Agenda and minutes

The Lord Provost proposed that the two items of business on the agenda marked Not for Publication be considered with the press and public excluded, as they contained exempt information as described in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. These items were:- (1) Proposals for Mental Health Day Service Redesign to Achieve Budget Savings - Report by Director of Social Care and Wellbeing; and (2) Common Good Budget 2010/11 to 2012/13 - Appendix 11 to the report by the City Chamberlain.

Councillor Young moved as a procedural motion, seconded by Councillor Cooney:-

            That the items referred to be considered in public.

For the procedural motion  (13)  -  Councillors Adam, Allan, Cassie, Collie, Cooney, Crockett, Donnelly, Farquharson, Graham, Hunter, Ironside, Laing and Young.

Against the procedural motion  (24)  -  Lord Provost Peter Stephen; Depute Provost Dunbar; and Councillors Clark, Corall, Cormie, Dean, Fletcher, Greig, Jaffrey, Kiddie, Leslie, McCaig, McDonald, Malone, May, Noble, Penny, Robertson, Jennifer Stewart, John Stewart, Kevin Stewart, Wendy Stuart, John West and Kirsty West.

Declined to vote  (2)  -  Councillors Milne and Wisely.

Absent from the division  (4)  -  Councillors Boulton, Cormack, Reynolds and Yuill.

The Council resolved:-

to reject the procedural motion and thereby consider the items, where applicable, with the press and public excluded.

Councillor John Stewart stated that the items listed below would be dealt with together for the purpose of his budget speech:-

·               Financial Strategy - Revenue Budget 2010/11 Update

·               Update Report on Social Care and Wellbeing Annual Grant Making Programme

·               Non Housing Capital Programme 2010/11 to 2013/14 and the Prudential Indicators

·               Proposals for Mental Health Day Service Redesign to Achieve Budget Savings

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

            Councillor Fletcher declared a pecuniary interest in the following item of business by virtue of his position as Vice President of COSLA and withdrew from the meeting during the course of its consideration by the Council.

The Council had before it (1) a report by the City Chamberlain which presented a draft General Fund Revenue Budget for 2010/11; and (2) a further report by the City Chamberlain which proposed a Non Housing Capital Programme for 2010/11 and a provisional programme for 2011/12 to 2013/14.

The Council also had before it reports by the Director of Social Care and Wellbeing pertaining to (a) grants to the voluntary sector from the Social Care and Wellbeing budget and the impact of making savings across that budget; and (b) the proposal to tender for a single, mental health day support service which had the capacity to cater for existing service users of two providers with the purpose of achieving required budget savings.

The report on the General Fund Revenue Budget had attached as appendices (1) the range of options, under each Directorate, which were reported to Council on 16^th December 2009 (Article 13 of the minute refers), of which £23.070million had been approved for setting a balanced budget this day; (2) the latest forecast of net General Fund income and expenditure for 2009/10; (3) a list of savings and other efficiencies options which had been identified; (4) a list of items which had been deferred for a further report totalling £1.148million; (5) a table which provided a breakdown of items requiring the use of contingencies in 2010/11, which amounted to £2.830million of the £3.467million which had been set aside; and (6) a list of additional growth items faced by services totalling £7.940million.

The report advised of the updated current position, as per Appendix 2 to the report, highlighting that total projected expenditure less total funding was £10.662million. Further savings proposals, as contained within Appendix 3 to the report, totalled £2.916million which, when taken, reduced the shortfall in the budget to £7.746million.

Appendix 2 to the report also showed how the previously reported 2010/11 position had moved since reported to Council on 16^th December 2009. This outlined that at present there was a gross spend of £465.223million for 2010/11 if all of the 2009/10 budgetary pressures (£9.297million) and growth items for 2010/11 (£8.140million) were accepted. This updated position reflected the previously identified 2009/10 cost risks relating to sports income, children’s out of city placement/specialist care and the increasing demand for adult services.

