Agenda item

8.1

It was formally moved by Councillor Peter Rippon and formally seconded by Councillor Dianne Hurst, that the following recommendations made by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 13th February, 2019, arising from its consideration of reports of the Executive Director, Resources on the Revenue Budget 2019/20 and the Capital Programme 2019/20, be approved:-

REVENUE BUDGET 2019/20

“RESOLVED: That Cabinet recommends to the meeting of the City Council on 6 March 2019:-

(a)       to approve a net Revenue Budget for 2019/20 amounting to £403.291m;

(b)       to approve a Band D equivalent Council Tax of £1,559.18 for City Council services, i.e. an increase of 2.99%;

(c)        to approve the Council Tax charges in respect of Long Term Empty properties, as outlined from paragraph 51 of the report, with effect from 1 April 2019;

(d)       to note that the Section 151 Officer has reviewed the robustness of the estimates and the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves, in accordance with Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003; and that further details can be found in Appendix 4 and within the Section 25 Statutory Statement on Sustainability of Budget and Level of Reserves from paragraph 6 of the report;

(e)       to approve the savings as set out in Appendix 2 of the report;

(f)        to approve the revenue budget allocations for each of the services, as set out in Appendices 3a to 3d of the report;

(g)       to note that, based on the estimated expenditure level set out in Appendix 3 to the report, the amounts shown in part B of Appendix 6 of the report would be calculated by the City Council for the year 2019/20, in accordance with sections 30 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992;

(h)       to note the information on the precepts issued by the South Yorkshire Police & Crime Commissioner and of South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority, together with the impact of these on the overall amount of Council Tax to be charged in the City Council’s area;

(i)         to approve the proposed amount of compensation to Parish Councils for the loss of Council Tax income in 2019/20 at the levels shown in the table below paragraph 164;

(j)         to note the latest 2018/19 budget monitoring position;

(k)        to approve the Treasury Management and Annual Investment Strategies set out in Appendix 7 of the report and the recommendations contained therein;

(l)         to approve the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy set out in Appendix 7, which takes into account the revisions proposed for 2018/19 onwards;

(m)      to agree that authority be delegated to the Executive Director, Resources to undertake Treasury Management activity, to create and amend appropriate Treasury Management Practice Statements and to report on the operation of Treasury Management activity on the terms set out in these documents;

(n)       to note the information provided on the medium term financial outlook contained within the Medium Term Financial Analysis, attached as Appendix 10 to the report;

(o)       to approve a Pay Policy for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 8 of the report; and

(p)       to agree that the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2017/18 and onwards, approved on 3 March 2017, and implemented for 2018/19, be also implemented for 2019/20.”

CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2019/20

“RESOLVED: That Cabinet recommends to the meeting of the City Council on 6 March 2019:-

(a)       to approve the contents of the Capital Strategy & Budget Book and the specific projects included in the years 2019/20 to 2023/24; that block allocations are included within the programme for noting at this stage and detailed proposals will be brought back for separate Member approval as part of the monthly monitoring procedures; and

(b)       to approve the proposed Capital Programme for the 5 years to 2023/24 as per appendix 1 of the capital report.”

8.2

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Olivia Blake, seconded by Councillor Julie Dore, as an amendment, that the recommendations of the Cabinet held on 13^th February, 2019, as relates to the City Council's Revenue Budget and Capital Programme 2019/20, be replaced by the following resolution:-

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

(1)       places on record its thanks to the staff who continue to serve the Council in these incredibly difficult times, which year-on-year lead to uncertainty about their own futures and those of their colleagues, many of whom are left to pick up an increased workload as a result of cuts to staffing numbers;

(2)       as regards the national political context:-

1.         notes that since 2010, the continued drive by Central Government to eliminate Revenue Support Grant (RSG) and other funding streams, has been so severe that the Council has to find £30 million in savings for the upcoming financial year, in addition to the £460 million of savings already made since 2010;

