Issue - meetings

Dave Shipton (Head of Finance - Policy, Planning & Strategy) was in attendance for this item.

1.         Mr Oakford introduced the item of council tax subsidies and advised that a decision had been taken by Full Council to agree the Capital Programme 2025-35 and Revenue Budget 2025-26 (including Council Tax Setting 2025/26) and that this included savings to be achieved via this proposed decision.

2.         Further to questions and comments from Members, the discussion covered the following:

•        Regarding queries about future reviews on the impact of the decision, Mr Oakford responded that any future reviews would be the responsibility of a new administration post May elections.

•        Members highlighted that the local taxation equalisation reserve was £11.95 million and had a drawdown of £1.8 Million. It was estimated that in 2025/26 an additional draw down of £3.48 Million may be observed and leave £6.67 million for March 2026. Clarification was sought as to whether this use of reserves was sustainable.

•        Mr Shipton advised that there was an assumption on collection surpluses of an average of £7 million per annum. This had been the position for a number of years - if a higher surplus was to be observed, normal policy meant that it had been paid into the smoothing reserve.

•        Mr Shipton explained that in the last two years the council tax surplus was lower the £7 Million. Mr Shipton added that the drawdown for 2025-26 had been related to the collection surplus for 2024-25 and not related to the proposed decision.

•        Clarification was sought on paragraph 1.6 and the return of investment being set at 400% with regard to a subsidy paid to three Kent districts. It was further added that paragraph 1.7 stated that there was no evidence for CTRS payments. It was suggested by Members that this sentence was misleading.

•        Members flagged that paragraph 1.8 stated that no billing authority had proposed or implemented any changes to discounts or premiums. However, it was highly likely that authorities would not impose any changes prior to a decision being made by the County Council.  Concerns were therefore raised regarding the implications of progressing with the decision.

•        Mr Oakford highlighted the discussions that had taken place during the previous budget debates as part of the budget development process. Mr Oakford commented that the concerns were speculative and it was unknown what collection rates would look like going forward. He explained that Districts had a statutory duty to collect council tax, and they had responsibilities to prevent collection failures.

•        Responding to queries from the Chair, Mr Watts confirmed that the decision had not been taken and that there was still an opportunity for Members to comment and put forward recommendations to the Cabinet Member for consideration prior to the decision being taken.

•        In response to queries raised regarding the consultation period for any changes should the grant be reinstated, Mr Shipton confirmed that in terms of the Council’s medium term financial plan this had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 253