Eastleigh Borough Council Cabinet Meeting

There were no declarations of interest in relation to items of business on the agenda.

RESOLVED -

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2025 be agreed as a correct record.

There was no public participation on this occasion.

There were no recommendations from Committees on this occasion.

Issue

Neighbourhood plans were introduced by the Localism Act 2011 to allow local communities to prepare a plan for development and land use in their area. Neighbourhood plans are statutory documents that, once adopted, form part of the development plan for the area. (Paper 6)

Consideration

Hamble Parish Council submitted a request to Eastleigh Borough Council as the local planning authority to designate the Hamble Parish area as a neighbourhood area. Under the regulations, local planning authorities are required to designate areas where the applicant is the parish council, the application area consists of the whole of the parish council’s area, and none of the area is already designated as a neighbourhood area. It is considered the application received meets the relevant requirements and the area should therefore be designated.

RESOLVED –

That Cabinet formally designated the Hamble Neighbourhood Area in accordance with the submission by Hamble Parish Council.

Issue

The Budget underpins the Council’s ability to meet Strategic Priorities set out in the Corporate Plan. The Budget aligns resources to enable services and projects to be delivered to support residents and other stakeholders. The Budget is a vital management mechanism to ensure financial sustainability of the Council and fulfilment of statutory obligations. (Paper 7)

Consideration

The adoption of the revised Corporate Plan for 2023-2026 in February 2023 has helped set the direction and key delivery objectives within the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and reflects the Council’s priorities against the anticipated future levels of resourcing.

RESOLVED –

That Cabinet recommends Council:

(1)  sets the revised Net Revenue Budget Requirement for 2024/25 at £21,339,000 and notes the impact on the Council’s General Fund balance (para 13);

(2)  sets the Net Revenue Budget Requirement for 2025/26 at £20,631,000 and notes the impact on the Council’s General Fund balance (para 13);

(3)  notes the Local Government Finance settlement for 2025/26 (para 43);

(4)  approves budget adjustments for 2024/25 and 2025/26 incorporated within the appended Medium-Term Financial Plan (Appendix A) (para 19-31);

(5)  approves the Medium-Term Financial Plan for 2024/25 – 2028/29 (Appendix A)

(6)  approves an increase of £2.12 (1.5%) for 2025/26 for the average Council Tax for Eastleigh Borough Council (para 44);

(7)  approves the Special Expenses for Parished areas (para 49-52);

(8)  approves the budgeted Service Improvement and Efficiencies requirement (para 40-42);

(9)  approves transfers to/from Earmarked Reserves and the continued freeze of any further discretionary transfers to or from all reserves (para 36-38);

Issue

Regular monitoring and management of the Council’s operational and financial performance is essential to understanding and supporting delivery against the corporate themes set out in the Council’s Corporate Plan 2023-2026 and contributes to the management of corporate risk. (Paper 8)

Consideration

The report brings together the context of the Council’s strategic ambitions, its performance working towards them, and the financial implications and challenges of both.

RESOLVED –

That Cabinet:

(1)  approved the performance of the Council for the third quarter of 2024/25 including the Council’s forecast underspend on services of £25,000 against the General Fund;

(2)  noted performance against Service Improvement and Efficiencies targets (Appendix B); and

(3)  noted the performance of the Community Investment Programme (Appendix C);

(4)  noted the progress made against the themes and actions within the Corporate Plan (2023-26) (Appendix D) and approves the revised final year of the Action Plan (Appendix E).

Issue

Councillors are aware that the Service Director - Finance, Improvement and Strategic Housing is authorised within the Constitution’s Scheme of Delegation to write-off debts of £5,000 or less in respect of Housing Benefits, Council Tax and Business Rates (NNDR) respectively. The Deputy Chief Executive (Chief Financial Officer) is authorised to write off debts of £5,000 or less and debts over this amount where bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings have been instituted. Anything outside of these limits should be approved by Cabinet. (Paper 9)

Consideration

The Service Director - Finance, Improvement and Strategic Housing and the Deputy Chief Executive (Chief Financial Officer) have exercised delegated powers to write-off debts below £5,000 and those in excess of £5,000 where bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings have been instituted. There are no debts proposed for write-off that require approval of Cabinet.

