Agenda and minutes

A minutes silence was held in respect of Councillor William Holden who had died recently.

Apologies for absence from the meeting were received from Councillors L Jameson, S O’Rourke, and R Ray.

There are no minutes requiring approval.

There were no minutes requiring approval.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any disclosable pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interest in respect of matters contained in the agenda.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interests.

There was no public participation.

Report of the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive enclosed.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report for information providing details of the Government Policy Statement on Local Government Finance and the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025/26.

The Provisional Local Government Grant Settlement had been published on 18 December 2024.

The published report provided a comparison between the assumptions made in the 2025/26 Budget Forecast, and the movements following the 2025/26 Provisional Settlement, which showed that overall, the Council would be £161k worse off than expected, assuming that Council Tax was increased by the maximum amount of £5 (for Band D properties). This was largely due to being the loss of the Rural Services Delivery Grant and the Services Grant. The Government had frozen Core Spending Power after assuming Council Tax would be increased by the maximum allowed.

The Government intended that substantial finance reforms would be implemented from 2026/27 which would also involve the resetting of business rate baselines therefore there was a high risk that the accumulated growth earned in our area would disappear.

Members were informed at the meeting that since publication of the report the Final Local Government Grant Settlement had now been announced the implications of which would be explained in relation to the next agenda item.

Report of the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive enclosed.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report asking Committee to approve the revised Revenue Budget for 2024/25 and to recommend a revenue budget and council tax requirement for 2025/26 to Council on 4 March 2025.

The revised budget forecasted that instead of taking £9k from general fund balances as originally planned, £577k would be added. Committee expenditure had fallen during the year by £744k, and in summary the position was much better than originally forecast due to the following:

·         Lower Utilities costs within base budgets saving £218k

·         Savings on salary budgets totalling £121k

·         Investment income up by £318k

·         Removal of Pay Contingency which was not required totalling £200k

·         Removal of Utilities Contingency which was not required totalling £200k

It was noted that this was offset by the funding of potential overspend on UKSPF/REPF schemes totalling £447k.

A significant element of the Council’s income was Business Rate Growth and the report outlined the latest estimate of Ribble Valley’s share of business rate income for the current year. Based on the latest position the Council were expected to receive around the same as originally estimated. For 2024/25 £2m was relied upon to fund the revenue budget and £500k for the capital programme.

The report detailed the forecasted transfers to and from earmarked reserves compared with the original estimate, and in summary, the net position was that the Council anticipated adding £1.461m instead of £682k to earmarked reserves in the current year. This generally reflected a delay in spending rather than a saving and also the potential use of general fund balances to fund the overspend on UKSPF/REPF schemes.

The report went on to highlight the key elements of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2025/26 and total Government funding of £2.867m in 2025/26.

Based on the movement in the Council’s taxbase from October 2023 to October 2024 the Council would receive an allocation of £547,320 in New Homes Bonus however it was expected that this would not continue for 2026/27.

Business rate pooling would continue for 2025/26, however, the Government intended to undertake the Resetting of Business Rates Baselines in 2026/27. The impact of the baseline reset on the Council would be significant, with 19% of the current year budget financed by Business Rate Growth. The Council would strongly argue that transitional arrangements should be used to account for a Business Rate Reset as part of any consultation. 

The Director of Resources reported that the Collection Fund would produce an overall surplus of £1,041,351 for 2025/26, which would consist of a surplus for council tax of £958,796 and a surplus in respect of business rates of £82,555. The council tax surplus would be shared amongst all the major precepting authorities with the Council’s share being £85,313 and the Council’s business rate share being £33,022.

Regarding the revenue budget for 2025/26, the report outlined the provisional base position as agreed by Service Committees. Committee expenditure was set to increase by £284k, the reasons for which were set out for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 629.

Report of the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive enclosed.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report for Committee to consider and approve the Council’s overall revised capital programme for 2024/25.

The original programme had been approved by Council in March 2024 and regular reports had been presented to all committees on progress with the schemes. There had been a number of further approvals and adjustments made during the year resulting in the total approved Capital Programme for 2024/25 of £8,991,430 over seventy-four schemes. The revised estimate for each of these schemes had been determined following discussion with budget holders regarding their progress and estimated full year expenditure.

