Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee;

(b)               all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 3 – Question and Answer Session with the Leader of the Councillor and Acting Head of Paid Service on Budget 2014-15

Councillor Sue Anderson declared, during the course of the meeting, a pecuniary interest in that as a carer, she had, in the past, received £300.00 for yoga classes.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Chris Mote declared non pecuniary interests in that his wife was temporarily teaching in the private sector within the borough, his brother was in receipt of disability benefit and his daughter was a paediatric nurse.  In addition, during the course of the meeting, he declared a further non-pecuniary interest in that he was a carer.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Anthony Seymour declared a non pecuniary interest in that his sister was in receipt of Council Tax benefit.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

The Chair welcomed the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council, the Portfolio Holder for Finance, the Acting Head of Paid Service and Director of Finance and Assurance to the meeting.  He outlined the format for the meeting and reported that the Leader and Acting Head of Paid Service had been advised of the question areas only and that if a Member wished to ask a question outside those areas, a written answer may be provided.

The Chair reported that a request had been received from the Harrow Observer to film the question and answer session on a mobile device.  In accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 26, the Chair sought the Committee’s agreement to this request which was given.

The Chair invited the Leader of the Council to give a brief introduction to the 2014/15 budget.  The Leader stated that the proposed budget would achieve a cleaner, safer and fairer Harrow.  She stated that the current year’s budget contained £4m unachievable savings which needed to be addressed.  There would be a 0% Council Tax increase in 2014/15, additional fraud officers, more resources would be put into cleaning the streets and recycling and, in terms of a safer Harrow, there would be further partnership working.

In terms of protecting / looking after vulnerable residents, the Leader stated that £600,000 had been allocated to the care of the elderly, £500,000 to care for vulnerable children and £300,000 for Special Needs Transport.  She referred to some of the difficult decisions that had had to be made, including the deletion of the post of Chief Executive which would result in a saving of £280,000 per annum for which ever administration was in control after the local elections in May 2014.  She then thanked officers for their work in producing the budget, particularly given the time constraints that they had been under due to the change of administration in September 2013.

The Chair then invited Members to put their questions to the Leader, Deputy Leader, Portfolio Holder and Acting Head of Paid Service.  The questions and answers were as follows:

·                    What has the impact of localisation of council tax support been on collection rates?

The Portfolio Holder for Finance reported that localisation had resulted in the collection of a figure close to that which was budgeted for 12 months previously and he did not anticipate the collection figures changing significantly in the coming months.

·                    What has been the impact of financial policy changes on the Council’s finances – e.g. business rate retention, community infrastructure levy?

The Portfolio Holder for Finance responded that the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) was anticipated to be a significant source of revenue in the medium term but that there would be no such contribution in the 2015/16 budget.  In terms of business rate retention, he reported that this had the potential to change over time but that there was a 0% change in the next budget period.

·                    Can you explain budget item E&E 007 14/15?

The Leader reported  ...  view the full minutes text for item 476.