Agenda and minutes

In the absence of the Lord Mayor, Councillor A Lucas, in accordance with the Constitution, the meeting was chaired by the Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor J McNicholas.

The minutes of the Meeting held on 19 January 2021 were agreed as a true record.

To consider whether to exclude the press and public for the items of private business for the reasons shown in the report.

RESOLVED that the City Council agrees to exclude the press and public under Sections 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 relating to the private report in Minute 91 below headed ‘Property Acquisition and Acceptance of Grant’ on the grounds that the report involves the likely disclosure of information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as it contains information relating to the financial affairs of a particular person (including the authority holding that information) and in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Deputy Lord Mayor referred to the recent deaths of:

·  Former Councillor Malkiat Singh Auluck.  Malkiat served as a Labour Councillor for Foleshill Ward for 12 years.  During this time, he sat on a number of Scrutiny Boards and was a member of the Foleshill Ward Forum.

·  Former Council employee, Bob Mullins.  Bob worked for the Council for 34 years until his retirement in 2017.  He was a valued member of the Central Accommodation Services Team and was well known to Members.

• Councillor G Hayre’s wife, Gurbaksh Kaur.

Members paid tribute to Malkiat, Bob and Gurbaksh and noted that letters of condolence had been sent to their families.

A minute’s silence was then observed in their memory.

RESOLVED that the following petition be referred to the appropriate City Council body:

• Objection to Planning Application FUL/2021/0221 (43 Earlsdon Street) – 18 signatures, presented by Councillor B Gittins.

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with the Constitution, a Motion without Notice was moved by Councillor M Mutton, seconded by Councillor S Walsh and adopted that agenda items 7 (Council Tax Setting Report 2021/22) and 8 (Budget Report 2021/22) be considered together.

It was noted that, in accordance with the Constitution, a recorded vote would be taken in respect of all decisions relating to matters the subject of Minutes 86 and 87 below (including any amendments).

Further to Minute 75 of the Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Finance which calculated the Council Tax level for 2021/22 and made appropriate recommendations to the Council, consistent with the Budget Report 2021/22.

The report indicated that some of the figures and information set out within the report were identified as provisional, as the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Fire and Rescue Authority precepts had not been confirmed at the time of publication.  The Cabinet were advised by the Director of Finance that confirmation had now been received in relation to these precepts and that the figures within the report were all confirmed as accurate.

The report incorporated the impact of the Council’s gross expenditure and the level of income it would receive through Business Rates, grants, fees and charges.  This resulted in a Council Tax requirement, as the amount that its expenditure exceeds all other sources of income.

The report included a calculation of the Band D Council Tax that would be needed to generate this Council Tax requirement, based on the City’s approved Council Tax base.  The 2021/22 Band D Council Tax that was calculated through this process had increased by £83.30 from the 2020/21 level.

Each year the Government determined the maximum Council Tax increase that local authorities could set without triggering a referendum.  For 2021/22 the Secretary of State had published a report which proposed that the rise in Coventry City Council’s Council Tax must be below 5% in 2021/22 to avoid triggering a referendum, comprising a 3% precept for expenditure on adult social care and a maximum of 2% for other expenditure.  At the time of writing, the Secretary of State’s report was subject to parliamentary approval.  The recommendations within the Budget Report 2021/22 were based on a proposed increase in Council Tax of 4.9%, including a core Council Tax rise of 1.9% and a 3% Adult Social Care Precept.

It was noted that the recommendations followed the structure of resolutions drawn up by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, to ensure that legal requirements were fully adhered to in setting the tax.  As a consequence, the wording of the proposed resolutions was necessarily complex.

RESOLVED that the City Council:

1.  Note the following Council Tax base amounts for the year 2021/22, as approved by the Cabinet on 12^th January 2021, in accordance with Regulations made under Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (“the Act”):

i)  82,717.1 being the amount calculated by the Council as its Council Tax base for the year for the whole Council area;

Allesley  330.0

Finham  1,513.9

Keresley  309.2

being the amounts calculated by the Council as its Council Tax base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate.