2.         believes that the Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP’s government is continuing with the same failed policies of the previous government and that the Government’s claims that “austerity is over” are completely fictitious, as local government services continue to be cut to the bone;

3.         notes that councils are bearing the brunt of an austerity programme in its ninth year; it is, as such, this Council’s contention that the continuation of austerity is a political choice by the Government based on their ideological commitment to shrinking the state, rather than an economic imperative, a belief shared by the Liberal Democrats who went along with this when in coalition government;

4.         believes that the Government has no sustainable plan for local government finance and that the proposed “fair funding” review is likely to make things even worse and could see the removal of deprivation from the funding formula; meaning that urban and poorer areas, such as Sheffield, are likely to see funding taken away to benefit rural shire counties, who are predominantly under Conservative control; and

5.         believes that the Labour Party is right to call to an immediate end the unnecessary, cruel and deeply damaging austerity programme, and to instead give public services and local authorities the funding they so desperately need;

(3)       notes the following regarding the local government budget challenge:-

1.         that in addition to the cuts forced on local authorities, the increased demand for services at an increased cost is making it harder and harder for councils to balance their budgets and provide the desired services;

2.         because of woefully inadequate central government funding, the Council is set to overspend by approximately £10 million, and the budget for 2019/20, therefore, includes for the first year a planned use for £11 million of reserves in order to sustain social care services in the face of rising demands and the only alternative would be to cut £11 million from social care, which this Administration does not believe to be acceptable;

3.         that in addition to the increasing pressure on services, central government grants and funding are being reduced; together this has resulted in an increasing “budget gap”, predicted to be £100 million by 2022/23 by the Council’s 2019 Medium Term Financial Analysis (MTFA); and

4.         that despite these factors, the present Administration has protected front-line services as far as possible and succeeded in protecting services for the most vulnerable;

(4)       notes the following regarding social care:-        

1.         that social care for children and adults is now at “breaking point” nationwide, the result of nine years of cuts forced by Central Government;

2.         that national overspend in children’s social care in 2017-18 (£816.5m) is the biggest in each of the last four years, according to the Local Government Chronicle’s analysis of councils’ projected and actual spends on services, a result of escalating demands for services;

3.         further, that it is estimated by the Local Government Association (LGA) that 88% of councils responsible for children’s services overspent in 2017-18, denoting the scale of the challenge and how woefully inadequate central government funding has been;

4.         that the slashed budgets and increased costs in social care and children’s services means that councils are, in the words of the LGA, “close to the edge”, and that the LGA estimate that councils in England face an overall funding gap of £5.8 billion by 2020;

5.         that there is a wide disparity in the ability of local authorities to raise income from council tax increases; for instance, a 1% rise in Sheffield is worth £2.1 million – less than a 1% rise in Conservative-run Surrey (worth £7.0 million);

6.         that unlike last year, where a raise of 3% was permitted, there is no increase in the adult social care precept for 2019/20;

7.         believes that despite these great pressures, this Administration has worked hard to secure a better long-term future for social care in Sheffield;

8.         this Administration has allocated an additional £35 million of funding to fund the pressures within our social care services and protect the most vulnerable people in our communities, with the People Services Portfolio budget increasing from £198m in 2017/18 to £233m in 2019/20;

9.         notes that this additional funding has come from the planned use of reserves, savings from across the rest of the Council, and additional Council Tax income (with a rise of 2.99% on bills); and

10.       that the Administration’s investment in children’s social care will have a positive and lasting long-term impact as, for example, it is being spent on children’s social workers, the Successful Families Initiative and the current fostering campaign, all of which is aimed at providing the right preventative and support services to enable vulnerable children to be supported in the most effective environments;

(5)       as regards Council services, notes and/or believes the following:-

1.         that this Administration is enacting Labour values and showing real alternatives to the failed dogma of the Conservatives:-

(i)         by bringing services back “in-house”; housing repairs, IT and Digital services, Human Resources and payroll, and setting up an in-house out-of-hours customer services telephone line;

