Agenda item

It was moved by Councillor Anderson,

Seconded by Councillor Swindlehurst,

 

“That the budget as set out be approved and:

 

Council Tax Resolution – In relation to the Council Tax for 2014/15

 

(a)  That in pursuance of the powers conferred on the Council as the billing authority for its area by the Local Government Finance Acts (the Acts), the Council Tax for the Slough area for the year ending 31 March 2015 be as specified below and that the Council Tax be levied accordingly.

 

(b)   That it be noted that at its meeting on 16 December 2013 Cabinet calculated the following Tax Base amounts for the financial year 2014/15 in accordance with Regulations made under sections 31B(3) and 34(4) of the Act:

 

(i)  37,376.2 being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations) as the Council Tax Base for the whole of the Slough area for the year 2014/15; and

 

(ii)   The sums below being the amounts of Council Tax Base for the Parishes within Slough for 2014/15:

 

a) Parish of Britwell   1,411.7

 

b) Parish of Colnbrook with Poyle   1,755.2

 

c) Parish of Wexham   1,244.4

 

(c)  That the following amounts be now calculated for the year 2014/15 in accordance with sections 31A to 36 of the Act:

 

(i)  £368,402,617 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in section 31A(2)(a) to (f) of the Act. (Gross Expenditure);

 

(ii)  £ 324,358,321 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in section 31A(3) (a) to (d) of the Act. (Gross Income);

 

(iii)   £44,044,296 being the amount by which the aggregate at paragraph c (i) above exceeds the aggregate at paragraph c (ii) above calculated by the Council as its council tax requirement for the year as set out in section 31A(4) of the Act. (Council Tax Requirement);

 

(iv)   £1,178.40 being the amount at paragraph c(iii) above divided by the amount at paragraph b(i) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 31B(1) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year, including the requirements for Parish precepts.

 

(v)  That for the year 2014/15 the Council determines in accordance with section 34 (1) of the Act, Total Special Items of £ 192,056 representing the total of Parish Precepts for that year.

 

(vi)  £1,173.27 being the amount at paragraph c (iv) above less the result given by dividing the amount at paragraph c (v) above by the relevant amounts at paragraph b (i) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 34 (2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no special item relates.

 

(vii)   Valuation Bands

 

 

Band	Slough Area	Parish of Britwell	Parish of Colnbrook With Poyle	Parish of Wexham Court
	£	£	£	£
A	782.18	44.06	31.80	24.48
B	912.54	51.41	37.1	28.56
C	1,042.91	58.75	42.4	32.64
D	1,173.27	66.10	47.70	36.72
E	1,434.00	80.79	58.3	44.89
F	1,694.72	95.47	68.9	53.05
G	1,955.45	110.16	79.5	61.21
H	2,346.54	132.19	95.4	73.45

 

Being the amounts given by multiplying the amounts at paragraph c (Iv) and c (vi) above by the number which, in the proportion set out in section 5 (1) of the Act, is applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band divided by the number which in that proportion is applicable to dwellings listed in valuation band D, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 36 (1) of the Act, as the amount to be taken into account for the year in respect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuation bands.

 

(viii)   That it be noted that for the year 2014/15 the Thames Valley Police Authority have provisionally stated the following amount in precept issued to the Council, in accordance with section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown over leaf:

 

 

 

 

(ix)   That it be noted that for the year 2014/15 the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority has provisionally stated the following amount in precept issued to the Council, in accordance with section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

 

ESTIMATE – Update provided when confirmed

 

 

(x)  Note that arising from these recommendations, and assuming the major precepts are agreed, the overall Council Tax for Slough Borough Council including the precepting authorities will be as follows:

 

Band	Slough	Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Thames Valley	Royal Berkshire  Fire Authority	TOTAL
	£	£	£	£
A	782.18	107.01	40.44	929.63
B	912.54	124.85	47.18	1,084.57
C	1,042.91	142.68	53.92	1,239.51
D	1,173.27	160.52	60.66	1,394.45
E	1,434.00	196.19	74.14	1,704.33
F	1,694.72	231.86	87.62	2,014.20
G	1,955.45	267.53	101.1	2,324.08
H	2,346.54	321.04	121.32	2,788.90

 

 (xi)   That the Section 151 Officer be and is hereby authorised to give due notice of the said Council Tax in the manner provided by Section 38(2) of the 2012 Act.

 

(xii)  That the Section 151 Officer be and is hereby authorised when necessary to apply for a summons against any Council Tax payer or non-domestic ratepayer on whom an account for the said tax or rate and arrears has been duly served and who has failed to pay the amounts due to take all subsequent necessary action to recover them promptly.

