Agenda and decisions

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

The Executive resolved as follows:

1. To note the impact of the scheme to date.

2. To recommend Council to agree the Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2018/19 as set out in Appendix 2d, to the Executive report.

3. To recommend to Council that the reduction applied to working age claimants remains the same as the 2017/18 Scheme agreed by Council on 25thJanuary 2017 and that the main elements and method of calculating awards will be the same with the exception of:

• Minor amendments to continue to align the Scheme to Housing Benefit.
• The provision of additional support for low income groups of claimants (in receipt of Income Support, or Income-Based Jobseekers Allowance, or Income-Related Employment Support Allowance) by amending the percentage reduction applied to their award from 27.11% to 13.56%. 

4. To recommend that the Council agrees to continue to operate a Discretionary Discount Policy to be awarded in cases of exceptional hardship as set out at Appendix 2a, to the Executive report. 

5. To note at this point in time the Department for Communities and Local Government may still issue changes to the known position for the Pensioner National Scheme. Required changes would be incorporated into the final Scheme presented for adoption at Council on 24 January 2018.

The Executive resolved as follows

1. To approve the outline service changes detailed at line 2.2 of Appendix 3(a)(Re: income generation from the Council’s wholly owned companies),to the Executive report, as the basis on which the consultation and equality analyses will be undertaken with affected parties.

(Councillor Cain and Smith having declared prejudicial interests left the room during consideration of the decision above.)

2. To approve the other outline service changes excluding line 2.2. detailed at Appendix 3(a), to the Executive report, as the basis on which the consultation and equality analyses will be undertaken with affected parties.

3. To approve the use of an Enhanced Voluntary Redundancy payment (EVR) incentive at a level of £3,000 (pro-rata for part time employees) for a set period of time determined by the Chief Executive.

4. To continue to engage through formal consultation mechanisms where budget proposals require appropriate feedback and to ensure that the Council is engaged with all partners. 

The Executive agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To note the report.  

2. To continue to lobby Government along with other local authorities facing similar pressures, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services for more funding to cope with the mounting demand and new burdens presenting in Children’s Services.

3.      To require the respective directors and Director of Resources to continue to closely monitor and manage service financial and operational performances, specifically Children’s Services, Strategic Leisure Assets, Parking Services and Treasury Management/Business Loans Fund.

The Executive agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To note the report.  

2. To continue to lobby Government along with other local authorities facing similar pressures, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services for more funding to cope with the mounting demand and new burdens presenting in Children’s Services.

3.      To require the respective directors and Director of Resources to continue to closely monitor and manage service financial and operational performances, specifically Children’s Services, Strategic Leisure Assets, Parking Services and Treasury Management/Business Loans Fund.

The Executive agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To approve the draft Supplementary Planning Document for signage, as attached at Appendix 6a to the Executive report, for consultation for a period of 6 weeks.

2. To delegate the authority to adopt the Supplementary Planning Document to the Director of place if no objections are received.