Agenda item

The Charter Trustees are required to set their 2022/23 budget, council tax requirement and resultant precept for submission to BCP Council by 31 January 2022.

The Responsible Financial Officer presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Charter Trustees were advised that in light of the previous decision on Future Banking Arrangements the focus of the budget was on Appendix A to the report as there was a differing reserve movement based on which bank provider was selected.

The Charter Trustees were required to set their 2022/23 budget, council tax requirement and resultant precept for submission to BCP Council by 31 January 2022.

The Responsible Financial Officer provided an update on the in-year position for 2021/22 which had improved since the last update in October mainly due to the impact of covid on the activities the Charter Trustees had been able to undertake.  He reported that there had been an underspend of just over £23,000 and Appendix A to the report set out the forecast together with the detailed budget for 2022/23.  The Responsible Financial Officer reported that in preparation for the 2022/23 budget a workshop was held with a number of Charter Trustees in December 2021 to obtain views on key items in the budget.  He reported that one of the key areas was staffing recharges from BCP Council which covered the Head and Deputy Head of Democratic Services, the PAs and Mace Bearers explaining that the cost of these posts was shared across the BCP Council Chairman, the Bournemouth Charter Trustees and the Poole Charter Trustees.  The Charter Trustees were informed that the allocation of staff time had been reviewed and a 50-50 split of 80% would be allocated between each of the Charter Trustees.  This was considered to be a reflection of the time spent supporting each of the Charter Trustees and therefore the revised allocation had been built into the proposed budget for 2022/23. The Responsible Financial Officer reported that this had the implication of increasing the base budget requirement by over £19,000 with the detail of the staffing charge set out at Appendix C to the report. Charter Trustees were informed that another key change was the introduction of a charge for the use of the vehicles, which was not previously in place, £2,000 per annum which was based on the useful life of the vehicle, the expected maintenance costs and the expected usage across the Charter Trustees and the BCP Council Chairman.

The Responsible Financial Officer referred to figure 1 in the report which set out the forecast reserve position which at the end of March 2022 was expected to be in excess of £109,000 which was roughly 88% of the proposed Council Tax precept for next year.  He explained that in 2022/23 there was planned use of over £13,000 of reserves to support the budget.  The Charter Trustees were advised that the reserves at this level could potentially be deemed to be excessive which was due to the lack of activity and the inability to be able to spend money. However, it allowed for a healthy level of reserves to deal with any unexpected expenditure or any activities outside of the base budget.

The Charter Trustees were updated on the tax base which was the number of properties that the precept was charged against for Poole, the impact of Covid and the increase in the number of properties which had the impact of effectively reducing the charge to residents of Poole.

The Responsible Financial Officer reported that in summary the proposal for Council tax in 2022/23 was £124,173 which was a slight increase from last year net of the use of reserves as referred to earlier with the Band D charge for residents remaining the same frozen at £2.14.  The Responsible Financial Officer reported that whilst it was not sustainable to use reserves to balance the budget, the level of reserves was extremely healthy, and it was felt that there was justification for reserves to be used for this budget.  He explained that going forward it may be necessary to increase the precept but there were two other issues to consider including further increases in the tax base which might offset some increased costs and a whole scale review of the accommodation charges for the Charter Trustees.

Councillor Slade sought clarification on the staffing recharges and the percentage split.  She also referred to the Civic Regalia budget of £3,000 and asked what the budget funded.  Councillor Slade commented on the recharge associated with the use of vehicles but indicated that it felt low against the market rate which may result in costs falling on BCP Council. She therefore asked if it was a market rate and also referred to the cost of fuel.  In response, Officers explained that the budget for Civic regalia funded the purchase of the past mayor’s badge, honours boards and repairs to existing regalia within the ownership of the Charter Trustees.  The Responsible Financial Officer explained that there was an established process within the Council with regards to fleet services whereby costs for the use of vehicles were calculated and spread across different services which was the same method used for civic activity.  He reported that when the actual use of vehicles was looked at the Chairman was using the vehicles more than the Charter Trustees which was part of the reason as to why the rechange may seem low. The Charter Trustees were advised that in respect of fuel costs £100 per month was considered sufficient for a refill which was the basis for that budget. 

Councillor Butler sought clarification on the room and premises rental.  The Responsible Financial Officer reported that the cost of the use of the Poole Civic Centre goes through an administration building recharge with a detailed premise used to calculate the recharge. Charter Trustees were advised that there were a number of overheads associated with the use of the Poole Civic Centre which was not considered to be an energy efficient building to use.  The Responsible Financial Officer explained that the budget for next year would probably involve a proportion being charged for BCP and an element of that budget would be used to fund alternative accommodation.  The Head of Democratic Services reported the accommodation requirements were being kept under review and alternative venues assessed therefore there would be a recalculation of any recharges when the future use of the building was known. Councillor Mellor moved the recommendations set out in the report which were seconded by Councillor O’Neill.

RESOLVED that

(a) The council tax requirement and precept of £124,173 be approved.

(b) That having approved Barclays as the approved bank supplier the proposed budget for 2022/23 as set out in Appendix A to the report be approved.

Voting: Unanimous