 

(xiii)  That the Section 151 Officer be authorised to collect (and disperse from the relevant accounts) the Council Tax and National Non-Domestic Rate and that whenever the office of the Section 151 Officer is vacant or the holder thereof is for any reason unable to act, the Chief Executive or such other authorised post-holder be authorised to act as before said in his or her stead.

 

(xiv)  The above figures assume a council tax freeze for both the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority and Britwell Parish.  If this is not the case this report requests the Section 151 or nominated officer be authorised to adjust the council tax charges in line with final figures.

 

Discretionary and Hardship Relief Policy –

 

(d)  That the Discretionary and Hardship Relief Policy for 2014/15 be approved (as detailed in appendix J) so that no charity or non profit making body receives more than 80% of their Business Rates as relief and to note the policy will be amended for 2015/16 to reflect that no charity or non profit making bodies receives more than 80% charity relief.

 

HRA Rents and Service Charges –

 

(e)  That the proposed increase in Housing Revenue Account rents and service charges for 2014/15 be as follows:

 

(i)  Council house dwelling rents for 2014/15 increase by an average of £4.85 per week (5.0% average increase) with effect from Monday 7^th April 2014. This is in line with current government guidelines on rent increases, linked to September RPI+0.5%, and restructuring (the government is proposing to change its guidelines on rent increases from 2015/16 to an annual increase of CPI plus 1%, removing the restructuring policy);

 

(ii)  Garage rents, heating, utility and ancillary charges increase by 3.2% with effect from Monday 7^th April 2014. This is based upon the September RPI figure used in rent setting.

 

(iii)  Service charges increase by 3.7% with effect from Monday 7^th April 2014. This is based upon the RPI+0.5% uplift used for rent setting.

 

(iv)  ‘Other committee’ property rents increase by an average of 5.0% from Monday 7^th April 2014 in line with the average increase of all housing properties.

 

The recommendations were put and carried and, on a show of hands, a prior request having been made for a record of the voting:-

 

There voted for the recommendations:-

 

Councillors  Anderson, Bal, Brooker, Carter, Chaudhry, Chohan, Dar, Davis, A S Dhaliwal, Dhillon, Grewal, Matloob, Nazir, Pantelic, Parmar, Plenty, Rasib, Sandhu, Shah, Sharif, Small, Sohal, and Swindlehurst ………………………………………………………………………………………23

 

There voted against the recommendations:-

 

Councillors Mittal, Smith and Wright  …………………………………………….3

 

There abstained from voting:-

 

The Worshipful the Mayor .........................................................................................  1

 

Resolved  -  That the budget as set out be approved and:

 

Council Tax Resolution – In relation to the Council Tax for 2014/15

 

(a)  That in pursuance of the powers conferred on the Council as the billing authority for its area by the Local Government Finance Acts (the Acts), the Council Tax for the Slough area for the year ending 31 March 2015 be as specified below and that the Council Tax be levied accordingly.

 

(b)   That it be noted that at its meeting on 16 December 2013 Cabinet calculated the following Tax Base amounts for the financial year 2014/15 in accordance with Regulations made under sections 31B(3) and 34(4) of the Act:

 

(i)  37,376.2 being the amount calculated by the Council, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations) as the Council Tax Base for the whole of the Slough area for the year 2014/15; and

 

(ii)   The sums below being the amounts of Council Tax Base for the Parishes within Slough for 2014/15:

 

(a)  Parish of Britwell   1,411.7

 

(b)  Parish of Colnbrook with Poyle   1,755.2

 

(c)  Parish of Wexham   1,244.4

 

(c)  That the following amounts be now calculated for the year 2014/15 in accordance with sections 31A to 36 of the Act:

 

(i)  £368,402,617 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in section 31A(2)(a) to (f) of the Act. (Gross Expenditure);

 

(ii)  £324,358,321 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in section 31A(3) (a) to (d) of the Act. (Gross Income);

 

(iii)   £44,044,296 being the amount by which the aggregate at paragraph c (i) above exceeds the aggregate at paragraph c (ii) above calculated by the Council as its council tax requirement for the year as set out in section 31A(4) of the Act. (Council Tax Requirement);

 

(iv)   £1,178.40 being the amount at paragraph c(iii) above divided by the amount at paragraph b(i) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 31B(1) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year, including the requirements for Parish precepts.

 

(v)  That for the year 2014/15 the Council determines in accordance with section 34 (1) of the Act, Total Special Items of £ 192,056 representing the total of Parish Precepts for that year.

