Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting

Contact: Ian Cockill  Governance Officer

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Items
No. Item

52.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 191 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of both the Extraordinary Meeting and ordinary Meeting of the Council held on 27 January 2021, for signature by the Mayor as Chair of the Council.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

That the Minutes of both the Extraordinary and Ordinary Meetings of the Council held on 27 January 2021, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

 

53.

Designation of Section 151 Officer pdf icon PDF 192 KB

To consider a report of the Report of the Corporate Director for Governance and Community Strategy.

Minutes:

The Corporate Director of Governance and Community Strategy submitted a report proposing to designate the post of Director of Finance and Systems as the Council’s Chief Finance Officer and Statutory 151 Officer.

 

Ahead of the planned retirement of the Corporate Director of Finance and Systems on 31 March 2021, the Leader of the Council and the political Group Leaders took the opportunity to recognise the service of Nikki Bishop and her contribution as an outstanding treasurer for the Borough which also included her work as Finance Officer for Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group. In conveying their personal thanks, all appreciated Nikki as being fair, diligent and committed officer, who always placed the needs of Trafford residents at the forefront. The Council joined in thanking Nikki for her service and wished her every happiness for the future.

 

        RESOLVED –

 

(1)    That, with immediate effect, the post of Director of Finance and Systems be designated as the Council’s Chief Finance Officer and Statutory 151 Officer and that the scheme of delegation be amended so that the Director of Finance and Systems be authorised to perform all financial duties previously the responsibility of the post of Corporate Director of Finance and Systems as Chief Finance Officer and Statutory 151 Officer.

 

(2)    That the Council notes the appointment of the Head of Financial Management as the Council’s Deputy Statutory 151 Officer.

 

(3)    That the Corporate Director for Governance and Community Strategy make the necessary amendments to the constitution to reflect the changes.

54.

Budget 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 287 KB

·           To consider and adopt the resolutions contained the joint reports of the Executive Member for Finance and Governance and the Corporate Director of Finance and Systems, presented to the Executive on 17 February 2021 and set out (a) - (d) below.

 

          To set and approve the Council Tax Requirement for the District for the year beginning 1 April 2021, in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended.

 

          To set and approve, in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended, the amounts as the amounts of the Council Tax for the year 2021/2022 for each of the categories of dwellings included in the respective valuation bands A to H.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Note: PROCEDURAL ARRANGEMENTS - In respect of the main item of business on the agenda, the Mayor announced that the Leader of the Council (or his nominee) would have a maximum of 15 minutes to make the initial speech and a further maximum of 15 minutes to summarise the debate. The Leader of the Main Opposition Group (or his nominee) would have a maximum of 15 minutes, whereas, the Leaders of the Minority Opposition Groups (or their respective nominees) would each have a maximum of 10 minutes to make their initial speeches. Each Opposition Group Leader (or their respective nominees) would each have a further maximum of 5 minutes to summarise on behalf of their respective Groups.

 

The Mayor also outlined the approach for dealing with amendments, indicating that notice should be given during the initial speeches. Should any amendments be made to the main motion, they were to be dealt with in the order in which notice was given and when called upon were to be moved without further comment. Time for seconders of amendments and for all other speeches would be restricted to a maximum of 3 minutes.)

 

The Executive Member for Finance and Governance presented a number of reports setting out the proposed budget for the forthcoming year which had been recommended by the Executive at its meeting held earlier that evening.

 

It was moved and seconded that the Executive’s recommendations set out in each of the following reports:

 

(a)       Executive’s Revenue Budget Proposals 2021/22 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2022/23 – 2023/24;

(b)       Capital Strategy, Asset Investment Strategy, Capital Programme and Prudential and Local Indicators 2021-2024;

(c)       Treasury Management Strategy 2021/22 – 2023/24; and

(d)       Fees, Charges and Allowances 2021/22,

 

be approved subject to the removal of the saving of £80,000 in respect of the City of Trees Programme to be met from the Council-wide Contingency Budget;

 

and that the Council sets and approves the amounts as the amounts of the Council Tax for the year 2020/2021, in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended, for each of the categories of dwellings included in the respective valuation bands A to H.

 

The Council signified acceptance of the alteration to the Motion by general consent.

 

Councillor Myers responded to the Motion on behalf of the Conservative Group and gave notice of an amendment. Councillor Newgrosh, on behalf of the Liberal Democrats Group and then Councillor Coggins, on behalf of the Green Party Group also responded to the Motion.

 

Dealing with the amendment signified, it was moved and seconded as an amendment that:

 

The Council agrees these recommendations subject to removing the following proposals. The cost in 2021-2022 of removing the proposals is given in brackets.

 

1.         The introduction of charges for home to school transport. (£48,000)

2.         The increase in parking charges in our villages. (£64,000)

3.         The introduction of higher parking charges in town centres. (£136,000)

4.         To disallow free parking after 3.00 p.m. at Christmas time. (£50,000)

5.         The introduction  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.