Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bhatti.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Councillors were asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda and/or declare if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

Councillor Cooke declared a personal interest in the General Fund Revenue Budget 2011/12 to 2013/14 as his wife was employed by the Leicester City Council as a Human Resources Officer.

Councillor Dawood declared a personal interest in the General Fund Revenue Budget 2011/12 to 2013/14 as he worked for Connexions and his wife worked for the Leicester City Council school meals’ service.

Councillor Patel submits a report that requests Cabinet to approve a budget for 2011/12 to 2013/14 and to recommend this to the Council.

A copy of the report is attached for Members of Cabinet only. Copies of the budget summaries are not attached. All documents can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=78&MId=4143&Ver=4

or at Customer Services, B Block, New Walk Centre, King Street, Leicester.

Further information regarding the Children & Young People Budget summary will be circulated as soon as it is available. Minute extracts from Scrutiny Committees are included within the report. Further extracts from the meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Management Board on 15 February 2011 and Health Scrutiny Committee on 9 February 2011 will be circulated as soon as they are available.

Councillor Patel submitted a report that requested Cabinet to approve a budget for 2011/12 to 2013/14 and to recommend this to Council.  Councillor Patel drew Members’ attention to the revised recommendations, which were circulated at the meeting.  He said it gave him no pleasure to propose a budget forced on the Council by Government cuts and that the cuts were too much, too soon. Councillor Patel thanked Cabinet colleagues for their work in putting together a budget, which, he commented was one of the toughest budgets in living memory.

Councillor Dempster stated that the Council had used a significant amount of reserves in order to protect children’s services and thereby had also protected vulnerable children.  Councillor Dempster added that it was important to prioritise the Youth Service and the revised recommendations of the report included the deletion of growth item AIP G1 (improved services for young people) and the deletion of reduction item AIP R18 (youth services management efficiencies).

Councillor Naylor stated with regard to Community Safety, that thanks were given to his colleagues because in spite of the severe budget cuts, funding had been put back into the budget which would help to re-model and re-shape the services that were offered.

Councillor Osman commented that the reductions in the budget that the Council were faced with were unprecedented and all the Cabinet Leads had had to work very hard with officers in working out the budget. The severe winter had resulted in very considerable problems with pot-holes in the city roads and an extra £1m had been put into the infra structurearound the city during 2010/11.  Councillor Osman added that there had been low numbers of planning applications, low growth in the economy and little money from the Government in respect of public sector housing.  There was however some growth within the budget, which the Council could be proud of.  This had been provided from the Working Neighbourhood’s Fund. Councillor Osman added that Leicester City Council, as with other local authorities had been forced into making the cuts and difficult times were ahead.

Councillor Westley expressed concerns over the impact the budget cuts would have on housing and the most vulnerable members of the community. He added that the welfare reforms would have a major impact on all members of society and expressed further concerns on the Government’s proposals to cut benefits in general. Councillor Westley added that the Council had built the first council housing in Leicester for 30 years, but this programme had now stopped because of the budget situation.

Councillor Russell commented that the budget was a difficult budget and that cities with high levels of deprivation had been the worst hit.  She added that the funding cuts would affect the most vulnerable and that it was important to protect those people and the services that the Council provided to them.  Councillor Russell stated that it was important to ensure that people remained safe in their homes, that the streets were kept clean and that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 193.

Councillor Dawood submits a report that shows an equality impact assessment of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and its impact on Leicester. Cabinet is recommended to consider the report findings to inform its decisions in deciding the budget for 2011/12.

A copy of the report is attached for Members of Cabinet only. All documents can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=78&MId=4143&Ver=4

or at Customer Services, B Block, New Walk Centre, King Street, Leicester.

Councillor Dawood submitted a report that showed an equality impact assessment of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and its impact on Leicester. He added that approximately one third of households in Leicester were reliant on benefits and that the impact of the CSR on Leicester would be negative.

Councillor Grant expressed concerns that the report was not supported by evidence and that there had been a low level of research.  He stated that the report contained only six individual case studies, and questioned whether such a significant report should be based on only six responses. He added that this led him to further question the credibility of the whole report.

Members responded that the case studies were real people who had been identified with the help of the Council’s Star (Supporting Tenants and Residents) service and who lived in Leicester.  The information in the report was compiled with reference to a wide range of national statistics and reports. They also added that there were people living in poverty in Leicester and a rise in council house rents would have a big impact on vulnerable people.

RESOLVED:

that the report be noted and the findings be used by Cabinet to inform its decision in deciding the budget for 2011/12.

The meeting closed at 1.58 pm.