Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the Meeting held on 16 January 2024 were agreed and signed as a true record.

The Lord Mayor referred to his recent visit to the twin city of Cork, Ireland where he and the Lady Mayoress were hosted by the city’s Lord Mayor, Kieran McCarthy. The cities have been twinned for 66 years and it was clear to see how much this relationship was valued.  

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

1.  Petition to address a chronic parking problem of vehicles parked on the footpath along Pickford Green Lane Allesley – 138 signatures, presented by Councillor T Jandu.

2.  Petition requesting the Council to twin Coventry, the city of peace and reconciliation, with the city of Khan Younis in Gaza – 414 signatures, presented by Councillor S Nazir.

3.  Petition requesting the Council to resurface the whole length of the footpath along Leaf Lane – 103 signatures, presented by Councillor B Mosterman.

4.  Petition against the Clifford Bridge Road Cycle Lane development and request the council to move it to a safer route – 56 signatures, presented by Councillor F Abbott.

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with the Constitution, a Motion without Notice was moved by Councillor M Mutton, seconded by Councillor G Lloyd, and adopted that agenda item 6 (Council Tax Setting Report 2024-25) and item 7 (Budget Report 2024/25) be considered together.

It was noted that a recorded vote would be taken in respect of all decisions relating to matters the subject of Minutes104 (Council Tax Setting Report 2024-25) and 105 (Budget Report 2024/25), including any amendments.

From the Cabinet, 20 February 2024

Further to Minute 76 of the Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer), that calculated the Council Tax level for 2024/25 and made appropriate recommendations to Council, consistent with the Budget Report 2024/25. The report recommended a 4.9% increase in the City’s Council Tax.

The report incorporated the impact of the Council’s gross expenditure and the level of income it would receive through Business Rates, grants and fees and charges. This resulted in a Council Tax requirement, as the amount that its expenditure exceeded 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 2024/25 Band D Council Tax that was calculated through this process had increased by £94.44 from the 2022/23 level.

Each year the Government determined the maximum Council Tax increases that local authorities could set without triggering a referendum. For 2024/25 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 2024/25 to avoid triggering a referendum, comprising a 2% precept for expenditure on adult social care and a maximum of 3% 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 2024/25 were based on a proposed increase in Council Tax of 4.9%, incorporating a core Council Tax rise of 2.9% and a 2% Adult Social Care Precept.

Members 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 settling the tax. As a consequence, the wording of the proposed resolutions was necessarily complex.

RESOLVED that, the City Council:

(1)  Notes the following Council Tax base amounts for the year 2024/25, as approved by Cabinet on 9 January 2024, in accordance with Regulations made under Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 ("the Act"):

a) 87,734.0 being the amount calculated by the Council as its Council Tax base for the year for the whole Council area;

b) Allesley  403.7

   Finham  1,564.8

  Keresley  561.8

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 2024/25 in accordance with Sections 31A, 31B and 34 to 36 of the Act:

(a) £867,820,927  being the aggregate of the amounts that the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by Parish Councils(Gross Expenditure and reserves required to be raised for estimated future expenditure);

(b) £691,923,346  being the aggregate of the amounts that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 104.

From the Cabinet, 20 February 2024

Further to Minute 77 of the Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer), that followed on from the Pre-Budget Report approved by Cabinet on 12 December 2023 (minute 50/23 refers) which had since been subject to a period of public consultation. The proposals within the report would now form the basis of the Council’s final revenue and capital budget for 2024/25 incorporating the following details:

·  Gross budgeted spend of £867.8m (£55.8m or 7% higher than 2023/24)

·  Net budgeted spend of £277.5m (£17.0m or higher than 2023/24) funded from Council Tax and Business Rates less a tariff payment of £22.2m due to the Government

·  A Council Tax Requirement of £175.9m (£11.5m or 7% higher than 2023/24), reflecting a City Council Tax increase of 4.9% detailed in the separate Council Tax setting report also for consideration at the meeting.

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

·  A Capital Strategy including a Capital Programme of £157.5m including expenditure funded by Prudential Borrowing of £41m.

·  An updated Treasury Management Strategy, Capital Strategy, and a Commercial Investments Strategy.

The financial position in the budget report was based on the Final 2024/25 Local Government Finance Settlement published on 5 February 2024. Whilst the Government provided an additional £3.2m of social care grant for 2024/25, the Settlement represented an ongoing net reduction in resources compared to the Pre-Budget report of c£2.1m per annum. The position after 2024/25 remained uncertain as the Government’s spending plans were effectively in the second year of a 2-year settlement, and the final year of the 5-year Comprehensive Spending Review. This therefore provided no certainty or stability for local government finances beyond 204/25.

The Pre-Budget Report was based on an increase in Council Tax of 4.9% and this position had been maintained for the final proposals in the report. This incorporated an increase on 2.9%, which was within the Government’s limit of 3% above which a referendum would need to be held plus a further 2% Adult Social Care Precept in line with Government expectations. The precept was essential to enable councils, including Coventry to manage increases in the costs of care. In total, the rise in Council Tax bills would be the equivalent of around £1.60 a week for a typical Coventry household including the expected rises in the precepts for Police and Fire.

The Council had closed the significant financial gap for 2024/25 which it had at the start of the budget process. Measures in achieving this included the identification of additional Council Tax resources, a range of technical adjustments and newly identified cost savings or income streams. All these proposals were set out in detail in Appendix 2 of the report. The report indicated that there were no new savings required (over and above those set out in the pre-budget report) as a result of this budget report.

The proposals did not provide the Council with a balanced budget beyond 2024/25. The Council’s current medium  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105.

There were no Statements.