(ii)        we are now fully accredited as a Foundation Living Wage employer;

(iii)       our ethical procurement strategy commits the Council to ensuring high standards of ethical practice in the way it trades, and works with partners, companies and inward investors across the city; and

(iv)       pledged support to the TUC’s Great Jobs Agenda and ensured the Council signed up to the Co-Operative Party’s Charter against Modern Day Slavery;

2.         that this Administration is improving the living standards for all by driving up growth in our local economy through capital investment – we are investing in exciting developments for the Heart of City II scheme, for Lower Don Valley flood defence works, on the Olympic Legacy Park, the Knowledge Gateway, Charter Square enabling works and Fitzalan Square;

3.         that this Administration’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) demonstrates its commitment to council housing, despite the challenging financial climate:-

(i)         its commitment to provide 1,600 new homes, and acquiring new homes to substantially increase the number of homes and type of homes the city needs;

(ii)        providing £400 million of investment over the next five years to make sure homes and estates are well maintained;

(iii)       prioritised investment into fire safety work including cladding, sprinkler systems and other fire safety measures, and that work is already underway to fit all council tower blocks with sprinklers; and

(iv)       that this Administration will continue to take a proactive approach to managing our neighbourhoods and supporting our tenants;

4.         that the Administration has made provisions to protect those affected by the Government’s continued, and botched, rollout of Universal Credit and has given assurances that no tenant will be evicted for delays in payment that are solely a result of delayed payments in their Universal Credit;

5.         that the Administration has maintained the council tax support scheme and increased the council tax hardship fund by £200,000 for 2019/20, meaning the Hardship Fund will total £1.4 million;

6.         that the Government’s National Funding Formula implementation is being implemented too slowly for schools, and this will have a significant impact on Sheffield’s primary schools, when what is really required is significant funding increases to all of our schools, with specific additional funding to schools most in need;

7.         that this Administration is ensuring sufficient school places for children is a key priority; with Sheffield families continuing to have a better chance than most of accessing one of their preferred schools – over 96% in this year’s intake were able to get a school of their choice - and work is well underway to provide more capacity in a number of areas across the city;

8.         that the Administration is prioritising transport to deliver safe, well maintained streets which enable the city’s on-going development and is exploring more segregated networks for public transport, walking, cycling and private cars to reduce conflict and accidents and promote transport speed, capacity and choice – it is this Administration’s aim to deliver an integrated transport system, where different modes of transport complement each other;

9.         that this Administration is funding road safety to ensure that Sheffield is moving and freer from accidents and delays, with Sheffield’s neighbourhoods safe and liveable through initiatives such as 20mph speed limits; and

10.       that through the policies of the Administration, Sheffield is showing locally what a future Labour government would look like;

(6)       notes the following regarding job losses:-

1.         that as a result of severe budget cuts, there could be up to 136 redundancies during the financial year 2019/20;

2.         that this Administration, as in previous years, will take steps to minimise redundancies, such as offering voluntary severance and voluntary early retirement schemes, as well as using vacancies not yet filled; and

3.         that the Council expresses sincere and heartfelt sympathy to those members of staff who are losing their jobs through redundancy;

(7)       notes the following regarding the budget process:-

1.         that thanks is given to the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee and all of the Members involved in this crucial work; and

2.         that this year’s budget process involved a large consultation process, and the public is thanked for their involvement;

(8)       therefore requests the Executive Director, Resources to implement the City Council’s Revenue Budget and Capital Programme 2019/2020 in accordance with the details set out in the reports on the Revenue Budget and Capital Programme now submitted;

(9)       approves the contents of the Capital Strategy and Budget Book and the specific projects included in the years 2019/20 to 2023/24, and that block allocations are included within the Programme for noting at this stage and detailed proposals will be brought back for separate Member approval as part of the monthly monitoring procedures;

(10)     approves the proposed Capital Programme for the 5 years to 2023/24 as per appendix 1 of the Capital Strategy report;

