Issue - meetings

(i)             to note that, to date, £34m has been invested during 2024/2025 delivering upgrades to Council homes -  165 kitchen upgrades, 102 bathrooms, 219 windows, 372 fire doors (FD60);

(ii)           to commit £76m in 2025/26 to continue capital upgrades within Council housing stock to ensure these homes meets current and future standards;  

(iii)          to welcome the 206 Union Street project which is due to be completed in 2025, delivering 28 high quality, affordable social homes on Union Street, which will lead to more people living in the city centre;

(iv)          to welcome that £28m has been spent this year delivering the Cloverhill housing project, Craighill housing project and the Council’s other new build projects;

(v)           to approve the budget as attached in Appendix 1, page 2, of the report, subject to the following amendments:

(a)       that no contribution towards capital expenditure will be made from revenue in 2025/26;

(b)       that no contribution towards restoring HRA Reserves will be made in 2025/26;

(c)        that there will be a contribution of £792,000 from HRA Reserves during 2025/26, leaving the projected value of HRA Reserves as at 31 March 2026 approximately £7.6m or 6.5% of HRA operating costs - below the 10% HRA Reserves target;

(d)       that grounds maintenance on HRA land will be reduced during 2025/26 by 20%, saving £600,000; and

(e)       to introduce an additional new build premium of 15% for those properties that are first let, or thereafter have a change in tenancy, having been handed over to the Council after 18 March 2021, with effect from 7 April 2025; resulting in:

(f)         approval of the setting of the weekly unrebated rents at an increase of 7.5%, for municipal homes, to take effect from Monday 7 April 2025;

(vi)          to agree to work towards restoring the working balances to 10% in future years to meet future operational requirements and risks, noting that if the Housing Revenue Account records a deficit and has no reserves then the Council’s General Fund must make a contribution to balance the Account;

(vii)        to approve the level of miscellaneous rents and service charges, including Heat with Rent and the General Fund Support Services Charges as detailed in Appendix 1, pages 18 to 19, to take effect from Monday 7 April 2025;

(viii)       to approve, based on a rental increase of 7.5% the Base Capital Programme for the financial year 2025/26 Appendix 1, pages 22 to 24;

(ix)          to approve an expansion of the Rent Assistance Fund in 2025/26 to a maximum value of £1m, the intention being to reduce bad debt, and noting that an evaluation of the initial pilot will be reported to Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee in 2025, after 1 full year of operation;

(x)           to instruct the Chief Officer - Housing in consultation with the Chief Officer - Finance and Chief Officer - Digital and Technology to explore the resource and technical implications of moving from a 48 week to a 52 week rent structure with effect from April 2026,  ...  view the full decision text for item 1

With reference to Article 11 of the minute of its meeting of 11 December 2024, the Council heard from Alan Thomson, Interim Chief Officer - Governance (Legal), who sought to offer clarity on some confusion that had arisen at the end of the meeting regarding item 9.4 (Housing Revenue Account Budget 2025/26).

Mr Thomson stated, for the avoidance of doubt, that the Member-Officer Relations Protocol and Standing Orders formed part of the Council’s Scheme of Governance. He added that the Partnership had asked a question on the Labour amendment under Standing Order 26.2.1, which he quoted, and this was in relation to the use of reserves and competency. The question had been directed to the Chief Officer – Finance, who responded under Standing Order 29.11, which Mr Thomson also quoted. The Chief Officer - Finance advised that financial advice was given regarding the amendment and confirmed that it was legally competent but financially ill-advised and offered the rationale for this.

Mr Thomson explained that the Chief Officer - Finance had a duty to highlight any financial risk to the Council, especially regarding the use of reserves, and that Standing Order 29.9 had also been engaged, which he quoted. To summarise, Mr Thomson stated that there had been no breach of the Member-Officer Relations Protocol and all amendments were fully confidential between officers and elected members until they were made public just before the Council meeting. He added that the correct Standing Orders had been applied throughout and the Chief Officer - Finance had advised the Labour Group in writing the evening before the Council meeting that he would have to share the advice to all members under Standing Order 29.11.

Following further questions about process, which officers responded to, the Council was circulated with an advice note from the Chief Officer - Finance under Standing Order 29.11 on the use of reserves.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Finance which provided information to enable the Council to approve a housing revenue and capital budget for 2025/26, including setting of the rents and other charges on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for the financial year.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           approve the budget as attached in Appendix 1, page 2, of the report;

(b)           approve the setting of the weekly unrebated rents, an increase of 12%, for municipal homes in Appendix 1, page 3 of the report, to take effect from Monday 7 April 2025;

(c)           approve the level of revenue contribution to the Housing Capital budget for 2025/26 as detailed in Appendix 1, pages 22 to 24;

(d)           agree to work towards restoring the working balances to 10% to meet future operational requirements and risks, noting that if the Housing Revenue Account records a deficit and has no reserves then the Council’s General Fund must make a contribution to balance the Account;

(e)           approve the level of miscellaneous rents and service charges, including Heat with Rent and the General Fund Support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1