The revised Capital Programme now stood at £5,414,150 for sixty-five schemes, which was a reduction of £3,577,280 from the previously approved capital programme budget and a net reduction of nine schemes. Detail around the movements was provided in the report.

The report went on to outline how the capital programme had been financed. Earmarked reserves were used to fund £1,840,250 of the 2024/25 proposed revised capital programme, with the balance of the funding coming from usable capital receipts of £162,420 together with grants and contributions of £3,411,480.

At the end of December 2024 £2,351,830 had been spent or committed on capital programme schemes. This equated to 43.4% of the full year proposed revised capital programme budget.

Members were informed at the meeting in regard to an issue with the previously approved UKSPF Clitheroe Market scheme in regard to the stone setts which Committee had resolved to retain:

The Director of Community Services provided Committee with the latest position. In summary, the setts could not be re-laid without posing a trip hazard. Furthermore, enquiries had yet to reveal any historical significance of the stones. It was suggested that the stones be retained and re-laid within the castle grounds, as a way of signposting visitors to the Market. It was noted that a decision was required urgently due to the imminent UKSPF deadline.

Members discussed the stone setts and different views were put forward. It was felt important to retain the character of the area and some concerns were raised regarding their permanent removal. It was felt appropriate by other Members to re-purpose the stones as suggested.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.    Approved the overall revised capital programme for 2024/25.

2.    Approved to reverse the decision of the Policy and Finance Committee of 18 June 2024 Minute 111 – UK Shared Prosperity Fund resolution number 3 and agree that the stone sets should not be re-laid at Clitheroe Market but re-purposed within the Castle Grounds.

Report of the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive enclosed.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report providing Members with details of the previously approved capital programme schemes for 2025/26 to 2028/29. The report also asked Members to consider the bids that had been received for inclusion in the capital programme for the 2029/30 financial year and recommend a five-year capital programme for 2025/26 to 2029/30 to Full Council on 4 March 2025.

Heads of Service had put forward their capital programme bids and these had been considered and approved by service committees. A number of further bids had been put forward at committee meetings and agreed by committees. The detailed bids for these additional proposals from committees were included in Annex 2 to the report. A review of all the existing approved schemes and the new bids from officers and committees had been undertaken by Budget Working Group and Corporate Management Team. In arriving at the proposal for the capital programme, a number of schemes had been removed, or had values changed, and as requested by Members, where possible, schemes had been condensed into the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years.

A substantial amount of additional resources had been added. The additional earmarked reserves that were to be released would cover all available earmarked reserves that could be used for capital purposes. There was also the proposal for the use of borrowing, although Officers were also being encouraged to source external funding wherever possible which may negate the need to borrow in part or full.

The report summarised the full list of adjustments as recommended by the Budget Working Group.

The Director of Community Services provided Members with the latest position on Ribblesdale Pool. Based on the latest information it was estimated that £3m was required to refurbish the existing site, however, a survey of the pool tank itself was required to provide some certainty around its longevity.

Councillor S Hore proposed the recommendations as set out in the report with the exception of bringing in £500k for Clitheroe Market rather than removing the scheme and bringing in £500k for the Purchased of Affordable Housing rather than removing the scheme. He also proposed the use of borrowing be increased by £1m to fund the schemes and noted the Budget Working Group recommendation to merge the Jubilee Fund and Ribble Valley Shared Prosperity Fund, for which scheme details were yet to be determined.

Members debated the recommendations and discussed the Affordable Housing scheme, Clitheroe Market scheme, and Ribblesdale Pool scheme in detail. Members were also keen to determine the scheme details for the RVBC ‘Shared Prosperity Fund’ equivalent scheme and it was agreed that the Budget Working Group would look at how this would operate and bring a proposal back to committee. Concerns were also raised regarding the amount estimated for the pool refurbishment. Members stated that the specifics of the Ribblesdale Pool scheme should be considered and approved by Community Services Committee, and that the specifics of the Clitheroe Market scheme and the Affordable Housing Scheme  ...  view the full minutes text for item 631.

None.

None.

There were no reports from representatives on outside bodies.

None.

There were no items under this heading.

At the closure of the meeting the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Michael Graveston, spoke in tribute to the late Councillor William Holden.