 

(vi)  £1,173.27 being the amount at paragraph c (iv) above less the result given by dividing the amount at paragraph c (v) above by the relevant amounts at paragraph b (i) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 34 (2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no special item relates.

 

(vii)  Valuation Bands

 

Band	Slough Area	Parish of Britwell	Parish of Colnbrook with Poyle	Parish of Wexham Court
	£	£	£	£
A	782.18	44.06	31.80	24.48
B	912.54	51.41	37.1	28.56
C	1,042.91	58.75	42.4	32.64
D	1,173.27	66.10	47.70	36.72
E	1,434.00	80.79	58.3	44.89
F	1,694.72	95.47	68.9	53.05
G	1,955.45	110.16	79.5	61.21
H	2,346.54	132.19	95.4	73.45

 

Being the amounts given by multiplying the amounts at paragraph c (Iv) and c (vi) above by the number which, in the proportion set out in section 5 (1) of the Act, is applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band divided by the number which in that proportion is applicable to dwellings listed in valuation band D, calculated by the Council, in accordance with section 36 (1) of the Act, as the amount to be taken into account for the year in respect of categories of dwellings listed in different valuation bands.

 

(viii)   That it be noted that for the year 2014/15 the Thames Valley Police Authority have provisionally stated the following amount in precept issued to the Council, in accordance with section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown:

 

 

(ix)   That it be noted that for the year 2014/15 the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority has provisionally stated the following amount in precept issued to the Council, in accordance with section 40 of the Act, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

 

ESTIMATE – Update provided when confirmed

 

 

(x)  Note that arising from these recommendations, and assuming the major precepts are agreed, the overall Council Tax for Slough Borough Council including the precepting authorities will be as follows:

 

Band	Slough	Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Thames Valley	Royal Berkshire Fire Authority	TOTAL
	£	£	£	£
A	782.18	107.01	40.44	929.63
B	912.54	124.85	47.18	1,084.57
C	1,042.91	142.68	53.92	1,239.51
D	1,173.27	160.52	60.66	1,394.45
E	1,434.00	196.19	74.14	1,704.33
F	1,694.72	231.86	87.62	2,014.20
G	1,955.45	267.53	101.1	2,324.08
H	2,346.54	321.04	121.32	2,788.90

 

(xi)   That the Section 151 Officer be and is hereby authorised to give due notice of the said Council Tax in the manner provided by Section 38(2) of the 2012 Act.

 

(xii)  That the Section 151 Officer be and is hereby authorised when necessary to apply for a summons against any Council Tax payer or non-domestic ratepayer on whom an account for the said tax or rate and arrears has been duly served and who has failed to pay the amounts due to take all subsequent necessary action to recover them promptly.

 

(xiii)  That the Section 151 Officer be authorised to collect (and disperse from the relevant accounts) the Council Tax and National Non-Domestic Rate and that whenever the office of the Section 151 Officer is vacant or the holder thereof is for any reason unable to act, the Chief Executive or such other authorised post-holder be authorised to act as before said in his or her stead.

 

(xiv)  The above figures assume a council tax freeze for both the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority and Britwell Parish.  If this is not the case this report requests the Section 151 or nominated officer be authorised to adjust the council tax charges in line with final figures.

 

Discretionary and Hardship Relief Policy –

 

(d)  That the Discretionary and Hardship Relief Policy for 2014/15 be approved (as detailed in appendix J of the report) so that no charity or non profit making body receives more than 80% of their Business Rates as relief and to note the policy will be amended for 2015/16 to reflect that no charity or non profit making bodies receives more than 80% charity relief.

 

HRA Rents and Service Charges –

 

(e)  That the proposed increase in Housing Revenue Account rents and service charges for 2014/15 be as follows:

 

(i)  Council house dwelling rents for 2014/15 increase by an average of £4.85 per week (5.0% average increase) with effect from Monday 7^th April 2014. This is in line with current government guidelines on rent increases, linked to September RPI+0.5%, and restructuring (the government is proposing to change its guidelines on rent increases from 2015/16 to an annual increase of CPI plus 1%, removing the restructuring policy);

 

(ii)  Garage rents, heating, utility and ancillary charges increase by 3.2% with effect from Monday 7^th April 2014. This is based upon the September RPI figure used in rent setting.

 

(iii)  Service charges increase by 3.7% with effect from Monday 7^th April 2014. This is based upon the RPI+0.5% uplift used for rent setting.

 

(iv)  ‘Other committee’ property rents increase by an average of 5.0% from Monday 7^th April 2014 in line with the average increase of all housing properties.