Agenda and minutes

Up to 15 minutes are allowed for public participation.  Participants are restricted to 3 minutes each.

There was no public participation

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 December 2016.

Previously Circulated.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee meeting of 15 December 2016 be approved as a correct record.

Members may make declarations of Interest at this point or may make them at any point in the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest at this point of the meeting.

Setting out current position of previously agreed actions as at 4 January 2017

The Director of Resources confirmed for Members that the Burial Fees and Charges as discussed at the last meeting would be incorporated into the Revenue Base Budget report to be presented at the 9 February meeting.

RESOLVED that the Matters Arising Schedule as at 4 January 2017 be noted.

Councillor David Cotton, as the Chairman of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee presented the report on the Flexible Working Policy, which had been supported by the JSCC and the Unions.  Should the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee wish there to be any changes to the Policy there would need to be further consultation undertaken.

All policies were reviewed on a regular basis and those minor amendments made in line with required legislation, were set out and summarised within the report.  Members welcomed the clarity of the layout.

Councillor Shore sought statistics of the effects and outcomes of the Policy and wished to know what impact there was on the Council of employees using the Policy, and also how many requested flexible working and how many granted or denied.  It was felt that high take-up of the Policy could be detrimental and mean that fewer officers were available to be contacted.  Some departments were already difficult to get hold of.

The Director of Resources noted that the report set out the legislative changes and issues around flexible working had been tightened up, and the Policy gave protection from abuse.  It would be difficult to track individuals, but there was an expectation of availability of contact, even if employees were working at home.

Other Members felt that it would be useful to see some breakdown of statistics.

The recommendations in the report were moved, seconded and voted upon.

RESOLVED that:

a)  the Flexible Working Policy be approved and the policy be adopted for all employees of the council; and

b)    delegated authority be granted to the Director of Resources to make minor housekeeping amendments to the policy in future, in consultation with the chairman of the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee and chairman of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee.

The Director of Resources presented the report which was an annual requirement to declare an estimate of the surplus or deficit that would occur on the Collection Fund at the end of each year. The Collection Fund recorded the amount of income collected from Council Tax, together with precept payments to principal authorities. These elements would generate a surplus or a deficit which had to be taken into account when determining the Council Tax in the following year.

Any surplus or deficit generated through the Collection fund in relation to Council Tax was shared between the County Council, the Lincolnshire Police Authority and West Lindsey District Council in the same proportion as the amount of their precepts for 2016/17.  A surplus or deficit could occur in the Collection Fund if the Council Tax Base was larger or smaller than originally anticipated or collection rates were higher or lower than expected.

The amount calculated as available from the Collection Fund for distribution during 2017/18 had been calculated as £1,373,882

This amount would be shared amongst the precepting authorities as follows:

                                                                                                             £

                                     Lincolnshire County Council                             979,960

                                     Lincolnshire Police Authority                            175,026

                                     West Lindsey District Council                           218,896

                                                                                                    -------------

                                                                                                          £1,373,882

Appendix A of the report set out the summary of the calculation and adjustments taken into account.

Questions were asked around the rank order of the County, Police and WLDC as it was thought that the police had had a bigger proportion than WLDC in the previous year.  The Collection Fund Surplus report submitted to the Committee in January 2016 was checked and it was verified that the ranking was the same.

The impact of the increase in Tax Base on Council Tax was questioned and it was advised that if the base budget remained unchanged then it would lead to a small reduction in Council Tax, however the budget needed to be agreed before the real impact could be calculated.

Members agreed that the report showed a positive outturn from last years’ budget and the recommendations were moved, seconded and voted upon.

RESOLVED that:

a)    It be recommended to Council that the estimated surplus of £218,896 be declared as accruing in the Council’s Collection Fund at 31 March 2017 relating to an estimated Council Tax surplus;

b)    the Council uses its element of the Collection Fund surplus/deficit in calculating the level of Council Tax in 2017/18.

c)    the calculations of the Council’s tax base for 2017/18 as set out in Appendix A be recommended to Council, and that in accordance with the Local Authorities’ (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1993 (as amended), the tax base for each part of the Authority’s area shall be as set out in Appendix B.

RESOLVED that the Work Plan be noted.