No apologies were received.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2017 are agreed as an accurate record.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet Agree:

1. The South Wimbledon Business Association (SWBA) proposal and timetable to ballot for a new Business Improvement District (BID) and any future decision on a BID renewal is delegated to Chris Lee, Director of Environment and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Environment and Housing, Councillor Martin Whelton. 
2. That the Council will charge the BID for the costs for business rates staff in collecting and administrating the levy estimated in the region of £7.50 plus VAT per invoice collected,  and the on-going software costs of £1,175 plus VAT annually. 
3. That the Council recover the cost of the BID renewal ballot from the proposers if the renewal ballot is unsuccessful.

The Cabinet member for Environment, Regeneration and Housing presented the report  on the SWBA BID proposal, and stated that he hoped this would  attract and encourage small businesses within the Borough. The Director of Environment and Regeneration added that, if successful, the  SWBA would prioritise improving safety and security in the area, transport connectivity and Business to Business links.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet Agree:

1. The South Wimbledon Business Association (SWBA) proposal and timetable to ballot for a new Business Improvement District (BID) and any future decision on a BID renewal is delegated to Chris Lee, Director of Environment and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Environment and Housing, Councillor Martin Whelton. 
2. That the Council will charge the BID for the costs for business rates staff in collecting and administrating the levy estimated in the region of £7.50 plus VAT per invoice collected,  and the on-going software costs of £1,175 plus VAT annually. 
3. That the Council recover the cost of the BID ballot from the proposers if theballot is unsuccessful.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet agrees:

A.   To note the financial reporting data relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net overspend at year end of £6.021 million, 1.1% of the gross budget.

B.   To note the proposals set out in 2.4 to fund this shortfall without any impact on services in the current year.

C.   To approve the virement of £236k from the corporate contingency to Children, Schools and Families for the third and fourth quarters’ costs of additional social worker capacity.

The Cabinet member for Finance presented the report which detailed the financial reporting for December 2016.

The Director of Corporate Services asked members to note that the forecast overspend had dropped but might still fluctuate. In answer to a question regarding Community Care debt, she explained that a new working group Chaired by the Director of Community and Housing had been formed specifically to monitor such debt and work to maximise the collection of debt at all stages.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet agrees:

A.   To note the financial reporting data relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net overspend at year end of £6.021 million, 1.1% of the gross budget.

B.   To note the proposals set out in 2.4 to fund this shortfall without any impact on services in the current year.

C.   To approve the virement of £236k from the corporate contingency to Children, Schools and Families for the third and fourth quarters’ costs of additional social worker capacity.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet, in taking decisions relating to the Business Plan 2017-21, takes into account the comments and recommendations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Commission (set out in paragraphs 2.5 to 2.12 of the report) and the outcomes of consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Panels (set out in Appendix 1).

Cabinet welcomed Councillor Peter Southgate, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission, to present the comments and recommendations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and the considerations of the outcomes of the Overview and Scrutiny Panels.

Cabinet combined their discussions of items 6,7 and 8 and this is reported under item 7

RESOLVED

That Cabinet, in taking decisions relating to the Business Plan 2017-21, takes into account the comments and recommendations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Commission (set out in paragraphs 2.5 to 2.12 of the report) and the outcomes of consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Panels (set out in Appendix 1).

RESOLVED

That Cabinet agrees to:

1.    consider and agree the response to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission;

2.    resolve that, having considered all of the information in this report and noted the positive assurance statement given by the Director of Corporate Services based on the proposed strategy, the Council Tax in 2017/18, equating to a Band D Council Tax of £1,135.31 be approved and recommended to Council for approval.

