Report of the Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance is attached.

Contact James Walton Tel 01743 255011.

It was proposed by the Leader Mr M Pate and seconded by Mr M Wood that the report, a copy of which is attached to the signed minutes and the recommendations contained therein, be received and agreed.

Mr R Evans proposed an amendment on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group, which he said was prudent, affordable and brought benefits.  This was seconded by Mrs H Fraser (copy attached to the signed minutes).  In brief, the amendment was as follows;

‘Shropshire Schools - It was proposed that the sum of £643,020 (currently to be deducted from the schools budget) be funded by diverting monies currently allocated to delivering the Digital Transformation programme.  The financial impact of this proposal would be to increase the borrowing requirement for the Digital Transformation programme by £643,020, thereby reducing the potential savings from this project by approximately £73,000 per annum.

Street Lighting – It was proposed that an additional sum of £2.2m per year for the life of this Financial Strategy be funded by internal borrowing to introduce an enhanced street lighting programme; accelerating the replacement of street lights with LED lights.  A good example of ‘Invest to Save Policy’.

Sites of Community Concern - It was proposed to increase the budget for traffic calming measures identified by Parish Councils by £500,000 for year 2017/18 and that an additional capital spend of £500k be funded by re-prioritising the Highways and Transport LTP budget.  The total budget was £21.19m.”

On being put to the vote, the amendment was lost with the majority voting against.

Mr A Mosley, Mr R Evans and Mrs P Dee exercised their right as Group Leaders to speak to the budget proposition.  After debate the Leader exercised his right to reply to the comments made on the Administration’s budget proposals as a whole.

On being put to a recorded vote the proposition was then carried with 42 Members voting in favour and 14 against as follows:

FOR (42)

Mr P Adams, Mr N Bardsley, Mrs J Barrow, Mr T Biggins, Mr G Butler, Mrs K Calder, Mr D Carroll, Mr L Chapman, Mr S Charmley, Mr P Cherrington, Mr G Dakin, Mr A Davies, Mrs P Dee, Mr D Evans, Mr J Everall, Mrs A Hartley, Mr V Hunt, Mr J Hurst-Knight, Mr S Jones, Mr N Laurens, Mr C Lea, Mr D Lloyd, Mr R Macey, Mr D Minnery, Mrs C Motley, Mrs P Mullock, Mr W Parr, Mr M Pate, Mr J Price, Mr M Price, Mr K Roberts, Mrs M Shineton, Mr R Tindall, Mr D Turner, Mr A Walpole, Mr S West, Mrs C Wild, Mr B Williams, Mr L Winwood, Mr M Wood, Mrs T Woodward and Mr P Wynn.

AGAINST (14)

Mr A Bannerman, Mr V Bushell, Mr R Evans, Mrs H Fraser, Mr N Hartin, Mr J Keeley, Mr M Kenny, Mr D Kerr, Mrs H Kidd, Mr C Mellings, Mrs P Moseley, Mr A Mosley, Mr K Pardy and Mrs V Parry.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the 2017/18 budget of £563.350m including the savings proposals previously approved by Council and the revised proposals to deliver a balanced budget in 2017/18 as outlined in Appendix 3 be approved.

b)    That the changes required to the 2016/17 budget as a result of the Local Government Settlement and the revised business rates and collection fund estimates be noted.

c)     That the changes required to future years budgets as a result of the Local Government Settlement be noted.

d)    That the revised funding gap for the years 2018/19 and 2019/20 be noted.

e)    That the revised Capital Programme as set out in the report be approved.

f)      That the Policy for Flexibility around the use of Capital Receipts as set out in Appendix 7 be approved.

g)    That the Statement of Chief Financial Officer on the Robustness of the Estimates and Adequacy of Reserves 2016-20 as set out in Appendix 8, noting the Council’s general fund balance over this period be approved.

h)    That the Pay and Rewards Policy for all Council staff for 2017/18 as set out in Appendix 9 be approved.

Council adjourned at 1.40 pm and reconvened at 2.10 pm.