2.  That the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2021/22 in accordance with Sections 31A, 31B and 34 to 36 of the Act:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

Further to Minute 76 of the Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Finance which set the Council's Revenue Budget for 2021/22, the Capital Programme for 2021/22 to 2025/26 and the Council’s Capital, Treasury Management and Commercial Investment Strategies.

The report followed on from the Pre-Budget Report approved by Cabinet on 15^th December 2020 which has since been subject to a period of public consultation. The proposals within this report will now form the basis of the Council's final revenue and capital budget for 2021/22 incorporating the following details:

·  Gross budgeted spend of £774m (£30m increase from 2020/21).

·  Net budgeted spend of £244m(£5m and 2% higher than 2020/21) funded from Council Tax and Business Rates less a tariff payment of £19.8m due to Government.

·  A Council Tax Requirement of £146.3m (£4.9m and 3% higher than 2020/21), reflecting a City Council Tax increase of 4.9% detailed in the separate Council Tax Setting report on today’s agenda.

·  A number of new expenditure pressures and technical savings proposals.

·  A Capital Strategy including a Capital Programme of £220.4m  including expenditure funded by Prudential Borrowing of £32.2m.

·  The Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy and an updated Treasury Management Strategy, Capital Strategy and a Commercial Investments Strategy.

The financial position in this Budget Report is based on the Final 2021/22 Local Government Finance Settlement. The core funding position broadly matches that of 2020/21 although there are several new one-off funding streams, linked in the main to the effects of COVID-19. This position after 2021/22 remains uncertain and will be subject to the Government’s medium-term spending decisions and decisions about any revised local government financial allocation model and a new Business Rates retention model. As a result, it is impossible to provide a robust financial forecast at this stage and the Council has included some prudent planning figures. Initial assumptions indicate the likelihood that there will be a substantial gap for the period following 2021/22. The view of the Director of Finance is that the Council should be planning for such a position.

The Pre-Budget Report was based on an increase in Council Tax of 4.9% and this position has been maintained for the final proposals in this report. This incorporates an increase of 1.9%, which is within the Government’s limit of 2% above which a referendum would need to be held plus a further 3% Adult Social Care (ASC) Precept line with Government expectations. The Precept was trailed in the 2020 Spending Review and included in the Local Government Settlement as the means for councils to maintain their “core spending power”. Pending the delayed ASC Green Paper – the policy document which it is hoped will set out future funding arrangements for ASC – the precept is essential to enable councils including Coventry to manage increases in the costs of care. In total, the rise in Council Tax bills will be the equivalent of around £1.25 or less a week for a typical Coventry household.

The Local Government  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

Further to Minute 77 of the Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Business Investment and Culture which sought approval for the award of a grant of £2.908m towards a capital project at the Albany Theatre, and the borrowing necessary to enable this decision. 

The project comprised improvements to the studio theatre, building of three new studio spaces, and improvements to the café and front of house areas.  It had been developed to create a viable future business model for the operator, Albany Theatre Trust which was currently unsustainable.  The proposed investment would increase the Trust’s potential to generate earned and contributed income through growth in hires, the public-facing cultural programme and associated secondary spend.

The Albany had been identified as a significant cultural asset for the city.  In recent years the theatre has been increasing its attendances, its outreach and training programmes.  The improvements to the premises would build on previous investment, facilitate increased use and opportunities for cultural participation for the benefit of the residents of the city.  This would contribute to the legacy of the City of Culture title.

The report indicated that £500,000 of the funding required had been earmarked from the City of Culture Capital Fund managed by the Council  The remaining capital sum of £2.408m required to meet the total cost of the capital project was proposed to be funded from prudential borrowing, and the resulting debt repayment cost incorporated into the formal budget setting report for 2021/22. 

RESOLVED that the City Council

1)  Approved a grant of up to £2.908m be provided to the Albany Theatre Trust to support the capital proposal summarised in Section 2 of this report, subject to the conditions set out in Section 6.2.

2)  Noting that £500,000 of the required total has been earmarked from funds already approved), approved that additional capital expenditure for this purpose of up to £2.408m is added to the approved capital programme, to be funded from prudential borrowing.

