Decision details

Having considered an officer report and a presentation by the Cabinet

Member for Resources, Councillor Kevin Bonavia, the Mayor agreed that:

 

(1) the comments of the Public Accounts Select Committee of 6 February

2018 be received;

 

(2) having considered the views of those consulted on the budget, and subject

to consideration of the outcome of consultation with business ratepayers and

subject to proper process, as required, the Mayor:

 

Capital Programme

 

(3) the 2017/18 Quarter 3 Capital Programme monitoring position and the

Capital Programme potential future schemes and resources as set out in

section 5 be noted;

 

(4) Council be recommended to approve the 2018/19 to 2020/21 Capital

Programme of £271.5m, as set out in section 5 and attached at Appendices

W1 and W2;

 

Housing Revenue Account

 

(5) the consultation report on service charges to tenants’ and leaseholders in

the Brockley area, presented to area panel members on 12 December 2017,

be noted as attached at Appendix X2;

 

(6) the consultation report on service charges to tenants’ and leaseholders

and the Lewisham Homes budget strategy presented to area panel members

on 14 December 2017, be noted as attached at Appendix X3;

 

(7) a decrease in dwelling rents be set of 1.0% (an average of £0.97 per

week) – as per the requirements from government as presented in section 6;

 

(8) a decrease in the hostels accommodation charge be set by 1.0% (or £0.35

per week), in accordance with Government requirements;

 

(9) the following average weekly increases/decreases be approved for

dwellings for:

 

(10) service charges to non-Lewisham Homes managed dwellings (Brockley);

•           caretaking                 4.90% (£0.24)

•           grounds                     4.90% (£0.12)

•           communal lighting   4.90% (£0.06)

•           bulk waste collection           4.90% (£0.02)

•           window cleaning     4.90% (£0.01)

•           tenants’ levy             30.0% (£0.03)

 

(11) service charges to Lewisham Homes managed dwellings:

•           caretaking                 -1.17%  (-£0.12)

•           grounds                     16.27% (£0.27)

•           window cleaning     51.41% (£0.03)

•           communal lighting   0.38% (£0.01)

•           block pest control     1.87% (£0.03)

•           waste collection       1.93% (£0.01)

•           heating & hot waterno change

•           tenants’ levy             30.0% (£0.03)

•           bulk waste disposal2.96% (£0.02)

•           sheltered housing   1.00% (£0.24)

 

(12) the following average weekly percentage changes be approved for

hostels and shared temporary units for;

•           service charges (hostels) – caretaking etc.; no change

•           energy cost increases for heat, light & power; no change

•           water charges increase; no change

 

(13) an increase in garage rents be approved by Retail Price Inflation (RPI) of

3.9% (£0.46 per week) for Brockley residents and 3.9% (£0.46 per week) for

Lewisham Homes residents;

 

(14) the budgeted expenditure for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for

2018/19 be £156.8m, split £84.1m revenue and £72.7m capital, which

includes the decent homes and new build programmes;

 

(15) the HRA budget strategy savings proposals be approved in order to

achieve a balanced budget in 2018/19, as attached at Appendix X1;

 

Dedicated Schools Grant and Pupil Premium

 

(16) recommends Council be recommended to agree, subject to final

confirmation of the allocation, that the provisional Dedicated Schools Grant

allocation of £292.3m be the Schools’ Budget for 2018/19;

 

(17) Council be asked to note the implementation of the national funding

formula schools block for schools;

 

(18) Council be asked to agree that Lewisham uses the national funding

formula schools block to allocate funds to schools from April 2018;

 

(19) Council be asked to agree that Minimum Funding Guarantee for the

schools block be set at 0.25% for 2018/19;

 

(20) Council be asked to agree the change to the PFI factor in the formula to

base it on estimates for the schools block;

 

(21) Council be asked to agree to implement the new banding systems in

resource bases at a cost to the High Needs block of £251k;

 

(22)  Council be asked to agree to implement the new banding system for

ECHP's in mainstream schools at a cost to the High Needs block of £47k;

 

(23) Council be asked to note the latest financial position in schools;

 

(24)  Council be asked to note the likely future cost pressures on schools;

 

(25)  Council be asked to note the estimated pupil premium of £17.0m;

 

(26) Council be asked to note the changes to the way the High Needs block is

calculated;

 

(28) Council be asked to note the Loan Scheme consultation for the schools

block;

 

(29) Council be asked to note the position of the consultation on eligibility for

free school meals and the early years pupil premium under Universal Credit;

 

General Fund Revenue Budget

 

(29) Council be asked to note the projected overall variance against the

agreed 2017/18 revenue budget of £12.9m as set out in section 8 and that

any year-end overspend will have to be met from reserves;

 

(30) Council be asked to endorse the previously approved revenue budget

savings of £0.58m for 2018/19 and budget savings proposals of £4.28m as

per the Mayor and Cabinet meeting of the 6 December 2017, as set out in

section 8 and summarised in Appendix Y1 and Y2;

 

