Agenda item

Summary and report of the Executive Director (Business Connections)

The officer report to the Cabinet meeting on 16 December 2004 is enclosed, together with Recommendation 1 and Minute 658 arising therefrom.

N.B. This Consultative Panel meeting is invited to consider the documentation at item 7 above and in discussion to receive any comments/representations from the NNDR Representatives for referral to the Cabinet meeting on 17 February 2005.

The Chair welcomed the National Non-Domestic Ratepayer (NNDR) Representatives to the meeting, and invited them to express their views on the Council’s budget proposals for 2005/06 to Council Members. The Chair referred to the document entitled ‘Harrow Vitality Profiles’, which had been tabled at the meeting, and explained that it provided a portrait of Harrow and its people in statistics. He also mentioned that Harrow Council received more back from the Government in National Non-Domestic Rates than they paid to the Government.

At the invitation of the Chair, the Council’s Director of Financial and Business Strategy provided the Panel with an overview of the Authority’s draft budget proposals for 2005/06. In the course of the presentation, the following elements were covered:

§         details of expenditure and sources of funding in 2004/05, including an outline of the services provided by the Authority and their cost, and National Non-Domestic Rate contributions to the overall funding;

§         the recommended increase of £12m (4.9%) on the current net budget, and proposed areas of growth and efficiency savings;

§         details of the final settlement, announced at the end of January 2005, in which the Government had granted approximately £200k more than had been anticipated in the provisional settlement;

§         the requirement to passport increases in education funding directly to schools;

§         the Council Tax increase of around 1.48%, based on the provisional settlement from the Government;

§         an overview of the consultation process employed to engage stakeholders, and the survey undertaken with some 250 businesses, specifically on the budget, which had unfortunately elicited a poor response.

The Director of Financial and Business Strategy informed the Panel that Cabinet, at its meeting on 17 February 2005, would be provided with feedback from all the consultations carried out prior to making a recommendation to a meeting of full Council, which would approve the final Budget and set the Council Tax for 2005/06 on 24 February 2005.

The Director of Financial and Business Strategy also briefed the Panel on business-orientated work being carried out by the Council.

The Panel was informed of the basis for the National Non-Domestic Rates (or Business Rates). It was explained that the Non-Domestic Rate, the means by which local businesses contributed to the cost of providing local authority services, was collected by Local Authorities and passed to the Government, which then redistributed the monies to Authorities in line with the financial settlement. The Panel was informed that the rate was calculated by applying a national business multiplier to the rateable value of each business, and that this rateable value might be altered following revaluations to begin in April 2005.

She also explained the potential impact of a new government initiative called the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive (LABGI), to be introduced from 1 April 2005. The Panel was informed that the initiative aimed to encourage local authorities to foster new business growth in their area and that a grant of £700k should be available to Harrow in 2005/06. She explained that if the initiative was successful, and if Harrow were able to increase business activity, additional money would be available.

In addition, the Panel was informed about a Business Portal that had been developed by the Council, which was a website for local businesses that would increase opportunities for them to work with the Council and allow the Council to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of businesses in Harrow. The Panel was informed that the website contained an e-directory of local businesses, an e-tendering facility that would allow businesses to apply on-line for contracts offered by the Council, information on the services provided by the Council for businesses, and a ‘chat room’ that would facilitate inter-business communication as well as communication between the Council and businesses. The Panel was advised that the first stage of the development of the Portal had been completed, and that the service would be launched soon. It was also informed that cash provisions had been made to improve or increase the scope of the Portal.

RESOLVED:  (1) That the Budget Options and other relevant information be received and noted;

(2)  that the timescales for the consultations and determining the Budget for 2005/06 be noted.