Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Halll and Holden.  Councillor Goodship was not present.

To receive any declarations of interest by members in items on the agenda. For any advice on declarations of interest, please contact the Monitoring Officer before the meeting.

There were no disclosable or other significant interests declared at the meeting.

To note any visiting Members and members of the public wishing to speak, of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Meeting Procedure Rule 18 and 19 and which items they wish to speak on.

There were no visiting persons registered to speak.

To approve the minutes of a previous meeting as a correct record. The only issue relating to the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy.

No amendments were proposed.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting dated 11 April 2023 be approved as a correct record. 

To note forthcoming items as set out in the Forward Plan

No amendments were proposed.

RESOLVED – That the Forward Plan as at 23 May 2023 be noted.

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

Jane Fineman, Head of Finance, Procurement and Parking introduced the report set out in the agenda.

Discussion and questions from Members included the following:

-       The Finance Team were congratulated for finalising the Council’s accounts by the end of May 2023. 

-       The introduction of the new Fees and Charges were staged and took effect towards the end of the last financial year.  They generated about  £300k more than had originally been projected.

-       The budget deficit of £943k was based on the assumption that the 48 vacancies in the Council were filled.

-       The Council were mindful that staff vacancies needed to be filled.  It was hoped the People’s Strategy, when published, would help achieve this.  The Council continued to advertise but at the moment it was struggling to make any significant headway in trying to reduce the number of vacant posts.

-       The People’s Strategy would be one of the Council’s core policy documents so would need to go through the usual approval process.  It was hoped that it would be adopted by February 2024.

-       There was no guarantee that the vacancies would be filled in the next 12 months.  If the vacancies were not filled, the money saved would cancel out the deficit. 

-       However, this was not a healthy position for the Council.  The Council were reliant on its staff to continue delivering the services but the current shortfall meant the position would soon become unsustainable.

-       The level of service that the Council needed to deliver to its residents was starting to suffer.  Experienced staff had left and new staff required training. Staff sickness had also risen.

-       The budget included a vacancy factor which accounted for the turnover of staff.  In 2022/23 it was £260k, for 2023/24 it would be £340k.  An increase of £80k as the Council recognised the problems it was having in recruiting staff.

-       The savings over 2022/23 due to staff vacancies was £1m.  If you subtracted the additional £80k and then divided the balance by four, you would have a figure of £230k which the Council could then contribute towards the £944k deficit. 

-       At quarter one of 2023/24 the Council would be in a position to start projecting for the year ahead.

-       It was noted that there was quite a large jump at year end from where the Council thought it would be at Quarter 3 and where the Council ended up in Quarter 4.  The biggest jump was in staff costs as department managers continued to be hopeful they would be able to fill vacancies.

-       The aim was to be able to find staff so the Council didn’t have a £1m variance for staff costs next year.

-       An alternative would be for the Council  to start to use agency staff.  But this was expensive. 

-       The Local Plan was difficult to budget for.  The Council didn’t budget for the Local Plan on a year by year basis.  It was usually funded from Reserves.  ...  view the full minutes text for item FG6/23

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

Jane Fineman, Head of Finance, Procurement and Parking introduced the report set out in the agenda.

Since the publication of the agenda, the Committee were asked to take into account some additional information, including approval of 3 additional recommendations to Cabinet.

-       Since the report was prepared, the Council had been offered the opportunity to bid for some additional funding from the Homes for Ukraine Grant held by KCC and the European Housing Fund applied for by KCC, upon which they were still awaiting approval. If the Council was successful, Cabinet would need to approve certain decisions in order to spend the money swiftly, and urgent progression was a condition of the grant.

-       The Council would like to bid for £1.403m funding for our proportion of the Local Authorities Housing Fund Scheme to deliver 15 affordable homes in Tunbridge Wells. If successful, then we would no longer need to use our own S106 developer funding and it could be repurposed.

-       The Council would also like to bid for £850,000 to refurbish the 4 properties in Crescent Road into 3 or 4 bedroom homes, which could initially be shared by Ukrainian families, but subsequently brought into the Council’s housing stock. If successful, the Council would ask for approval to go ahead and refurbish the properties. It had been discussed whether it would be better to divide these properties into smaller units, but as there were already 3 properties in smaller units in the parade, the variety was felt to be more appropriate. The Council also had a shortage of this property size and it would be cheaper, and importantly much quicker, to deliver than smaller units.

-       Thirdly, the Council would like to bid for £800,000 to purchase a 4/5 bed property, which again, 2 Ukrainian families would share. Again, this would be brought back into the Councils housing stock once no longer needed by Ukrainian guests. Affordable larger homes were in very short supply in the Borough and housing were recommending that this was the main area of housing shortage they experienced. If successful the Council would like approval to move to purchase a property.

-       Subject to agreement by the Committee, 3 recommendations would be added to the report that would be put forward to Cabinet as follows:

o   That if granted £1.403m KCC funding for the Council’s proportion of the Local Authorities Housing Fund Scheme to deliver 15 affordable homes in Tunbridge Wells, Finance and Governance recommends that the grant money be spent on the scheme and that the allocated S106 money should be repurposed.

o   That if KCC grants £850,000 to refurbish the 4 Crescent Road properties into 3 or 4 bedroom houses, Finance and Governance recommends to Cabinet that the grant should be spent as such and the refurbishment should be completed.

o   That if KCC grants £800,000 to purchase a 4 or 5 bedroomed house in the Borough, Finance and Governance recommends to Cabinet that the grant should be spent as such  ...  view the full minutes text for item FG7/23

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

Jane Fineman, Head of Finance, Procurement and Parking introduced the report set out in the agenda.

The report was taken as read.

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

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.

It was noted that a detailed discussion about staffing was undertaken as part of the Revenue Management Report.

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

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.

The report was taken as read.

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

To consider any other items which the Chairman decides are urgent, for the reasons to be stated, in accordance with Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There was no urgent business.

To note that the date of the next scheduled meeting is Tuesday 11 July 2023 at 6.30pm. 

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 11 July 2023 at 6:30pm.