Agenda item

(Notification of Intention to move Amendments- required by 10 a.m. on Monday, 20^th  February, 2012).

 

The Council was advised that following the publication of the agenda papers, the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority and the Thames Valley Police Authority had provided final confirmation of their precept requirements for 2012/13 and these were set out in a supplementary agenda that had been published on 21^st February, 2012 and tabled at the meeting.

 

The supplementary information also included a revised Appendix C-Statutory Calculation of Council Tax (Appendix A in tabled document); a revised Appendix D- Schedule of basic amount of Council Tax for all areas, including Police and Fire, 2012/13 (Appendix B in tabled document), the resulting changes in Prudential Indicators, and a schedule of General Fund Reserves (Appendix D of the tabled document).

 

The Leader of the Council and the Commissioners for Community and Leisure, Health and Wellbeing, Performance and Accountability, Opportunity and Skills, Education and Children, Environment and Open Spaces and Neighbourhoods and Renewal presented the Leadership Proposals for the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  On completion of the presentation -

 

It was moved by Councillor Anderson,

Seconded by Councillor Swindlehurst,

 

“That the recommendations set out below be approved, subject to amendment as necessary:

 

(a)    That the implications of decisions in 2012/13 and of future developments on the medium-term financial position be noted.

(b)  That the Investment and Savings items set out in Appendices E (i) and E (ii) of the report be approved.

(c)  That the Directorate cash limits for 2012/13 to 2015/16 as shown in Appendix F of the report be approved.

(d)  That the Council’s Policy for Reserves 2012/13, as set out in paragraph 3.44 of the report and in Appendix D of the report tabled and published within the supplementary agenda issued on 21^st February, 2012 be approved.

(e)  That the capital programme for the financial year 2012/13; and provisional allocations across the medium term as set out in Appendix I of the report be approved.

(f)  That the Capital Allowance as set out in the Capital Programme within Section 6 of the report be approved

(g)  That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and  Investment Strategy within Section 7 of the report be approved.

(h)  That the authorised borrowing limit and the operational boundary for external debt as set out in the Treasury Management Strategy Statement be approved.

(i)  That the revised Prudential Indicators set out in Appendix C of the report tabled and published within the supplementary agenda issued on 21^st February, 2012 and the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) statement as set out in the Treasury Management Strategy Statement section of the report be approved.

(j)  That the Council Tax for the areas of Slough Borough Council for the year ending 31 March 2013 be as specified in the Council Tax Resolution set out within Appendix A of the report tabled and published within the supplementary agenda issued on 21^st February, 2012 and that the Council Tax be levied accordingly.

(k)  That in agreeing the above recommendations and the Revenue Budget in Appendix B, the Council notes that the effect of all these measures is to produce an overall Council expenditure in 2012/13 of £100.460m.

(l)  That the pay policy as at appendix L of the report be approved

(m)  That the borrowings to support the changes to HRA subsidy be approved and the effective date of 28 March 2012 be noted. 

(n)  That the revised Debt Management Policy be approved.

(o)  That officers explore the options that may be available under the Localism Act to offer incentives to individuals in paying their Council Tax.” 

 

The Leader of the Conservative Group and the Deputy Leader of the BILLD Group then made presentations to the Council on the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

 

On completion of the presentations a number of amendments were moved:–

 

Amendment 1

 

It was moved as an amendment by Councillor Abe,

Seconded by Councillor Basharat,

 

“We recommend that whilst continuing to advertise for permanent posts it is recognised that some temporary staff will have to be employed however we suggest that no temporary staff are employed for longer than a six month period without review unless there is a value for money business case to do so”. 

 

The recommendation was put and lost by 10 votes to 23 votes with 2 abstentions.

 

Amendment 2

 

It was moved as an amendment by Councillor Smith,

Seconded by Councillor Long,

 

“In order to monitor spend more closely, we recommend that any changes to the structure of directorates and departments or changes in the responsibilities or scope of any Directors post are brought before full council for ratification”. 

 

The recommendation was put and lost by 11 votes to 22 votes with 0 abstentions.

 

Amendment 3

 

It was moved as an amendment by Councillor Coad,

Seconded by Councillor Strutton,

 

“Where possible and appropriate the Council will actively encourage the recruitment of young people and those with disabilities to posts within the Council in areas of growth”. 

 

The recommendation was put and lost by 10 votes to 22 votes with 2 abstention.

 

Amendment 4

 

It was moved as an amendment by Councillor Dale-Gough,

Seconded by Councillor Stokes,

 

“We recognise that councillors are currently involved in officer appointments at Director and Assistant Director level however there are middle management posts lower down the scale within the organisation which together represent a high cost to the council and which therefore should be reviewed by members before appointments are made.  We therefore recommend that the Employment and Appeals Committee review the Officer Employment Procedure Rules to enable this”. 

 

The recommendation was put and lost by 10 votes to 22 votes with 2 abstentions.