The current projected spend for 2010/11 also included:-

• A revised corporate budget provision/contingency of £3.467million
• A sum of £1.897million for a revenue investment fund
• A total of £36.963million for Joint Boards requisitions
• A sum of £2.375million for the former ring fenced Fairer Scotland Fund

The report touched upon the additional growth items as set out in Appendix 4 to the report and highlighted that there was no pay award built into the base budget other than for teachers,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Attention having been directed to the removal by the Standards Commission of any disability imposed by the Councillor’s Code of Conduct on any members of the Council who had declared an interest under section 4 of the Code by virtue of being tenants of municipal houses so as to enable them to consider, discuss and vote on the matter of rent of municipal houses, the Acting Head of Democratic Services intimated that Councillor Collie had declared an interest but would not be required to leave the meeting.

The Council had before it a joint report by the Director of Housing and Environment and the City Chamberlain which provided members with information to allow the setting of the rent level for the financial year 2010/11 as well as provisional rent levels for the financial years 2011/12 and 2012/13, explaining that this would allow a capital programme for 2010/11 to be set as well as a provisional programme for 2011/12 to 2012/13.

The report advised (a) that the current estimated out-turn for the HRA for 2009/10 showed a balanced budget with increased capital from current revenue; (b) that the draft budget for 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13 (as attached at Appendix 1 to the report) showed gross expenditure of £70.095million which included a contribution to capital expenditure referred to as Capital Financed from Current Revenue (CFCR) of £12.753million and income of £70.095million which reflected and included a proposed rent increase of 2.3% based on feedback from the annual tenants consultation; (c) that the budget included the capital financing charges to fund a programme of £54.847million (the details of the potential projects to be included in this programme were contained within Appendix 1 to the report); (d) that the budget detailed in Appendix 1 to the report also required the miscellaneous rents and service charges to be set, and the report gave indicative increases that the Council may wish to consider, along with what these meant as a percentage (the Council would have to decide on any possible increment to these charges in line with its rent setting strategy); (e) that working balances as at 31^st March 2010 were estimated at £5.135million, and it was considered that working balances should be set at 5% of final gross expenditure; (f) of the minimum working balances over the next three financial years subject to final budget approvals; (g) that in setting a capital programme, the level of capital investment was determined at a local authority level and the base programme, subject to the rent setting process, was £54.847million as set out in Appendix 1 to the report; (h) in terms of an outline budget for 2011/12 and 2012/13, also set out within Appendix 1 to the report, which included an assumed rent increase of 1.5% in 2011/12 and 1.3% in 2012/13; (i) in terms of the average rents of all other local authorities in 2009/10, noting that if the Council was to approve the rental increase of 2.3% and all other  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Lord Provost referred to the recent trend of proceedings during Council meetings continually being interrupted by Points of Order from members on both sides of the Chamber, and advised that he had asked the Acting Head of Democratic Services to look into the matter with a view to addressing it.

The Council had before it a report by the City Chamberlain which presented the draft Common Good Budget for 2010/11, along with indicative budgets for 2011/12 and 2012/13.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              consider the detailed Common Good Budget for 2010/11, as appended to the report, and the forecast cash balances position; and

(b)              approve a Common Good Budget, taking into consideration:-

(1)               any proposals to amend the draft budget

(2)               any decisions arising out of consideration of items referred to the budget process

(3)               the Council’s approval of the General Fund budget

(4)               the impact of the above on cash balances

The Council resolved:-

to refer the report, and appendices, simplicter to the Finance and Resources Committee.

- PETER STEPHEN, Lord Provost.

APPENDIX A

BUDGET SPEECH 2010/2011

Introduction

Lord Provost, members of Aberdeen City Council.  As Leader of the Council it is my responsibility to propose the General Fund Revenue and Non Housing Capital budgets along with the Council Tax for the coming financial year.

As I do so, I wish to put on record my appreciation of the hard work by elected members and officers which has gone in to producing the budget proposals already agreed by Council late last year and those before us today.  I also wish to thank those partners and stakeholders who took part in the budget engagement meetings led by the Chief Executive in the weeks running up to the Council meeting in December.

