Agenda item

That the budget as attached be approved, whilst noting that the Thames Valley Police Authority and the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority are still to confirm their final council tax precept requirements and:

 

Council Tax Resolution – In relation to the Council Tax for 2018/19

 

(a)   That in pursuance of the powers conferred on the Council as the billing authority for its area by the Local Government Finance Acts (the Acts), the

Council Tax for the Slough area for the year ending 31 March 2019 is as specified below and that the Council Tax be levied accordingly.

 

(b)   That it be noted that at its meeting on 18 December 2017 Cabinet calculated the following Tax Base amounts for the financial year 2018/19 in accordance with Regulations made under sections 31B (3) and 34(4) of the Act:

 

(i)   41,723.4 being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax

Base) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations) as the Council Tax Base for the whole of the Slough area for the year 2018/19; and

 

(ii)   The sums below being the amounts of Council Tax Base for the Parishes within Slough for 2018/19:

 

a)   Parish of Britwell      849.3

 

b)   Parish of Colnbrook with Poyle   1,885.9

 

c)   Parish of Wexham   1,310.2 

 

(c)   That the following amounts be now calculated for the year 2018/19 in accordance with sections 31A to 36 of the Act:

 

(i)   £388,340,008 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in section 31A (2)(a) to (f) of the Act.

(Gross Expenditure);

 

(ii)   £332,544,974 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in section 31A (3) (a) to (d) of the Act.

(Gross Income);

 

(iii)   £55,795,034 being the amount by which the aggregate at paragraph c

(i) above exceeds the aggregate at paragraph c (ii) above calculated by the Council as its council tax requirement for the year as set out in section 31A(4) of the Act. (Council Tax Requirement);

 

(iv)   £1,337.26 being the amount at paragraph c(iii) above divided by the amount at paragraph b(i) 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, including the requirements for Parish precepts.

 

(v)   That for the year 2018/19 the Council determines in accordance with section 34 (1) of the Act, Total Special Items of £224,168 representing the total of Parish Precepts for that year.

 

(vi)   £1,331.89 being the amount at paragraph c (iv) above less the result given by dividing the amount at paragraph c (v) above by the relevant amounts at paragraph b (i) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 34 (2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its

Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no special item relates.

 

 

(vii)   Valuation Bands

 

 

Band	Slough Area	Parish of Britwell	Parish of Colnbrook with Poyle	Parish of Wexham Court
	£	£	£	£
A	887.93	44.06	32.93	24.48
B	1,035.91	51.41	38.42	28.56
C	1,183.90	58.75	43.91	32.64
D	1,331.89	66.10	49.40	36.72
E	1,627.87	80.79	60.38	44.89
F	1,923.84	95.47	71.36	53.05
G	2,219.82	110.16	82.33	61.21
H	2,663.78	132.19	98.80	73.45

 

Being the amounts given by multiplying the amounts at paragraph c (iv) and c (vi) above by the number which, in the proportion set out in section 5 (1) of the Act, is applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band divided by the number which in that proportion is applicable to dwellings listed in valuation band D, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 36 (1) of the Act, as the amount to be taken into account for the year in respect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuation bands.

 

(viii)  Calculate that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2018/19 (excluding Parish precepts) is £55,570,866.

 

(ix)  That it be noted that for the year 2018/19 the Thames Valley Police

Authority precept has been increased by 7.05%.  The following amounts are stated in accordance with section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

 

 

 

These precepts have not been formally proposed or agreed by the Thames Valley Police and may be revised when agreed.

 

 

(x)   That it be noted that for the year 2018/19 the Royal Berkshire Fire

Authority has been increased by 2.99% as the following amount in precept issued to the Council, in accordance with section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

 

 

 

These precepts have not been formally proposed or agreed by the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority and may be revised when agreed.

 

(xi)   Note that arising from these recommendations, and assuming the     major precepts are agreed, the overall Council Tax for Slough

Borough Council for 2018/19 including the precepting authorities will be as follows:

 

 

Band	Slough	Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Thames Valley	Royal Berkshire Fire Authority	TOTAL
	£	£	£	£
A	887.93	121.52	42.91	1,052.36
B	1,035.91	141.77	50.06	1,227.74
C	1,183.90	162.03	57.21	1,403.14
D	1,331.89	182.28	64.36	1,578.53
E	1,627.87	222.79	78.66	1,929.32
F	1,923.84	263.29	92.96	2,280.09
G	2,219.82	303.80	107.27	2,630.89
H	2,663.78	364.57	128.73	3,157.08

 

(xii)   That the Section 151 Officer be and is hereby authorised to give due notice of the said Council Tax in the manner provided by Section 38(2) of the 2012 Act.

