Issue - meetings

To consider and decide on the recommendations as set out in the associated report. 

RESOLVED –

1. That the in-year budget revisions and the direction of travel in setting the budget 2023/24 with the aim of rebalancing the council’s finances over the medium-term be approved.
2. That the Head of Economic Development and Property in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Performance be given delegated authority to commence listing, for potential disposal or lease, of the following surplus assets, Mount Pleasant Avenue Car Park, Great Hall Yard Car Park, the Gateway and Land at Warwick Park be approved.
3. That authority be delegated to the Head of Finance, Procurement and Parking in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Rural Communities (Deputy Leader) to produce Terms of Reference for a Community Support Fund be approved.
4. That the virement of £2.5m from the Town hall conversion budget to the Asset Acquisition budget to further the economic development of the town centre through the acquisition and/or redevelopment of property be approved.  And that delegated authority be given to the Director of Finance, Property and Development to negotiate and agreed terms to entre into contracts utilising this budget in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and the Cabinet Members for Finance and Performance and Tunbridge Wells Town Centre and Local Areas be approved. 
5. That delegated authority be given to the head of Legal Partnership to negotiate and complete all necessary agreements, deeds and documents arising or ancillary to the purchases and/or refurbishments on terms negotiated and agreed be approved.

REASON FOR DECISION: To deliver a sustainable budget that would address and rebalance the Council’s finances over the medium term.

Councillor Andrew Hickey, Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance provided a short summary of the discussion that took place at the Cabinet Advisory Board and then introduced Lee Colyer, Director of  Finance, Policy and Development who presented the report as set out in the agenda.

Discussion and questions from Members included the following:

-       The Council set a figure of £4m as the minimum level of Reserves that it should hold. 

-       This figure of £4m was a judgement made by the Director of Finances based around the Council’s risk and the value of the Council’s services it needed to provide.

-       On an annual basis the Council provided £65m worth of services, half of which were statutory services.  Statutory services were those that the Council must provide by law.  It was therefore important that the Council had funds set aside to ensure that those statutory services continued to be delivered.  Reserves were also there to fund the Capital programme that would ensure the Council had the assets from which to deliver those services from. 

-       In comparison to other Councils, this Council was in a relatively strong position.  As such there were options available to Members as to the level of assets it had.  In addition the Council had no external debt.

-       The level of usable Reserves had reduced significantly in the last year and this trajectory would continue unless it was addressed now. 

-       It was unclear what the state of the economy would be in six months’ time so it would not be prudent to delay taking action.  The crisis should be addressed now.

-       The current deficit for this year was £944k.  If this wasn’t addressed now, the deficit by 2026 would have increased to £3.5m 

RESOLVED –

1. That the in-year budget revisions and the direction of travel in setting the budget 2023/24 with the aim of rebalancing the council’s finances over the medium-term be approved.
2. That the Head of Economic Development and Property in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Performance be given delegated authority to commence listing, for potential disposal or lease, of the following surplus assets, Mount Pleasant Avenue Car Park, Great Hall Yard Car Park, the Gateway and Land at Warwick Park be approved.
3. That authority be delegated to the Head of Finance, Procurement and Parking in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Rural Communities (Deputy Leader) to produce Terms of Reference for a Community Support Fund be approved.
4. That the virement of £2.5m from the Town hall conversion budget to the Asset Acquisition budget to further the economic development of the town centre through the acquisition and/or redevelopment of property be approved.  And that delegated authority be given to the Director of Finance, Property and Development to negotiate and agreed terms to enter into contracts utilising this budget in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and the Cabinet Members for Finance and Performance and Tunbridge Wells Town Centre and Local Areas be approved. 
5. That delegated authority be given to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28

To consider and provide a recommendation to Cabinet on the proposals set out in the attached report. 

Lee Colyer, Director of Finance, Policy and Development introduced the report set out in the agenda.

Discussion and questions from Members included the following:

-       Income from potential co-working had not been factored in when forecasting for 2022/23.  Negotiations were ongoing regarding the work to the Town Hall.  More confidence in deciding a timeframe for an income stream from any letting would be known once these negotiations had been finalised. 

-       Forecasting for car parking income included within the budget gap graph was on the existing base budget.  As such, no assumptions had been made related to increase (or declining) usage.

-       Retained business rate growth was also not included in the assumptions as it was not prudent to do so.  Business rate growth was only truly known at the end of the financial year when the collection fund was reconciled and the Council knew the number of appeals that were either settled on running through the system.  Once this exercise had been completed, the Council would be able to declare how much growth it had received from business rates, and the money put back into reserves. 

-       It was suggested that these items should be included in the forecast as they all had the potential to help deliver a revenue surplus for the Council by the end of the financial year. 

-       The first quarter of the financial year had only just been completed.  The data was therefore not yet available to make any changes to forecast levels.  However, reports were brought to Cabinet on a quarterly basis with the opportunity to revise the budget and the level of forecasting. 

-       It was suggested the figures for car parking revenue were increasing and were now approaching pre pandemic levels.  If the figures for the first two months of this financial year were to continue for the whole year, the increase in revenue would be in the region of around £300k.  A change in the level of fees at this stage would be premature.

-       Measures that might affect the level of footfall within the town could have a detrimental effect on the town’s recovery. 

-       The report sought agreement for officers to market test surplus Council assets (as referred to in section 2.13).  Once this information had been obtained, a further report would be brought to Members so that a decision could be taken as to whether to dispose, redevelop or retain any or all of them. 

-       The assets listed had all previously been declared surplus.

A recorded vote was requested:

Cllr Brice – For                                          Cllr Pound - For

Cllr Dawlings – Against                             Cllr Rogers - For

Cllr Goodship Against                               Cllr Hayward - For

Cllr Hall – For                                            Cllr Hickey - For

Cllr Morton - For

For – 7

Against – 2

Abstain – 0

RESOLVED -  That the recommendations to Cabinet as set out in the report be supported.