The revenue budget I propose today Lord Provost will allow the Council to spend £456 million providing services to the citizens of Aberdeen.

Financial Context

Lord Provost, every member of the Council is well aware of the unprecedented global financial situation we currently face and the impact it is likely to have for some years to come.  I am proud to lead the Council in one of only a handful of cities in the UK well-placed both to ride out the difficult times ahead and indeed to play a major role in bringing the country out of recession. 

We must recognise however, that this puts an extra burden of responsibility on the Council to ensure that we do everything we can to enhance and augment the economic sustainability of the City and indeed the wider North East while at the same time dealing with the impacts of the recession closer to home. 

Grant Settlement

One of the less fortunate consequences for the Council of the vibrancy of the City’s economy is a view that seems to prevail with some that given the relative wealth of Aberdeen, the City’s public sector including the Council does not require similar levels of investment to those provided elsewhere in Scotland.  This is a fallacy Lord Provost.  A fallacy that short changes the people we serve.

The situation has been further compounded recently by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth accepting the COSLA position that the local government funding distribution formula is “fit for purpose” and contains “no genuine anomalies”.  The Cabinet Secretary has been left in no doubt that the perspective from Aberdeen is somewhat different and I am grateful that my Leadership Board colleagues will be joining me in making the case for the Council and the people of Aberdeen face to face with Mr Swinney when we meet him.

2009/2010

Lord Provost, against a background of international financial instability and given an unfair level of grant funding from central government the key responsibility for the Council is to identify the best way to provide the services that the people of Aberdeen need and deserve while ensuring a firm financial footing is established and maintained for the Council itself.

Massive strides have been made in this direction by the Council during the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

APPENDIX B

BUDGET SPEECH 2010/11:

HOUSING CAPITAL PROGRAMME AND

HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT BUDGET

Lord Provost and Members of Aberdeen City Council, I am delighted to present the Administration’s proposals for the 2010/11 Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the Housing Capital Programme.

We are proud to state that we have continued to make housing investment a priority for this Administration by achieving and sustaining a sound financial foundation for delivering our housing landlord responsibilities and objectives.

This firm foundation has enabled us to continue to move forward with confidence in developing the Housing Revenue Account and Housing Capital Budget for financial year 20010/11 and the indicative programmes for financial years 2011/12 and 2012/13.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to present the following budget and housing investment programme.

I now propose the following Housing Revenue Account budget

For the last seven years we have maintained our goal to achieve a sustainable financial plan which will deliver the council’s commitment to improve services and improve homes.

We have achieved this by balancing a sustainable rent policy with significant

improvements in service performance and the biggest investment in our housing that we have ever seen. This has enabled us to provide tenants with warm modern homes and has created and sustained employment in the construction and manufacturing industry both in Aberdeen and in the rest of Scotland.

We have worked hard with officers to ensure that we deliver better services and better homes to our tenants and service users. We have achieved a huge amount during the last seven years but we believe more still needs to be done. We therefore aim to get better at what we do, and in the process help to mitigate against the affects which the current economic climate has had on our tenants and citizens.

Despite recent announcements that we are out of a recession, we remain aware and vigilant about the challenges we continue to face both as a social landlord and as a local authority with duties towards tackling homelessness and meeting housing need.

We recognise that tackling Health, Education and Crime remain the big 3 issues for both the City and the nation, in terms of our economic recovery. However, for this Administration, we believe that the fourth fundamental element that affects every aspect of our lives is Housing.

We believe that housing already makes a significant contribution to saving precious cash in the big 3  budgets and is also doing its bit to slow the spiraling national economic deficit in the process – that is why we strongly believe that we need to keep up our high levels of housing investment..

In setting the rent level for the financial year 2010/11 as well as the provisional

levels for 2011/12 and 2012/13 - it is important that we continually review the way we deliver our services to ensure we are as efficient and effective in everything we do. Only by maintaining services and the stock at an appropriate standard will we  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.