Agenda and minutes

Welcome and Covid reflection

The Lord Mayor welcomed all those present virtually to the meeting.

The Lord Mayor reflected upon the past year and the challenges which every person in the city has had to face. She noted the sad loss of over 600 lives to Coronavirus in the city, and the impact on those affected by the loss.

Also noted was the other impacts that people had faced around financial uncertainty and mental health problems, but also the kindness and generosity of those who had provided support and help within their communities.

The efforts of a range of key workers, such as teachers, NHS and Council staff to maintain services during the pandemic. She also noted the efforts of local councillors within their communities.

The roll out of the vaccine programme, it was hoped would help return life to more normality.

The meeting held 2 minutes silence to remember all those who had lost their lives during the pandemic.

Meeting arrangements

As this was the first virtual meeting of full Council, the Lord Mayor explained some of the practical arrangements for the meeting, such as using the hand raise button when indicating to  speaking and when voting.

The Lord Mayor invited the Monitoring Officer to make a statement in relation to declarations for the budget meeting.

The Monitoring Officer reminded Members that there was no requirement to declare any interests already on their registers. He also explained about Section 106 of the Local Government Act 1992 requirements regarding the need for voting members to not be 2 months or more in arrears of Council tax payments. He further outlined details of a dispensation which, following consultation with the Standards Committee, he could grant to elected members who were Council tenants or had family members or close associates who were Council tenants. Without this dispensation it would not be possible for members with an interest in this area to vote on either the General Fund Revenue Budget or the Housing Revenue Account.

The following members sought and were granted a dispensation:

Councillor Thalukdar – family members who were Council tenants.

Councillor Nangreave – partner who was a Council tenant.

Councillor Westley - family members who were Council tenants.

Councillor Pickering - family members who were Council tenants.

Lord Mayor, Councillor Byrne – Council tenant.

Councillor Cank - family members who were Council tenants.

Councillor Hunter - family members who were Council tenants.

Councillor Chamund - family members who were Council tenants.

The Lord Mayor then asked Members to declare any other interests they might have in the business on the agenda not already declared on their register of interests.

There were no relevant declarations made under Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

Deputy City Mayor Councillor Clair – Food Service Plan

Councillor Clair informed Council about the change in the current year to the Food Service Plan arrangements. Due to the pandemic, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recognised the challenges faced by local authorities, therefore the requirement to provide a Food Service Plan had been waived for the current year. He did however assure Council that a plan was being worked on for the 2021/22 year. Council was also assured that high priority food safety work had continued throughout the pandemic with regular inspections taking place in high risk businesses. There had also been a focus on ensuring that food businesses were working in a Covid safe way. A backlog of more routine work had however been built up due to the change in focus, but this was recognised by the FSA and they had developed a flexible inspection process where the focus was more on businesses where compliance had been poor. The 2021/2022 Food Service Plan would set out a strategy of working with businesses to manage food safety and balancing risks around Covid with more usual food safety risks.

Council noted the position statement regarding the Food Service Plan.

Council is asked to approve the recommendations set out on page 1. 

The City Mayor submitted his proposed budget for 2021/22 and medium term projections up to 2024. The report contained details of the financial pressures facing the Council, the proposed budget strategy including assessments of risk, impact and consultation outcomes.

Details of the City Mayor’s Recommendation of General Fund Revenue Budget 2021/22 and the General Fund Revenue Budget 2021/22 – Formal Resolutions were circulated to Members prior to the meeting and are attached to these minutes.

Moved by the City Mayor, seconded by Councillor Cassidy:

That Council:

Thanks scrutiny committees who have commented on our draft budget;

Notes the comments made in the City Mayor’s formal Decision Notice published on 16 February 2021 and attached as Appendix A to the script and available prior to the meeting and attached to these minutes;

Approves the recommendations set out in section 3.1 of the report ‘General Fund Revenue Budget 2021/22’ without amendment; and

Approves the formal budget resolution as set out in Appendix B to the script and available at the meeting.”

The Lord Mayor put the motion to the vote.

It was noted that under the requirements of the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 the names of the Councillors voting for or against the proposition or abstaining would be recorded by the City Barrister and Monitoring Officer and included in the minutes of the meeting.

For the motion:

Councillors Aldred, Ali, Bajaj, Barton, Batool, Broadwell, Byrne, Cank, Cassidy, Chamund, Clair, Clarke, Cole, Cutkelvin, Dawood, Dempster, Fonseca, Gee, Govind, Hunter, Joshi, Kitterick, Malik, March, Master, Moore, Myers, Nangreave, O’Donnell, Pantling, Patel, Pickering, Rahman, Rae Bhatia, Riyait, Russell, Kaur Saini, Singh Johal, Singh Sandhu, Sangster, Shelton, Solanki, Soulsby (City Mayor), Thalukdar, Valand, Waddington, Westley, Whittle, Willmott.

Against the motion:

Councillor Porter.

The Lord Mayor declared the motion carried.

Council is asked to approve the recommendations set out on page 79.

A report was considered which sought approval of a Capital Programme for the Council for the period 2020/21. Details were included within the report of the resources position and proposed projects. The report had been considered at the meeting on 4^th February 2021 and a copy of the minutes were circulated to Members with the agenda.

Moved by the City Mayor, seconded by Councillor Cassidy and carried:

That Council:

Thanks the Overview Select Committee for their comments on our draft budget, which were attached to the report;

Notes the comments made in the City Mayor’s formal Recommendation to Council Notice published on 16 February 2021 and attached as Appendix D to the script, made available prior to the meeting and attached to these minutes; and

Approves the recommendations set out in section 2 of the report ‘Capital Programme 2021/22’ without amendment.

Council is asked to approve the recommendations set out on page 115.

Moved by Councillor Cutkelvin, seconded by Councillor Westley and carried:

That Council:

Thanks the Tenants and Leaseholders Forum, Housing Scrutiny Commission, Overview Select Committee and others who have commented on our draft Housing Revenue Account budget. The comments of the Housing Scrutiny Commission and Overview Select Committee were included in the report.

Notes the comments made in the Assistant City Mayor, Education and Housing’s formal recommendation to Council notice published on 16 February 2021 and attached as Appendix E to the script and made available prior to the meeting; and

Approves the recommendations set out in Section 3 of the report ‘Housing Revenue Account Budget (including HRA Capital Programme) 2021/22 without amendment.

Council is asked to approve the Treasury Management Strategy 2021/22 subject to any comments made by the Overview Select Committee at its meeting held on 4 February 2021 and attached at Appendix 4.d.i.

Moved by the City Mayor, seconded by Councillor Cassidy and carried:

That Council notes the comments of the Overview Select Committee attached to the report and approves the Treasury Management Strategy 2021/22, which includes the annual Treasury Investment Strategy at Appendix B of the report.

Council is asked to approve the Investment Strategy 2021/22 subject to any comments made by the Overview Select Committee at its meeting held on 4 February 2021 and attached at Appendix 4.e.i.

Moved by the City Mayor, seconded by Councillor Cassidy and carried:

That Council notes the comments of the Overview Select Committee attached as an appendix to the report and approves the Investment Strategy.

There being no urgent business, the Lord Mayor declared the meeting closed at 6.50pm.