and • 5 Year HRA Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) (2024/29).

 

 

To comply with the requirement of the Council’s Treasury Management Policy in reporting to Council the proposed strategy for the forthcoming year and the Local Government Act 2003 with the reporting of the Prudential Indicators (attached at Appendix 3) and the requirement to prepare an annual Corporate Capital Strategy (Appendix A of the MTFS).

 

Resolved

that Council approved

 

 

1.

the proposed revisions to Service Revenue Budgets (Policy Changes) (Appendix E of the MTFS);

 

 

2.

the sum of £27,070 be applied from Council Tax Collection Fund surpluses in reducing the Council Tax demand in 2024/25 (Table 16, Section 7.8 of the MTFS);

 

 

3.

the sum of £1,151,630 be applied to Business Rates Collection Fund deficits in 2024/25 (Table 16, Section 7.8 of the MTFS);

 

 

4.

 that on 14 December 2023, the Cabinet calculated the Council Tax Base 2024/25 for the whole Council area as 23,479 [Item T in the formula in Section 31B(3) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the "Act")];

 

 

5.

that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2023/24 is £4,759,193 (Appendix F and Appendix H of the MTFS);

 

 

6.

the following amounts as calculated for the year 2024/25 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Act:

 

a. £4,759,193 being the amount calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act as its Council Tax requirement for the year (Item R in the formula in Section 31A(4) of the Act);

 

b. £202.70 being the amount at 6 (a) above (Item R), all divided by Item T (at 4 above), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B(1) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year;

 

 

7.

the Council Tax level for the Borough Council for 2024/25 of £202.70 (an increase of £5.81 (2.95%) on the 2023/24 level of £196.89) at Band D;

 

 

8.

an aggregate Council Tax (comprising the respective demands of the Borough Council, Staffordshire County Council, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Authority) of £2,107.68 at Band D for 2024/25 be noted (£2,012.94 in 2023/24) (Appendix H of the MTFS);

 

 

9.

the Council Tax levels at each band for 2024/25 (Appendix H of the MTFS);

 

 

10.

the sum of £1,134,859 be transferred from General Fund Revenue Balances in 2024/25 (Appendix F of the MTFS);

 

 

11.

the Summary General Fund Revenue Budget for 2024/25 (Appendix F of the MTFS);

 

 

12.

the Provisional General Fund Budgets for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

83.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

To consider excluding the Press and Public from the meeting by passing the following resolution:-

 

“That in accordance with the provisions of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meeting and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, and Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public  interest in disclosing the information to the public”

 

At the time this agenda is published no representations have been received that this part of the meeting should be open to the public.

 

Minutes:

To consider excluding the Press and Public from the meeting by passing the following resolution:-

 

“That in accordance with the provisions of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meeting and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, and Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public  interest in disclosing the information to the public”

 

 

At the time this agenda is published no representations have been received that this part of the meeting should be open to the public.

 

 

(Moved by Councillor B Price and seconded by Councillor C Clements)

84.

Future High Streets Fund

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Strategic Projects)

Minutes:

Councillor J Oates arrived at 7:37pm

 

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Strategic Projects.

 

Resolved

that Council

 

 

1.

Approved the six recommendations in the report.

 

 

 

(Moved by Councillor T Jay and seconded by Councillor D Cook)