Skip to main content

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Porchester Hall. View directions

Contact: Mick Steward, Head of Committee and Governance Services  Email:  msteward@westminster.gov.uk Tel: 020 7641 3134

Live Broadcast: audiorecordingofcouncilmeeting

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Relief Chairman

To appoint a relief Chairman.

Minutes:

Moved by the Lord Mayor and seconded by Councillor Tim Mitchell that Councillor Jan Prendergast be elected Relief Chairman.

 

Motion put and on a show of hands declared CARRIED.

 

 

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 164 KB

To sign the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council meeting held on 25 January 2017.

Minutes:

The minutes of the proceedings at the Council meeting held on Wednesday 25 January 2017 were, with the assent of the Members present, signed by the Chairman as a true record of the proceedings.

3.

Declarations of Interest

To receive Declarartions of Interest from Members and Officers.

Minutes:

The Chairman advised that there was no requirement on Members to declare an interest on account of being a Council taxpayer and in the Members’ Allowances item as these were noted on behalf of all Members.  There were no other declarations.

4.

Cabinet Reports pdf icon PDF 284 KB

To receive and consider the following Cabinet report: 20 February 2017

 

(a)          Appendix A – 2017/18 Budget and Council Tax Report and Medium Term Plan

 

(b)          Appendix B – Capital Strategy 2017/18 to 2021/22, Forecast Position for 2016/17 and Future Years Forecasts Summarised up to 2030/31.

 

(c)          Appendix C – Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2017-2018 to 2021/22

 

(d)          Appendix D – Council’s Pay Policy 2017-2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Cabinet on 20 February 2017 was submitted.  Paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the report were considered together.

 

Councillor Nickie Aiken delivered the Leader’s Speech and Councillor Adam Hug made the first Opposition Speech.

 

Councillor Adam Hug moved the amendment set out below which was seconded by Councillor David Boothroyd.

 

Prior to Councillor Hug moving the amendment tabled in his name the City Treasurer advised the Council that in respect of the amendment as it referred to the proposed alternative use of the £5.1m likely addition to the general fund balance that rather than being reduced or maintained, reserves ought over time to be further strengthened to optimise resilience.  The Council holds reserves to insulate it from shocks to its expenditure or revenue streams.  In 2007/2008 the level of general reserves carried forward stood at £69.930m.  The impact of the recession saw a significant decline of £54.352m to stand at just £15.578m by the end of 2010-2011.  The strengthening of reserves set out in the Council’s proposed budget report would see reserves increase by £5.100m to stand at £46.676m at year end.  Should the Council encounter another recession of similar magnitude as from 2008/09 all of these reserves would be consumed and in fact be in deficit by around £8m.  The Council has a duty to maintain reserves at a sufficient level to deal with such adverse situations and reducing these as the amendment proposes is neither prudent nor appropriate.

 

That a new Cabinet Recommendation be added to (1.1) reading:

 

“That the £5.1m proposed addition to the general fund balance set out in Schedule 6 (Appendix A to the Cabinet report) be instead used to provide:

 

·       An additional investment in the purchase of temporary accommodation of £2.5m

·       An additional contribution to the Young Westminster Foundation of £600,000

·       An additional investment of £2m in further Adult Social Care transformation.

 

And that the Cabinet Recommendations (1.1) be amended so that after “that the cash limited budgets for each service with overall net expenditure for 2017-2018 of £173,850k as set out in Schedule 3 of Appendix A to the Cabinet Report be approved the following is inserted: “with the changes as follows.  An increase to the proposed figures for 2017-2018 for the Adult Social Care Budget of £645,000, an increase to the Children’s Early Help Budget of £500,000.

 

This will be funded in the following ways:

 

·       New income from additional investment funding at a net figure for 2017-2018 of £24,000.

 

·       Savings from closing the senior staff private health care scheme to new entrants to generate in 2017-2018 £31,000.

 

·       The introduction of a cap on temporary and agency staff expenditure at an initial level of £13m over a 12 month rolling year, facilitated through the introduction of a Vacancy Board to vet all temporary staffing requests.  Introduced by start Q2 2017-2018 this would generate savings of £828,000.

 

·       Savings from non-revenue generating expenditure by the Policy, Performance and Communications Directorate of £207,000.  This should include:

 

·       Further Lord Mayor’s office  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Report of the General Purposes Committee pdf icon PDF 68 KB

To receive and consider the following committee report:

 

General Purposes: 22 February 2017

 

Appendix E – Appointment of External Auditor

 

Appendix F - Members Allowances Scheme 2017-2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the General Purposes Committee was submitted.

 

Paragraph 1: Appointment of External Auditors

 

The Lord Mayor put the recommendation in paragraph 1 of the report of the General Purposes Committee to the vote and on a show of hands declared it to be ADOPTED.

 

Resolved:  That the Council agree to appoint Public Sector Audit Appointments as an “appointing person” to appoint the Council’s external auditor from 2018-2019 onwards.

 

Paragraph 2: Members Allowances Scheme 2017-2018

 

The Lord Mayor put the recommendation in paragraph 2 of the report of the General Purposes Committee to the vote and on a show of hands declared it to be ADOPTED.

 

Resolved:  That the Members Allowances Scheme attached to the report (Appendix F) be agreed.