(11)     after noting the joint report of the Chief Executive and the Executive Director, Resources now submitted on the Revenue Budget 2019/20, approves and adopts a net Revenue Budget for 2019/20 amounting to £403.291m, as set out in Appendix 3 of that report, as follows:-

8.3

It was then moved by Councillor Simon Clement-Jones, seconded by Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, as an amendment, that the recommendations of the Cabinet held on 13^th February, 2019, as relates to the City Council's Revenue Budget and Capital Programme 2019/20, be replaced by the following resolution:-

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

(1)       would like to thank the staff who have been so helpful and accommodating during this budget setting process, and all of Sheffield City Council’s staff who continue to work so hard for the people of Sheffield;

(2)       condemns the current Government’s plan to restrict local government funding further until at least 2020, believing this to be above and beyond what is necessary, forcing Local Authorities to raise regressive Council Tax, instead of funding local government more fairly out of general taxation;

(3)       particularly condemns the current Government’s approach to funding the NHS and Adult Social Care, and believes that a new long term funding settlement for social care is desperately needed to sustain vital services, particularly for places like Sheffield which had a relatively low council tax base but a high level of need;

(4)       believes that the Liberal Democrat proposal of raising income tax by a penny in the pound will meet this need for a long term funding settlement and greatly relieve the pressure on adult social care and the NHS;

(5)       believes that Sheffield City Council’s financial situation is aggravated by the threatened impact of Brexit, particularly a ‘no deal Brexit’, on the capacity of both the local and national economy to generate the resources that our public services badly need;

(6)       believes that although the Council is facing financially difficult times, the current Administration has still had choices about where to spend our money, and have often made the wrong choices over the past 8 years, for example:-

1.         protecting tax payer subsidies for Trade Unions whilst slashing funding to local communities;

2.         continuing to spend vast amounts on Council spin doctors whilst cutting front line services; and

3.         spending millions on costly consultants whilst allowing important road safety schemes to be delayed;

(7)       further believes that this City still suffers from the poor choices made by previous Labour Administrations, particularly the financial burden of around £19million every year until 2024 to repay the debt from the major sports facilities associated with the financially disastrous World Student Games, even after Don Valley Stadium has now been demolished;

(8)       is disappointed that the Sheffield City Region Devolution Deal has been delayed and, as a result, £60million of central government funding has already been held back for what will be two years when and if the deal is signed, at a time when the funding is needed most; and given the current stalemate, another £30million will go unspent for this financial year, making a total of £90million which has gone unspent in our region;

(9)       is deeply concerned for the future of the Devolution Deal and future associated funding and believes that this is due in part to the weak leadership of Sheffield;

(10)     notes that the One Yorkshire deal has been fully rejected by the Government and believes that leaders should now focus on getting the best out of the Sheffield City Region deal and use strong leadership to deliver the funding for our city;

(11)     believes that, even more concerning than some of their financial choices, is the way this Administration operates, centralising decision making and often ignoring the concerns and wishes of the people of Sheffield;

(12)     asserts that the purpose of this Council is to represent, work for and be the voice of the people of Sheffield, and that it is important that our decision making reflects the interests of the City as a whole and always puts people at the forefront of our choices;

(13)     further asserts that this could be better achieved by the Liberal Democrat policy of devolving local decision-making to give local areas as much control as possible over decisions that directly affect their communities;

(14)     notes the number of large petitions being presented to this Council, and believes this demonstrates that a change of approach is needed;

(15)     resolves to investigate a switch to a committee system which would give more control of decision making to all elected councillors and not just a selected few; allowing local communities a more direct path to decisions made about their futures;

(16)     understands the huge financial strain this Council has been put on by central government cuts to local government and that this was needed to reduce the deficit brought on by recession;

(17)     however, believes that there is a better, different way for a city council to operate and that this budget amendment demonstrates that it is possible, even in difficult times, to be responsive and work with local people;

