Agenda item
Cabinet Report
To receive and consider the following Cabinet report:
13 February 2023
Appendix 1:
Business and Financial Planning 2023/24 to 2026/27
Appendix 2:
Capital Strategy 2023-24 to 2027-28
Appendix 3:
Housing Revenue Account Business Plan 2023-24
Appendix 4:
Treasury Management Strategy 2023/24
Appendix 5:
Integrated Investment Statement 2023/24
Appendix 6:
Pay Policy 2023-2024
Minutes:
4.1 The report of the Cabinet on 13 February 2023 was submitted.
4.2 Following debate, to which Councillor Hug replied, the Lord Mayor then put the recommendations in paragraph 1 of the Cabinet report to a vote. A recorded vote was then taken:
For the recommendations: Councillors Albert, Arrindell, Barraclough, Begum, Boothroyd, Bush, Butler-Thalassis, Carman, Chowdhury, Dimoldenberg, Eagleton, Fisher, Hassan, Hug, Jude, A Less, I Less, Lilley, McAllister, Noble, Ormsby, Piddock, Roca, Sanquest, Small-Edwards, Southern, Sullivan, Toale, Toki and Williams
Abstaining:Councillors Arzymanow, Caplan, Cunningham, Dean, Devenish, Glen, Harvey, Hitchcock, Langford, Mitchell, Oteh-Osoka, Pitt Ford, Rigby, Robathan, Rowley, Sargent, Scarborough, Shearer, Short, Swaddle and Wilkinson
Absent or not voting:The Lord Mayor andCouncillors Hyams andMendoza
4.3 The Lord Mayor declared the recommendations in paragraph 1 of the Cabinet report as ADOPTED.
RESOLVED:
Council Tax
1) That the council tax for a Band D be agreed at £477.91 for 2023/24.
2) That subject to the consideration of the previous recommendation, the council tax for the City of Westminster, excluding the Montpelier Square area and Queen’s Park Community Council, for the year ending 31 March 2024, be as specified in the Council Tax Resolution in Appendix 6.
3) That the Precepts and Special Expenses be as also specified in Appendix 6 for properties in Montpelier Square and the Queen’s Park Community Council.
4) That the formal resolution for 2023/34 attached at Appendix 6 including the council tax requirement of £64.974m be agreed.
5) Note the proposed Greater London Authority precept (Band D) of £434.14, an increase of £38.55 in the adjusted Band D precept.
6) That the Council continues the Westminster Community Contribution scheme to allow residents in the City to voluntarily contribute towards supporting discretionary services that support the three priorities of youth services, helping rough sleepers off the streets and supporting people who are lonely and isolated.
Revenue Budget
7) To note the views of the Scrutiny Budget Task Group set out in Appendix 8.
8) That the proposed General Fund net budget requirement of £193.611m summarised in Appendix 4 is approved.
9) That the savings, pressures and investments for 2023/24 to 2026/27 set out in Appendix 1, 2 and 3, are approved.
10) That the Equality Impact Assessments included in Appendix 7 are noted to inform the consideration of the budget.
11) Note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan 2023/24 and 30-Year Housing Investment Plan presented concurrently to Cabinet on 13 February 2023 that recommends the HRA budget and rent levels for 2023/24. Capital Programme
12) Note the Capital Strategy 2023/24 to 2027/28, forecast position for 2022/23 and future years’ forecasts summarised up to 2036/37 report also presented to Cabinet on 13 February 2023 that recommends the Council’s capital programme and financing. Reserves, Balances and Budget Estimates
13) Agree the reserves policy as set out in section 10 of the Section 151 officer’s report;
14) Note the opinion of the Section 151 Officer with regards to the robustness of the budget process, the estimates underpinning the budget and the adequacy of the reserves in section 10. Treasury Management and Investment Framework
15) Note the Treasury Management Strategy for 2023/24 including the annual investment strategy, borrowing limits and prudential indicators summarised in this report and set out detail in a concurrent report on this agenda.
16) Note the 2023/24 Integrated Investment Framework report also concurrently on this agenda, which sets out the policies and framework for future investment decisions for the Council.
4.4 The Lord Mayor put the recommendations in paragraph 2 of the Cabinet report, Capital Strategy 2023/24 to 2027/28, Forecast Position for 2022/23 and Future Years Forecast to 2036/37 to the vote and on a show of hands declared the recommendations ADOPTED.