3)  Noted that subject to the approval of this report, estimated annual debt servicing costs of c£250k will be incorporated into the 2021/22 (and ongoing) budget report for approval by full Council.

4)  Delegated authority to the Director of Business Investment and Culture and the Director of Finance, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities and the Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance and Resources, to take all necessary steps to negotiate and enter into all necessary legal agreements to effect the recommendations in this report.

Further to Minute 78 of the Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Business, Investment and Culture which sought approval for the acquisition of the IKEA premises and adjoining land and property at Croft Road, Coventry (the Premises) for the purpose of creating a nationally significant Collections Centre for the storage, care and management of cultural, arts and historical artefacts. The report was further seeking acceptance of capital grant towards the ‘New Collections Centre’ project, along with the design and professional fees that will be required to take the scheme through detailed design and tendering.

A corresponding private report was also submitted to the meeting setting out the commercially confidential matters of the proposals (Minute 91 below refers).

The IKEA premises closed for business in March 2020 and the long leasehold interest was available for purchase.  The purchase price, plus fees and taxes, were set out in the Private section of the report. The Council already owned the freehold of the site. The Council had been working with Arts Council England, the British Council, Culture Coventry Trust and more latterly, Coventry University, to explore options for converting the building to a new shared national Collections Centre facility, along with associated education, skills and learning facilities to provide opportunities for much greater public access and engagement with these extensive and important collections. The modelling of the options within the building had arrived at a ‘base’ option which has proved to be technically deliverable and financially viable, with the capital expenditure, fees and costs of capital financing being serviced through the rent received over the length of the leases, subject to agreeing terms with the partners.

However, there was ongoing feasibility work to explore the deliverability of more expansive options, such that the report was seeking only to acquire the Premises and obtain further fees for detailed development, on the basis that a further report would be brought before Cabinet and Council once further feasibility had been undertaken as to these more expansive options.

Having arrived at a base option that is technically deliverable and financially achievable, the timing to acquire the Premises is being driven by the small window of availability to secure proposed capital grant funding towards the acquisition, the details of which were set out in the private section of the report. 

The following amendment, was moved by Councillor Lepoidevin seconded by Councillor Bailey and lost:

That the Recommendations in relation to Agenda Item 10 –“Property Acquisition and Acceptance of Grant” be amended by the insertion of the following additional Recommendation after Recommendations 1) and 2):-

 3)  Instruct officers to explore the feasibility of including the Coventry Police Museum within the new facility

RESOLVED that the City Council:

1)  Approved capital expenditure in the sum specified in the Private section of this Report for the purchase (plus acquisition fees and Stamp Duty Land tax) cost to fund the acquisition of the leasehold interest of the site shown edged red in Appendix 1,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

There were no statements.

(Listing Officer: C Booth, Tel: 024 7683 3827)

Further to Minute 89 above, the City Council considered a private report of the Director of Business, Investment and Culture, setting out the commercially confidential matters relating acquisition of the IKEA premises and adjoining land and property at Croft Road, Coventry (the Premises) for the purpose of creating a nationally significant Collections Centre for the storage, care and management of cultural, arts and historical artefacts. In addition, the report sought acceptance of capital grant towards the new Collections Centre project, along with the design and professional fees that would be required to take the scheme through detailed design and tendering.

RESOLVED that the City Council:

1.  Approved capital expenditure to the sum identified within the report submitted (plus acquisition fees and Stamp Duty Land tax to the sum identified) to fund the acquisition of the leasehold interest of the site shown edged red in Appendix 1 and to include this within the approved capital programme which shall be funded from a combination of capital grant and prudential borrowing as set out in the report.

2.  Delegated authority to the Director of Business, Investment and Culture and the Director of Finance, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance, the Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration and the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, to identify and bid for grant assistance, where available, that supports the aims of the Collections Centre project.  The delegated authority under this recommendation shall include the power to accept the terms and conditions of grant funding and the entering into all necessary legal agreements to secure such grant funding.