(31) Council be asked to agree the transfer of £5.0m in 2018/19 from the New

Homes Bonus reserve to the General Fund for one year to meet funding

shortfalls and that the position be reviewed again for 2019/20;

 

(32) Council be asked to agree the use of £3.570m reserves to meet the

budget gap in 2018/19;

 

(33) Council be asked to agree the allocation of £6.500m in 2018/19 be set

aside for corporate risks and pressures, added to the £2.130m set aside for

unidentified risks in 2017/18;

 

(34) Council be asked to agree the allocation of £6.915m in 2018/19 to fund

quantified budget pressures from the £8.630m set aside for corporate risks

and pressures;

 

(35) Council be asked to agree to create a fund in respect of the identified but

as yet un-quantified revenue budget risks in the sum of £1.715m in 2018/19

(the balance of budget for corporate risks and pressures), allowing the

Executive Director for Resources & Regeneration to hold these resources

corporately in case these pressures emerge during the year, and authorises

the Executive Director for Resources and Regeneration to allocate these

funds to meet such pressures when satisfied that those pressures cannot be

contained within the Directorates’ cash limits;

 

(36) the Executive Director for Resources and Regeneration identify up to

£5m of earmarked reserves to fund service transformation costs to facilitate

services change and develop further savings proposals;

 

(37) Council be asked to agree a General Fund Budget Requirement of

£241.281m for 2018/19 be approved.

 

(38) Council be asked to agree to a 3.99% increase in Lewisham’s Council

Tax element, resulting in a Band D equivalent Council Tax level of £1,203.87

for Lewisham’s services and £1,498.10 overall. This represents an overall

increase in Council Tax for 2018/19 of 4.2% and is subject to the GLA precept

for 2018/19 being increased by £14.21 (i.e. 5.1%) from £280.02 to £294.23, in

line with the GLA’s draft budget proposal;

 

(39) Council be asked to note the Council Tax Ready Reckoner which for

illustrative purposes sets out the Band D equivalent Council Tax at various

levels of increase, as explained in section 8 and is set out in more detail in

Appendix Y3;

 

(40) Council be asked to note the exemption from Council Tax for Care

Leavers up to the age of 25 in the Borough, agreed by Council in January

2018 when setting the 2018/19 Council Tax base, and the review underway to

assess other possible exemptions;

 

(41) the Executive Director for Resources & Regeneration issues cash limits

to all Directorates once the 2018/19 Revenue Budget is agreed;

 

(42) the Chief Financial Officer’s Section 25 Statement be presented in the

Budget Update Report on the 14 February 2018 for approval;

 

(43) Council be asked to agree the draft statutory calculations for 2018/19 as

set out at Appendix Y5;

 

(44) Council be asked to note the prospects for the revenue budget for

2019/20 and future years as set out in section 9;

 

(45) officers continue to develop firm proposals and bring them forward as

soon as possible as part of the Lewisham Future Programme to help meet the

future forecast budget shortfalls;

 

In relation to proposed changes to the Linkline Community Alarm Service:

 

(46) having considered the outcome of the consultation exercise and the

documents appended at Appendix 6, 6a, 6b and 6c the following

recommendations be approved;

 

(47) Linkline change the service offer to a Full Visiting Service for all new

customers.

 

(48) Linkline charges be increased in line with costs and inflation where it is

provided to customers who are private rented tenants, home owners, living

with family and for social housing tenants who arrange Linkline independently.

The proposed charge is £5.81 for Full Visiting Support and £3.88 for the

Telephone On service;

 

(49) In schemes provided by Social Housing Landlords, a phased increase in

charges be implemented to achieve parity with other housing tenures.

 

(50) In future charges be increased in line with inflation across all sectors

annually;

 

(51) Lewisham CCG jointly with Council officers will review the way the

financial contribution from Lewisham CCG is utilised to support people with

dementia and the intention to conduct further consultation and assessment for

Linkline customers who have a diagnosis of dementia;

 

            Other Grants (within the General Fund)

 

(52) Council be asked to note the adjustments to and impact of various

specific grants for 2018/19 on the General Fund as set out in section 8;

 

            Treasury Management Strategy

 

(53) Council be recommended to approve the prudential indicators and

treasury indicators, as set out in section 10;

 

(54) Council be recommended to approve the Annual Investment Strategy

and Credit Worthiness Policy, set out in further detail at Appendix Z3;

 

(55) Council be recommended to approve the Minimum Revenue Provision

(MRP) policy as set out in section 10;

 

(56) Council be recommended to delegate to the Executive Director for

Resources & Regeneration authority during 2018/19 to make amendments to

borrowing and investment limits provided they are consistent with the strategy

and there is no change to the Council’s authorised limit for borrowing;

 

(57) Council be recommended to approve the credit and counterparty risk

management criteria, as set out at Appendix Z3, the proposed countries for

investment at Appendix Z4, and that it formally delegates responsibility for

managing transactions with those institutions which meet the criteria to the

Executive Director for Resources & Regeneration; and

 

(58) Council be recommended to approve a minimum sovereign rating of AA-.