Agenda and draft minutes

There were no declarations of interest stated.

To consider the Minutes of a previous meeting.

The Chair informed members that a copy of the letter sent to the Prime Minister as referred to under item 5 of the minutes was now available. Members confirmed having received it.

Kidsgrove Town Deal had also been raised under the same item and officers had been in touch with Cllrs Waring and Stubbs to provide further details.

Resolved:     That the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th December 2023 be agreed as accurate record.

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The Deputy Leader introduced the review on progress made on the completion of the Revenue and Capital Budgets for 2024/25 and the 5 year Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2024-29.

The drafts of the Capital Strategy for 2024-34, the Treasury Management Strategy for 2024-25, the Investment Strategy for 2024-25 and the Commercial Strategy for 2024-25 were also submitted for consideration.

Members asked questions and responses were provided as follows:

-       Cllr Bettley-Smith wondered about the National insurance figures uprated in accordance with the proposed pay increase even though it had actually been reduced by the government and asked if the documents were based on the worst case scenario. – Accountants had to be cautious and draft budgets and strategy were done accordingly. The Pay Awards had been increased in concertation with other Staffordshire authorities and the related budget required was the best estimate the finance team could currently provide.

-       Cllr Crisp felt that having managed to keep the Council Tax increase under 2% i.e. well below the rate of inflation and lower than other government bodies was encouraging. – This was consistent with the commitments taken by the current administration.

-       Cllr Jones asked about Appendix 1 and where the evidence came for figures relating to planning applications, commercial property rates and car parking. – Planning applications fees were based on the actual budget and estimate in light of the last three years of applications actually received. The fees would be uplifted by 25% for minor cases and 35% for major ones. The property rent of £70,000 had already been achieved by the Commercial Property Team and the rents for industrial units had not been touched since pre-Covid. Finally the £91,000 for car parking took into account the different scenarios around the new car park and assumed a small amount of increase in both usage and fees. Details would be shared by email with Cllr Jones.

-       Cllr Grocott asked about staff efficiencies. – Staff related efficiencies were detailed in Appendix 1.There were five lines, the first one being a review of the planning service structure and the second one a reduction in hours of environmental health officers spent, then a restructuring of the licensing service following a drop off in the number of licenses being processed; the housing and vulnerability structure was also being funded a little more from some grants received and finally the capitalisation of some professional fees.

-       Cllr Waring was pleased with the balanced budget and wondered if there were any figures for an increase in business rates and percentage terms. – Business rates were referred to in Appendix 2 assuming the CPI increase. The funding through business rates came via the financial settlement and the CPI increase of September last year against applied to it i.e. 6.7%. Details of the business rates multipliers would be checked by officers.

-       Cllr Brockie asked about developing opportunities to commercialise existing and new services. More specifically where was the advice and training coming from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Deputy Leader introduced the proposed scale of fees and charges to apply from 1 April 2024. Except for the market stalls for which there would be no increase everything else was as presented in the report.

There were no questions about the schedule and the Chair expressed his satisfaction at seeing that everyone was on board.

Resolved:     1. That the proposed fees and charges to apply from 1 April 2024 as set out in Appendix 1, be noted.

2. That the Charging Policy, as set out in Appendix 2, be noted.

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The Chair went through the work programme.

Resolved:     That the work programme be noted.

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Any member of the public wishing to submit a question must serve two clear days’ notice, in writing, of any such question to the Borough Council

There were no questions from members of the public.

To consider any business which is urgent within the meaning of Section 100B (4) of the Local Government Act 1972

There was no urgent business.

Thursday 14^th March 2024 (7:00pm)

Resolved:     That the next meeting be scheduled on 14 March 2024.

Resolved:     That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of this confidential appendix, because it was likely that there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Local Government Act 1972.