 

(xiii)   That the Section 151 Officer be and is hereby authorised when necessary to apply for a summons against any Council Tax payer or non-domestic ratepayer on whom an account for the said tax or rate and arrears has been duly served and who has failed to pay the amounts due to take all subsequent necessary action to recover them promptly.

 

(xiv)   That the Section 151 Officer be authorised to collect (and disperse from the relevant accounts) the Council Tax and National Non-

Domestic Rate and that whenever the office of the Section 151 Officer is vacant or the holder thereof is for any reason unable to act, the

Chief Executive or such other authorised post-holder be authorised to act as before said in his or her stead.

 

 (xv)  That in the event that there are any changes to the provisional precept of the Fire Authority, arising from their precept setting meeting being held on 28 February, the Section 151 Officer is delegated authority to enact all relevant changes to the Revenue Budget 2018/19, Statutory Resolution and council tax levels.

 

Fees and Charges –

 

(e)   That the Council resolves to increase Fees and charges as outlined in Appendix E for 2018/19.

 

Use of Flexible Capital Receipts –

 

(f)  That the Council resolves to approve the proposed use of new capital receipts under the freedoms of the Flexible Capital Receipts regulations and that they are to be used to fund revenue spend as outlined in Appendix K.

 

Pay Policy –

 

(g)   The Slough Borough Council Pay Policy Statement update 2018/19 will be going to Employment and Appeals Committee on 25^th January 2018 and will be included in this report once agreed.

 

Business Rate Pilot –

 

(h)  That the Council agrees to participate in the 2018/19 Berkshire Business Rates Pilot Scheme.

 

Local Government Finance Settlement 2018/19 -

 

(i)  It must be noted that the government has not yet announced the final Local Government Finance Settlement 2018/19 and the results will not be known until after this report is published. Consequently, it is agreed that if there is any substantial changes in the amount of funding received by the Council at the final settlement, the Section 151 Officer will be authorised to use the Council’s reserves to balance the overall budget for 2018/19 following consultation with the Cabinet member for Corporate Finance and Housing.

The Director of Finance & Resources introduced a report setting out the proposed revenue budget 2018/19 to be recommended to full Council.  The budget had been considered by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee which had requested some further information on some of the fees and charges but no comments or recommendations had been made to Cabinet.

 

The proposed revenue budget for the forthcoming year was £100.680m and the key sources of income were summarised including the new Business Rates pilot scheme for Berkshire and the further decline in government funding.  The budget proposed a Council Tax increase of 1.5% for local services in addition to passing on the 3% precept for adult social care.  It was anticipated that the total rise of 4.5% would be the lowest increase in Berkshire.  The savings had already been agreed by the Cabinet in December 2017 and Lead Members reviewed the key areas of growth including funding to cover the costs of demographic growth in adult social care.

 

After due consideration, the Cabinet agreed to recommend approval of the revenue budget to full Council at its meeting on 22^nd February 2018.

 

Recommended –

 

That the budget as attached be approved, whilst noting that the Thames Valley Police Authority and the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority were still to confirm their final council tax precept requirements and:

 

Council Tax Resolution – In relation to the Council Tax for 2018/19

 

(a)   That in pursuance of the powers conferred on the Council as the billing authority for its area by the Local Government Finance Acts (the Acts), the

Council Tax for the Slough area for the year ending 31 March 2019 is as specified below and that the Council Tax be levied accordingly.

 

(b)   That it be noted that at its meeting on 18 December 2017 Cabinet calculated the following Tax Base amounts for the financial year 2018/19 in accordance with Regulations made under sections 31B (3) and 34(4) of the Act:

 

(i)   41,723.4 being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax

Base) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations) as the Council Tax Base for the whole of the Slough area for the year 2018/19; and

 

(ii)   The sums below being the amounts of Council Tax Base for the Parishes within Slough for 2018/19:

 

a)   Parish of Britwell      849.3

 

b)   Parish of Colnbrook with Poyle   1,885.9

 

c)   Parish of Wexham   1,310.2 

 

(c)   That the following amounts be now calculated for the year 2018/19 in accordance with sections 31A to 36 of the Act:

 

(i)   £388,340,008 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in section 31A (2)(a) to (f) of the Act.

(Gross Expenditure);

 

(ii)   £332,544,974 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in section 31A (3) (a) to (d) of the Act.

(Gross Income);

 

(iii)   £55,795,034 being the amount by which the aggregate at paragraph c

(i) above exceeds the aggregate at paragraph c (ii) above calculated by the Council as its council tax requirement for the year as set out in section 31A(4) of the Act. (Council Tax Requirement);

 

(iv)   £1,337.26 being the amount at paragraph c(iii) above divided by the amount at paragraph b(i) 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, including the requirements for Parish precepts.

 

(v)   That for the year 2018/19 the Council determines in accordance with section 34 (1) of the Act, Total Special Items of £224,168 representing the total of Parish Precepts for that year.