(18)     believes that local Councillors and local people are often best placed to take decisions over the things that affect them and their local areas and therefore wants to revolutionise how decisions are made in this Council, by devolving real budgets over to communities, to be spent on their priorities, not the Labour Party’s;

(19)     by making some simple savings and spending the same money differently, the Liberal Democrat alternative budget would:-

1.         invest more than £500k on increasing the size of the blue bin for the first 10% of households in Sheffield that request larger bins, so households are able to recycle cardboard and paper more easily;

2.         improve Sheffield’s recycling record by committing more than £600k to increase the types of plastic that can be recycled here in our city from October 2019;

3.         invest more than £250k in reducing knife crime by recognising that knife crime is a public health issue and  supporting community sport projects such as De Hood and Unity Gym who run vital projects that provide sports activities for young people and their local communities, plus allow similar groups to bid for parts of the fund;

4.         invest £1million in local and district shopping centres to support businesses outside the city centre, in Woodseats, Chapeltown, Hillsborough and Woodhouse;

5.         recognise that walking and cycling is by far the best way to travel for the environment and for health of people in Sheffield and would invest £200k extra in major cycling schemes to encourage uptake of cycling and improve safety for cyclists on our roads;

6.         invest £1million in all road safety schemes; such as, traffic systems, pedestrian crossings and school crossing patrols, paying particular attention to where the community have made a call for a particular scheme in their area;

7.         clean up Sheffield by investing £150k in a task force to crack down on litter, fly tipping, graffiti and dog mess, and reversing a cut to this budget; this could also generate income for the Council by increasing the number of fines issued to people who do not respect our city;

8.         create a £50k fund available to local communities from a ‘Greener Sheffield’ pot, an additional pot of money to decide how best they would like to invest in their environment;

9.         commit more than £250k to keep all Sheffield City Council recycling centres open seven days a week from October 2019 to improve access for everyone;

10.       invest in a fund to provide schools with air quality monitors to educate children on the importance of air quality and to monitor carbon levels around schools;

11.       invest £50k for an extra member of staff in the Council’s Private Sector Housing team to deal with some of the problems in the City’s fast growing private rented housing sector;

12.       support Sheffield’s foster carers, who look after some of our city’s most challenging and vulnerable children, and encourage more people to sign up to become foster families with a discretionary reimbursement of Council Tax; this has the potential to save the Council significant sums in reducing the amount spent on agency foster placements;

13.       invest £50k in Sheffield Young Carers so they can provide their service users free bus travel across Sheffield;

14.       investigate the possibility of a Sheffield City Council app, to make sure information about services is easier to access and all available in one place;

15.       support Associate Libraries and their volunteers by providing £130k’s worth of professional librarian support;

16.       support Citizen’s Advice Bureau with an increase of £50k in grant funding;

17.       put aside extra funding for more school crossing wardens to help children get to school safely;

18.       reinstate the snow warden scheme, giving local people the support to clear icy footpaths and roads in their local communities;

19.       reverse the funding cut to parish councils, empowering local communities to make decisions on how money is spent in their area;

20.       create a fund available to local councillors to use on projects and capital investments in their wards through boosting ward pots to £10,000 in every ward;

21.       increase the neighbourhood portion of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) from 15% to 30% for use by local communities to spend money on infrastructure and fully compensate them for the disruption and pressures that come from big developments in their area;

22.       use 10% of the unallocated CIL money to support small business infrastructure to allow the City’s independent businesses to flourish by amending  the Regulation 123 list which governs how CIL can be spent;

23.       introduce free evening and Sunday parking in the city centre to encourage footfall and help city centre business to thrive; and

24.       investigate the possibility of a “Sheffield Pound”, a local currency that would encourage spending on local business;

(20)     believes that the people of Sheffield deserve a City Council that provides good value for money for all residents of Sheffield, is open for business, is responsive to and works with the people of Sheffield and protects our natural environment and heritage which make our city such a great place to live;