 

Amendment 5

 

It was moved as an amendment by Councillor Stokes,

Seconded by Councillor Plimmer,

 

“This Council notes that Slough Borough Council placed a contract with Pertemps in order to ‘channel all vacancies through one source and thereby secure significant savings which will be monitored in six-monthly reports to Members’.  As no reports have yet been issued this Council now requires Officers to prepare a progress report for Council indicating how many vacancies have been filled by Pertemps, how many vacancies have not been filled by Pertemps, how much money has been paid to Pertemps and how much money has been paid to other agencies in respect of vacancies that were not filled by Pertemps”. 

 

The amendment was put and lost and, on a show of hands, a prior request having been made for a record of the voting:-

 

There voted for the amendment:-

 

Councillors Basharat, Coad, Dale-Gough, Long, Plimmer, Smith, Stokes, Strutton and A S Wright    9

 

There voted against the amendment:-

 

Councillors Anderson, Bains, Carter, S Chaudhry, Dar, Davis, A S Dhaliwal, Grewal, M S Mann, P K Mann, Matloob, Minhas, Munawar, Pantelic, Parmar, Plenty, Rasib, Sharif, Small, Sohal, Swindlehurst, and Walsh ....................................................................................................................................  22

 

There abstained from voting:-

 

The Worshipful the Mayor; and Councillor Buchanan ............................................  2

 

Amendment 6

 

It was moved as an amendment by Councillor Stokes,

Seconded by Councillor Long,

 

“As the salary gap between SBC front line staff and SBC Senior Officer staff has widened substantially and disproportionally, and as SBC Senior Officer salaries are now exceptionally high in relation to the size of the Borough of Slough, this Council calls upon the Cabinet to report to Council on corrective measures to remedy this salary distortion and imbalance”. 

 

The recommendation was put and lost by 8 votes to 23 votes with 3 abstentions.

 

Amendment 7

 

It was moved as an amendment by Councillor Stokes,

Seconded by Councillor Coad,

 

“In accordance with Government advice at this time of financial crisis this Council resolves to invite all Senior Officers earning a salary in excess of £100,000 to accept a voluntary reduction in salary of 5% and all Senior Officers earning a salary in excess of £150,000 to accept a voluntary reduction in salary of 10%”. 

 

The amendment was put and lost and, on a show of hands, a prior request having been made for a record of the voting:-

 

There voted for the amendment:-

 

Councillors Abe, Basharat, Coad, Dale-Gough, Long, Smith, and Stokes ........  7

 

There voted against the amendment:-

 

Councillors Anderson, Bains, Carter, S Chaudhry, Dar, Davis, A S Dhaliwal, Grewal, M S Mann, P K Mann, Matloob, Minhas, Munawar, Pantelic, Parmar, Plenty, Rasib, Sharif, Small, Sohal, Swindlehurst, Walsh and A S Wright ....................................................................................................................  23

 

There abstained from voting:-

 

The Worshipful the Mayor; Councillors Buchanan, Plimmer, and Strutton ..........  4

 

The substantive motion was then put and carried by 22 votes to 0 votes with 11 abstentions. 

 

Resolved  –

 

(a)  That the implications of decisions in 2012/13 and of future developments on the medium-term financial position be noted.

(b)  That the Investment and Savings items set out in Appendices E (i) and E (ii) of the report be approved.

(c)  That the Directorate cash limits for 2012/13 to 2015/16 as shown in Appendix F of the report be approved.

(d)  That the Council’s Policy for Reserves 2012/13, as set out in paragraph 3.44 of the report and in Appendix D of the report tabled within the supplementary agenda issued on 21^st February, 2012 be approved.

(e)  That the capital programme for the financial year 2012/13; and provisional allocations across the medium term as set out in Appendix I of the report be approved.

(f)  That the Capital Allowance as set out in the Capital Programme within Section 6 of the report be approved

(g)  That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and  Investment Strategy within Section 7 of the report be approved.

(h)  That the authorised borrowing limit and the operational boundary for external debt as set out in the Treasury Management Strategy Statement be approved.

(i)  That the revised Prudential Indicators set out in Appendix C of the report tabled within the supplementary agenda issued on 21^st February, 2012 and the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) statement as set out in the Treasury Management Strategy Statement section of the report be approved.

(j)  That the Council Tax for the areas of Slough Borough Council for the year ending 31 March 2013 be as specified in the Council Tax Resolution set out within Appendix A of the report tabled within the supplementary agenda issued on 21^st February, 2012 (also attached as an Annex to this minute) and that the Council Tax be levied accordingly.

(k)  That in agreeing the above recommendations and the Revenue Budget in Appendix B, the Council notes that the effect of all these measures is to produce an overall Council expenditure in 2012/13 of £100.460m.

(l)  That the pay policy as at appendix L of the report be approved

(m)  That the borrowings to support the changes to HRA subsidy be approved and the effective date of 28 March 2012 be noted.

(n)  That the revised Debt Management Policy be approved.

(o)  That officers explore the options that may be available under the Localism Act to offer incentives to individuals in paying their Council Tax.