 

(vi)   £1,331.89 being the amount at paragraph c (iv) above less the result given by dividing the amount at paragraph c (v) above by the relevant amounts at paragraph b (i) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 34 (2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its

Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no special item relates.

 

 

(vii)   Valuation Bands

 

 

Band	Slough Area	Parish of Britwell	Parish of Colnbrook with Poyle	Parish of Wexham Court
	£	£	£	£
A	887.93	44.06	32.93	24.48
B	1,035.91	51.41	38.42	28.56
C	1,183.90	58.75	43.91	32.64
D	1,331.89	66.10	49.40	36.72
E	1,627.87	80.79	60.38	44.89
F	1,923.84	95.47	71.36	53.05
G	2,219.82	110.16	82.33	61.21
H	2,663.78	132.19	98.80	73.45

 

Being the amounts given by multiplying the amounts at paragraph c (iv) and c (vi) above by the number which, in the proportion set out in section 5 (1) of the Act, is applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band divided by the number which in that proportion is applicable to dwellings listed in valuation band D, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 36 (1) of the Act, as the amount to be taken into account for the year in respect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuation bands.

 

(viii)  Calculate that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2018/19 (excluding Parish precepts) is £55,570,866.

 

(ix)  That it be noted that for the year 2018/19 the Thames Valley Police

Authority precept has been increased by 7.05%.  The following amounts are stated in accordance with section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

 

 

 

[These precepts had not been formally proposed or agreed by the Thames Valley Police at the time of the Cabinet and would be revised when agreed].

 

 

(x)   That it be noted that for the year 2018/19 the Royal Berkshire Fire

Authority has been increased by 2.99% as the following amount in precept issued to the Council, in accordance with section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

 

 

 

[These precepts had not been formally proposed or agreed by the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority at the time of the Cabinet meeting and would be revised when agreed.]

 

(xi)   Note that arising from these recommendations, and assuming the major precepts are agreed, the overall Council Tax for Slough

Borough Council for 2018/19 including the precepting authorities will be as follows:

 

 

Band	Slough	Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Thames Valley	Royal Berkshire Fire Authority	TOTAL
	£	£	£	£
A	887.93	121.52	42.91	1,052.36
B	1,035.91	141.77	50.06	1,227.74
C	1,183.90	162.03	57.21	1,403.14
D	1,331.89	182.28	64.36	1,578.53
E	1,627.87	222.79	78.66	1,929.32
F	1,923.84	263.29	92.96	2,280.09
G	2,219.82	303.80	107.27	2,630.89
H	2,663.78	364.57	128.73	3,157.08

 

(xii)   That the Section 151 Officer be and is hereby authorised to give due notice of the said Council Tax in the manner provided by Section 38(2) of the 2012 Act.

 

(xiii)   That the Section 151 Officer be and is hereby authorised when necessary to apply for a summons against any Council Tax payer or non-domestic ratepayer on whom an account for the said tax or rate and arrears has been duly served and who has failed to pay the amounts due to take all subsequent necessary action to recover them promptly.

 

(xiv)   That the Section 151 Officer be authorised to collect (and disperse from the relevant accounts) the Council Tax and National Non-

Domestic Rate and that whenever the office of the Section 151 Officer is vacant or the holder thereof is for any reason unable to act, the

Chief Executive or such other authorised post-holder be authorised to act as before said in his or her stead.

 

 (xv)  That in the event that there are any changes to the provisional precept of the Fire Authority, arising from their precept setting meeting being held on 28 February, the Section 151 Officer is delegated authority to enact all relevant changes to the Revenue Budget 2018/19, Statutory Resolution and council tax levels.

 

Fees and Charges –

 

(e)   That the Council resolves to increase Fees and charges as outlined in Appendix E for 2018/19.

 

Use of Flexible Capital Receipts –

 

(f)  That the Council resolves to approve the proposed use of new capital receipts under the freedoms of the Flexible Capital Receipts regulations and that they are to be used to fund revenue spend as outlined in Appendix K.

 

Pay Policy –

 

(g)   The Slough Borough Council Pay Policy Statement update 2018/19 will be going to Employment and Appeals Committee on 25^th January 2018 and will be included in this report once agreed.

 

Business Rate Pilot –

 

(h)  That the Council agrees to participate in the 2018/19 Berkshire Business Rates Pilot Scheme.

 

Local Government Finance Settlement 2018/19 -

 

(i)  It must be noted that the government has not yet announced the final Local Government Finance Settlement 2018/19 and the results will not be known until after this report is published. Consequently, it is agreed that if there is any substantial changes in the amount of funding received by the Council at the final settlement, the Section 151 Officer will be authorised to use the Council’s reserves to balance the overall budget for 2018/19 following consultation with the Cabinet member for Corporate Finance and Housing.