Agenda item - Council Tax Reduction Review

Extract from the proceedings of the Policy & Resources Committee meeting held on the 4^th December 2014 (to be circulated), together with a report of the Executive Director for Finance & Resources (copy attached).

52.1      Councillor Sykes introduced the report, together with the extract from the Policy & Resources Committee, which detailed the annual review of the council’s local council tax reduction scheme and the recommendation that changes be made to the scheme with effect from 1^st April 2015 as outlined in the report.  He stated that the shortfall in grant funding from the government towards the scheme was still rising and it was recommended that the council’s contribution towards this should remain at the current level.

52.2      Councillor Morgan moved an amendment on behalf of the Labour & Co-operative Group to the recommendations of the Policy & Resources Committee.  He believed that an increase in the minimum contribution that working people paid to their council tax was fair and would provide additional funding for the council.

52.3      Councillor Hamilton formally seconded the amendment.

52.4      Councillor Hawtree stated that he could not support the amendment which was a huge increase.

52.5      Councillor Janio stated that he believed there was a need to balance the needs of the city and questioned the failure to reduce the number of managers within the council and that it appeared the workforce had grown from 8,000 to 9,000 employees in a period of austerity.  He therefore could not support the amendment.

52.6      Councillor A. Norman stated that she would not have started from the current positon and felt that decisions had been put off unnecessarily such as the development of trading companies etc.  She hoped that this would change and referred to the response from the Executive Director for Finance & Resources listed at paragraph 91.7 in the extract from the minutes of the Policy & Resources Committee meeting.

52.7      Councillor G. Theobald also referred to the actions being taken by other local authorities to set up staff-led mutuals, trading companies and shared services and questioned why such options had not been explored within the council.  He believed that the recommendations if approved would add to the budgetary pressures already faced by the council and therefore would support the amendment.

52.8      Councillor Bowden noted that the previous Green Administration’s budget increase of 2% had been voted against by the other two Groups which had it been approved would have helped the current situation that the council now faced.  If the amendment was approved he believed it would result in the poorest families in the city being further penalised.

52.9      Councillor West stated that the government had created the problem and queried how people were expected to find the money to meet the increase proposed in the amendment.

52.10   Councillor Littman stated that it would be irresponsible to approve the increase proposed and requested that a recorded vote be taken.

52.11   The Mayor noted that a sufficient number of Members had indicated their support for a recorded vote to be held.

52.12   Councillor J. Kitcat stated that a number of points made at the Policy & Resources Committee meeting were being repeated and noted that the council already had shared services in areas across the organisation.  He questioned whether either the Conservative or Labour Groups who would be able to balance the budget and noted that the Green Group’s proposals would do so.  He would not therefore support the amendment.

52.13   Councillor Hamilton stated that there was a need to increase the level of payment in order to help meet the financial gap that would otherwise result and not be sustainable in the loner-term.  He also noted that a number of people would be exempt from the increase.

52.14   Councillor Sykes noted the comments and stated that he believed the recommendations from the Policy & Resources Committee were appropriate and should be agreed.

52.15   The Mayor noted that a recorded vote had been requested in regard to the Labour & Co-operative Group’s amendment and asked for the Head of Democratic Services to conduct the vote.

52.16   The Mayor confirmed that the amendment had been carried by 25 votes to 22 with 4 abstentions.

52.17   The Mayor then put the recommendations of the Policy & Resources Committee as amended to vote which was carried by 29 votes to 22.

52.18   The Mayor then adjourned the meeting for a refreshment break at 6.30pm.

52.19   The Mayor reconvened the meeting at 7.00pm.