RESOLVED:
That full Council:
1) Approve the capital strategy as set out in this report.
2) Approve the capital expenditure for the General Fund as set out in Appendix A for 2023/24 to 2027/28 and future years to 2036/37.
3) Approve that all development and investment projects, along with all significant projects follow the previously approved business case governance process as set out in section 8 of this report.
4) Approve that no financing sources, unless stipulated in regulations or necessary agreements, are ring fenced.
5) Approve the proposed financing of the capital programme and revenue implications as set out in section 12 of this report.
6) Delegate to the Executive Director of Finance and Resources the decisions surrounding financing of the capital programme to provide sufficient flexibility to allow for the most effective use of the Council’s resources
4.5 The Lord Mayor put the recommendations in paragraph 3 of the Cabinet report, 2023/24 Housing Revenue Account 30-Year Business Plan and Housing Investment Plan to the vote and on a show of hands declared the recommendations ADOPTED.
RESOLVED:
That full Council:
1) Approve the HRA revenue budget for 2023/24.
2) Note the HRA 5-year revenue budgets for 2023/24 to 2027/28 and HRA 30- year revenue budgets for 2023/24 to 2052/53.
3) Approve the HRA 5-year Capital Programme totalling £794.51m.
4) Note the 30-year Capital Programme for 2023/24 to 2052/53 totalling £2.359bn.
5) Approve the inclusion of all Fairer Westminster investments, including the expansion of the HRA Rent Support Fund to £1.010m in 2023/24 (to be earmarked to support tenants experiencing financial difficulty during the cost of-living crisis).
6) Approve a rent increase of 7% from 3rd April 2023 in line with the social rent cap introduced by government for 2023/24, whilst noting that the Council continues to exercise its discretion under the rent restructuring policy to set rents for re-lets (both new tenants and transfers) up to formula target rent. 7) Approve an increase of 10.1% to the fees charged for garages and sheds (in line with CPI at September 2022) from 3rd April 2023. 8) Approve that tenant service charges be varied in line with estimated actual costs for 2023/24 from 3rd April 2023. 9) Note the HRA reserves and balances for the 5-year Business Plan.
4.6 The Lord Mayor put the recommendations in paragraph 4 of the Cabinet report, Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2023/24 to 2027/28 to the vote and on a show of hands declared the recommendations ADOPTED.
RESOLVED:
That full Council:
1) Approve the Treasury Management Strategy Statement.
2) Approve the borrowing strategy and borrowing limits for 2023/24 to 2027/28 set out in section.
3) Approve the Prudential Indicators set out in section 8 of the report.
4) Approve the Annual Investment Strategy and approved investments set out in Appendix 1of the report.
5) Approve the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy set out in Appendix 2 of the report.
4.7 The Lord Mayor put the recommendations in paragraph 5 of the Cabinet report, Integrated Investment Framework 2023-2024 to the vote and upon a show of hands declared the recommendations ADOPTED.
RESOLVED:
That full Council:
1) Approve and implement the Integrated Investment Framework set out in this report.
2) Approve that the target for the overall return on Council investments should aspire to at least meet forecasts for inflation over the medium term.
3) Approve that the benefits of investing in the Pension Fund should be used as a benchmark when evaluating other investments.
4) Adopt the asset allocation percentage ranges set out in the framework and work towards achieving these.
5) Agree that the overarching objective of this framework is to achieve an overall return on Council investments, matching CPI inflation over the medium term, and to reduce costs and liabilities, while maintaining adequate cash balances for operational purposes, and not exposing the capital value of investments to unnecessary risk.
6) Agree that assets must only be acquired for strategic purposes. Such prospective acquisitions must be considered individually, with the reasons for investment limited to regeneration or development of the location, or other strategic purposes in which the asset is established. Out-of-borough acquisitions may also be considered by exception.
7) Agree the Investment Executive to implement, monitor and report on the investment strategy.
4.8 The Lord Mayor put the recommendations in paragraph 6 of the Cabinet report, Pay Policy 2023-2024 to the vote and upon a show of hands declared the recommendations ADOPTED.
RESOLVED:
That the full Council approve the Pay Policy for 2023 – 2024 as attached as Appendix 1 to this report.
Supporting documents:
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