3.    consider all of the latest information and the comments from the scrutiny process, and makes recommendations to Council as appropriate

4.    resolve that the Business Plan 2017-21 including the General Fund Budget and Council Tax Strategy for 2017/18, and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2017-2021 as submitted, along with the Equality Assessments (EAs), be approved and recommended to Council for approval subject to any proposed amendments agreed at this meeting;

5.    resolve that, having considered all of the latest information and the comments from the scrutiny process, the Capital Investment Programme (as detailed in Annex 1 to the Capital Strategy); the Treasury Management Strategy (Section 5), including the detailed recommendations in that Section, incorporating the Prudential Indicators and the Capital Strategy (Section 4) as submitted and reported upon be approved and recommended to Council for approval, subject to any proposed amendments agreed at this meeting;

6.    note that the GLA precept will not be agreed by the London Assembly until the 22 February 2017, but the provisional figure has been incorporated into the draft MTFS

7.    request officers to review the savings proposals agreed and where possible bring them forward to the earliest possible implementation date

8.    note that there may be minor amendments to figures in this report as a result of new information being received after the deadline for dispatch and that this will be amended for the report to Council in March

9.    consider and approve the Risk Management Strategy

Cabinet agreed to discuss Items 6,7 and 8 together.

The Cabinet member for Finance presented the report on the Business Plan 2017-21. He then thanked Councillor Southgate for the for all the work done by the Commission and Scrutiny panels in considering the budget savings plan and agreed that the views of  Scrutiny Panels and Commission were broadly similar to the Cabinet’s thinking. However the Cabinet did not wish, at this stage, to raise the LBM element of  Council Tax in the current climate of uncertainty around future maximum Council Tax levels. He agreed with the view that Cabinet should give its full support to the LGA and London Councils in their efforts to secure a properly funded settlement from Government.

Cabinet noted that a proposed saving for the Planning Department to stop sending out consultation letters has been withdrawn and an alternative saving will be considered.

The Director of Corporate Services explained that the Government had not yet given the Council its final settlement figure, this was expected  on 23.2.17, without this figure there is uncertainty going forward.  She added that; the budget is balanced for 2017-18, but there is currently a £3 million gap in 2018-19, Budget savings that could be brought forward have been identified, and a complete survey of reserves has been made

RESOLVED

That Cabinet agrees to:

1.    consider and agree the response to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission;

2.    resolve that, having considered all of the information in this report and noted the positive assurance statement given by the Director of Corporate Services based on the proposed strategy, the Council Tax in 2017/18, equating to a Band D Council Tax of £1,135.31 be approved and recommended to Council for approval.

3.    consider all of the latest information and the comments from the scrutiny process, and makes recommendations to Council as appropriate

4.    resolve that the Business Plan 2017-21 including the General Fund Budget and Council Tax Strategy for 2017/18, and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2017-2021 as submitted, along with the Equality Assessments (EAs), be approved and recommended to Council for approval subject to any proposed amendments agreed at this meeting;

5.    resolve that, having considered all of the latest information and the comments from the scrutiny process, the Capital Investment Programme (as detailed in Annex 1 to the Capital Strategy); the Treasury Management Strategy (Section 5), including the detailed recommendations in that Section, incorporating the Prudential Indicators and the Capital Strategy (Section 4) as submitted and reported upon be approved and recommended to Council for approval, subject to any proposed amendments agreed at this meeting;

6.    note that the GLA precept will not be agreed by the London Assembly until the 22 February 2017, but the provisional figure has been incorporated into the draft MTFS

7.    request officers to review the savings proposals agreed and where possible bring them forward to the earliest possible implementation date

8.    note that there may be minor amendments to figures in this report as a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The discussion of this pack was included in the discussion on Items 6 and 7

To RESOLVE that the public are excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following report(s) on the grounds that it is (they are) exempt from disclosure for the reasons stated in the report(s).

RESOLVED: That the public are excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following report on the grounds that it is exempt from disclosure for the reasons stated in the report.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

A.   Agree to the Award of the Contract for The Supply of Electricity as detailed in the exempt report

B.   Agree to the Award of the Contract for The Supply of Gas as detailed in the exempt report

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

A.   Agree to the Award of the Contract for The Supply of Electricity to Scottish Power

B.   Agree to the Award of the Contract for The Supply of Gas to Gazprom