(21)     therefore requests the Executive Director, Resources to implement the City Council’s Revenue Budget and Capital Programme 2019/2020 in accordance with the details set out in the reports on the Revenue Budget and Capital Programme now submitted, but with the following amendments:-

Revenue Budget Proposal

Financing and Savings Proposals

(£'000)

Spending Proposals

(£'000)

Grants to De Hood and Unity Gym

100

Grant for local sports clubs and community groups to bid on for sport activities

150

Allocate part of the New Homes Bonus

850

Invest in a fund to provide air monitors for schools

25

An extra housing officer to support renters in the private sector

50

Increased blue bin capacity collection - revenue costs of providing bigger blue bins to the first 10% of households who request them

280

Reduce posts within the Communications team

175

100% Council tax relief for Foster Carers (up to Band D)

240

Free bus pass for members of Sheffield Young Carers

50

Withdraw funding from Sheffield City Partnership Board

10

Increase funding for the Environmental Enforcement team for a "Clean Up Sheffield" task force with target of 25% recovery via fines for littering, fly tipping, dog fouling and graffiti

150

Delete 3 senior manager posts

100

Work with community groups to investigate possibility of a Sheffield Pound

21

Remove Leader's policy officer post

24

Investigate SCC app

10

Cut to taxpayer subsidy to trade unions

325

Invest in crossing patrols for schools which currently fall below threshold for wardens, and where road safety conditions allow

36

Cuts to Special Responsibility Allowances for cabinet advisors

54

Reinstate snow wardens

35

Reallocation of unutilised funds - Invest in Sheffield fund

430

Create a Greener Sheffield fund

50

Reverse previous reductions in Parish Council Council Tax Support Grant

10

Make city centre parking free on Sundays and evenings

242

Reverse previous cut in fly tipping and graffiti contract budget

9

Provide additional professional librarian support for associate libraries

130

Increase grant to Citizen's Advice Bureau

50

Additional spending on cycling schemes

200

Sub-total firm savings

1,968

Sub-total firm commitments

1,838

The following savings schemes require the agreement of new contracts, or actions to be agreed with other bodies.  Consequently the following investments are proposed conditionally on the successful implementation of these schemes.

Set a modest savings target for shared services with other Local Authorities in Sheffield City Region

100

Increase the types of plastic that can be recycled in Sheffield - eg yoghurt pots, carrier bags, margarine tubs, food trays and bottle tops (half year)

660

Pay review - not taking the 2% pay increase for staff on salaries above £60k

75

Keep recycling centres open seven days a week (half year)

265

No pay increments for 2019/20 (part-year effect)

950

Additional spending on road safety schemes to be allocated over the year

330

Sub-total conditional savings

1,125

Sub-total conditional commitments

1,255

Savings total

3,093

Investments - total

3,093

Financing of Capital Proposals

(£'000)

Capital Spending Proposals

(£'000)

Financed from unallocated new homes bonus

670

Road Safety

670

Reduce unallocated City Wide CIL money and use to top up ward pots

78

Top up Ward pots to £10,000 across the city as a minimum

78

Financed from unallocated new homes bonus

580

Provide bigger blue bins to the first 10% of households that request them

580

Financed from unallocated New Homes Bonus

1000

Local and District Centres - Woodseats, Chapeltown, Hillsborough and Woodhouse

1000

Devote 10% of City Wide CIL on an ongoing basis, funds available currently

cost neutral

Small business infrastructure, funded from 10% of CIL

cost neutral

Devote 30% of CIL to the neighbourhood portion on an ongoing basis

cost neutral

Increase neighbourhood portion of CIL from 15% to 30%

cost neutral

Financing of capital proposals total

2,328

Capital spending total

2,328

Financing of Capital Proposals

(£'000)

Capital Spending Proposal

(£'000)

Re-allocate decision making over £2.4 million of transport funding away from Cabinet Member to local communities to be allocated via the LAP

Cost neutral

Nil

Cost neutral

Financing LTP proposals total

0

LTP spending total

0