RESOLVED –

That Cabinet:

(1)  noted debts of £5,000 or under approved for write off by the Service Director Finance, Improvement and Strategic Housing relating to Council Tax, Business Rates (NNDR) and Housing Benefits with a net total of £95,567.51;

(2)  noted debts relating to bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings, approved for write off by the Deputy Chief Executive (Chief Financial Officer) relating to Council Tax, Business Rates (NNDR) and Housing Benefits with a net total of £385,131.96;

(3)  noted debts of £5,000 or under, approved for write off by the Deputy Chief Executive (Chief Financial Officer) relating to Sundry Debtors with a net total of £14,317.14; and

(4)  noted debts relating to bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings, approved for write off by the Deputy Chief Executive (Chief Financial Officer) relating to Sundry Debtors with a net total of £21,793.77.

Issue

The current fleet comprises 111 vehicles and plant items and more than 70 other pieces of ancillary and handheld pieces of equipment. These assets are essential in the delivery of customer facing services mainly within the Neighbourhood and Green Spaces Directorate. (Paper 10)

Consideration

The report shows that modification to the vehicle replacement programme within the agreed budget may be required due to changes in operational requirements including the requirement to deliver Simpler Recycling and for the service to operate in accordance with the Environment Act 2021 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2024.

RESOLVED –

That Cabinet:

(1)  approved the three-year Vehicle and Plant Replacement Programme detailed in Appendix One, totalling £564,000 from 2024/25 to 2026/27 to be financed from borrowing;

(2)  noted the increase of £86,955 to the revenue budget associated with the cost of borrowing in relation to the purchase of vehicles, which is included in the 2025/26 revenue budget presented for approval by Council in February 2025;

(3)  noted the increase to the vehicle hire budget of £45,000, which is included in the 2025/26 revenue budget presented for approval by Council in February 2025;

(4)  noted the potential increase to the Vehicle and Plant Replacement Programme for replacement of vehicles and machinery associated with the Green Spaces Operations;

(5)  noted the revised approach to vehicle replacement in respect of electric or carbon-neutral vehicles as set out in paragraph 5 in the main report;

(6)  delegated authority to the Service Director - Neighbourhood & Green Spaces to modify the replacement programme in light of market volatility, government policy changes and refurbishment opportunities, within the financial approval limits given in this report;

(7)  approved expenditure for Waste Receptacles of £140,000 per year over the next three years, to be funded from a combination of income from the sale of receptacles and borrowing; and

(8)  noted the increase of £8,000 per year for each of the next three years associated with the cost of borrowing in relation to the purchase of waste collection receptacles, which is already included in the 2025/26 revenue budget presented for approval by Council in February 2025.

Issue

The UKSPF is part of a suite of funding that supports the UK government’s wider commitment to level up all parts of the UK. An Investment Plan was developed and submitted by Eastleigh Borough Council and was successful in retaining its total allocation of £1,000,000 for 2022/23 to 2024/25. Delivery of a successful programme of interventions started in line with government timescales. (Paper 11)

Consideration

UKSPF Year 4 is a continuation of the Fund. It is a transition year, as the Growth Funding landscape evolves. Eastleigh Borough has been allocated £327,146 enabling delivery of the same types of activity supported to date. These are set out in a new one-year programme.

RESOLVED –

That Cabinet delegated authority to the Service Director for Planning and Environment to allocate the fourth tranche of UK Shared Prosperity Fund grant income of £327,146; being capital funding of £60,401 and revenue funding of £266,745 to projects in accordance with the terms of the grant.

Issue

The Capital, Treasury Management and Investment Strategies set out the long-term context in which capital expenditure decisions are made and gives due consideration to both the risk and reward of these decisions and the impact on the achievement of priority objectives. (Paper 12)

Consideration

The strategies appended to the report give a high-level overview of how capital expenditure, treasury management and investment activity contribute to the provision of local services along with an overview of how associated risk is managed and the implications for future financial sustainability.

RESOLVED –

That Cabinet:

(1)  recommended to Council to approve the Capital Strategy at Appendix 1;

(2)  recommended to Council to approve the Treasury Management Strategy at Appendix 2;

(3)  recommended to Council to approve the Investment Strategy at Appendix 3;

(4)  recommended to Council to approve the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy at Appendix 1D;

(5)  recommended to Council to approve the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Statement at Appendix 2A;

(6)  recommended to Council to approve the Prudential Indicators at Appendix 2B;

(7)  recommended to Council to approve the Treasury Management Policy Statement at Appendix 2C; and

(8)  recommended to Council to approve the Treasury Management Practices (TMP’s) and Investment Management Practices (IMP’s) at Appendix 2D.

[NOTE: Councillors thanked the Head of Finance for a very well written report.]

There were no queries in relation to the exempt appendix, so the exempt session was not required.