Agenda item

A recorded vote will be carried out in respect of the above item.

 

Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 places a duty to declare an interest on any councillor who is two or more months in arrears with their Council Tax payments if they attend any meeting involved in setting the Council tax rate for the local authority. They must abstain from any vote involved in the setting of the Council tax rate until they are no longer in arrears.

The Elected Mayor of Middlesbrough and the Director of Finance submitted a report, the purpose of which was to present the recommended Revenue Budget of £126,353,562, Council Tax increase of 3.99% (paragraphs 86 to 106), and Capital Strategy Report for 2023/24 (paragraphs 162 to 172).

 

Following on from the previous report presented to Council on 30 November 2022, the report also provided a refreshed Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for the period 2023/24 to 2025/26 to reflect the 2023/24 Local Government Finance Settlement (paragraphs 107 to 155).

 

The Medium-Term Financial Plan update in this report is integrated with the £231m Investment Strategy for Middlesbrough for the period from 2022/23 to 2025/26, supported by £114m of the Council’s own resources. The updated Investment Strategy was included at Appendix 7 to the report.

 

The budget continued to support the Mayor’s commitment to invest in Middlesbrough and transform service delivery for residents. It was intended that through this strategy the Council could achieve the challenging financial targets faced in the Medium-Term Financial Plan period, whilst ensuring that there was as minimum impact as possible on the level of service delivered to the public.

 

The Mayor presented the report.

 

The Chair invited members to comment on the report.

 

Following a discussion on the content of the report, the Chair invited the Monitoring Officer to conduct a recorded vote.

 

Prior to the vote, the Monitoring Officer reminded Members that in accordance with Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, any member that was more than 2 months in arrears with their Council Tax account, must declare an interest and must not take part in the vote.

 

The Monitoring Officer noted that no declarations of interest had been made.

 

The result of the recorded vote was as follows:

 

Votes For: (20)

 

Mr A Preston (Elected Mayor) Councillors Bell, Cooper, Coupe, Davison, Grainge, Hill, C Hobson, J Hobson, Jones, Mason, Mawston, McCabe, McIntyre, McTigue, Polano, Sands, Saunders, Smiles, S Walker

 

Votes Against: (0)                  

 

Abstentions: (18) Councillors Blades, Branson, Cooke, Dean, Furness, Hellaoui, Hubbard, Hussain, Nugent, Rathmell, Rooney, Rostron, M Storey, P Storey, Thompson, J A Walker, Wilson, Wright

 

Following the vote, it was ORDERED as follows:

 

That Council:

 

•           approves the proposed budget strategy for 2023/24 as set out in paragraphs 13 to 85.

 

•           approves the proposed budget savings (Appendices 1 and 2), and other proposals for the 2023/24 budget.

 

•           having taken into account the matters set out in Section 32 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and the items set out within the report, that the Council approves the budget requirement for 2023/24 to be set at £126,353,562 as detailed in Appendix 3.

 

•           approves the actual amount of Council Tax (Band D) for areas without parish precepts (excluding Fire and Police) be set at £1,881.86. This represents a total increase of 3.99%. This comprises of a 1.99% increase in general Council Tax, and an additional precept of 2% for Adult Social Care which has been continued by the Government to contribute towards the shortfall of funding for adult social care.

 

•           approves the actual amount of Council Tax (Band D) for areas with parish precepts (excluding Fire and Police) be set at:-

 

Nunthorpe Parish                                            £1,891.57

Stainton and Thornton Parish                         £1,891.17

 

•           approves the amounts of Council Tax for each category of dwelling be set in accordance with table 4 of Appendix 5 within the report.

 

•           approves the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy 2023/24 amounting to an estimated £3m in 2023/24, detailed in Appendix 6, and that following approval of the Strategy by Council, this will be implemented for 2023/24.

 

•           notes the refreshed Medium Term Financial Plan position for 2023/24 to 2025/26 set out in this report in paragraphs 107 to 155.

 

•           approves the updated Investment Strategy for the period to 2025/26 as outlined in paragraphs 156 to 161 and detailed in Appendix 7.

 

•           approves the Capital Strategy Report (Prudential indicators, Investment Strategy and Minimum Revenue Provision) 2023/24 as outlined in paragraphs 162 to 172 and detailed in Appendix 8 and approves the Authorised Limit for external borrowing of £328m for the Council for 2023/24 as set out in paragraph 172.