Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bishop, Clayton, P. Leaver and Turton.

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th January 2025 (circulated previously) be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Please telephone the Corporate and Community Services team to prepare a form for your signature before the meeting. Interests must be re-declared when the item is called. A declaration of interest under the Code of Conduct will be a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, an Other Registrable Interest or a Non-Registrable Interest.  If the item directly relates to your interest you must declare the interest and leave the room for the item, save in the case of Other Registrable Interests or Non-Registrable Interests where you may first speak on the item as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak.  If the matter does not directly relate to your interest but still affects it then you must consider whether you are affected to a greater extent than most people and whether a reasonable person would consider your judgement to be clouded, if you are then you must leave the room for the item (although you may speak as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak) or, if you are not, then you can declare the interest but still take part).

There were no declarations of interest announced.

Presentation by Vicki Rowe Chief Executive Officer, Citizens Advice.

The Chair welcomed Vicki Rowe, Chief Executive Officer, Citizens Advice to the meeting and advised that the purpose of the presentation was for the Committee to gain an understanding of the work that Citizens Advice undertook locally within the North Devon area.

The Committee received a presentation by Vicki Rowe, Chief Executive Officer, Citizens Advice who highlighted the following:

• Details and figures in relation demand 1^st April – 30^th September 2024:

Ø  Helped 3,159 people compared to 2,611 in 2023/24, which was an increase of 21%.

Ø  Assisted with 11,185 problems compared to 8,248 in 2023/24, which was an increase of 35.6%.

Ø  Household income had increased by £2,533,330 compared to £2,250,783, which was an increase of 12.6%.

• The service was addressing an unprecedented level of demand, which continued to grow.
• Unmet demand, which saw 60% of calls going unanswered together with people being turned away from drop-ins and waiting times for appointments of up to 20 working days.
• The main problems people present to the service with in the North Devon area.
• Energy costs were rising together with the increase in the cost of living.
• Key areas of debt in North Devon.
• Supporting North Devon Council’s (NDC) priority on housing.
• Our specialist services.
• Partnerships that Citizen’s Advice worked with.
• Advocacy through research and campaigns.
• Living Standards report.
• Supporting NDC to protect and improve the physical, mental health and wellbeing of its residents.
• Our key challenges.
• Citizens Advice team in North Devon.
• Volunteer Value (fiscal value).

It was agreed the powerpoint slides be circulated to all Members for their information.

Following the presentation, the Committee asked questions and the Chief Executive Officer, Citizens Advice advised the following:

·         The Annual Impact report would be sent to the Senior Corporate and Community Services officer in March 2025.

·         With regards to a breakdown of funding for the service and how it was impacted, the Committee were advised of the following:

Ø  50% was funded through grants from Devon County Council (DCC) together with the four District Councils and the Town and Parish Councils.

Ø  50% was funded through restricted income from various charities and organisations. The service also sought other funding opportunities wherever possible.

·         There were currently 36 volunteers working within the North Devon area.

·         The CA had a good operational relationship with NDC and there was a regular ongoing dialogue between the two to ensure that situations were managed jointly to seek a resolution.

·         More people presenting with mental health issues than previously.

·         There was currently a potential deficit of £150,000 for the forthcoming financial year, which the service was looking to address.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive advised that there was regular engagement between NDC and the CA with regards to income banded schemes for Council Tax Support. He emphasised the importance of reporting, adding that there was lots of help available, with access to services in person at the Ilfracombe office and Lynton House, via Customer Services at Brynsworthy and directly through the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

Report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive to Strategy and Resources on 3^rd February 2025 (attached).

(a) Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 3^rd February 2025 (to follow).

The Committee considered a report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive (circulated previously) regarding the Performance and Financial Management for Quarter 3 of 2024/25 together with Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 3^rd February 2025 (circulated previously).

The Finance Manager highlighted the following:

·         The revenue budget for 2024/25 was approved at Council on 21st February 2024 at £16,432,690.

·         As at 31st December 2024, the latest forecast net budget was £16,423,690, which produced a budget surplus of £9,000. Details were shown in “Appendix A – Variations in the Revenue Budget”.

·         There was still pressure on the Temporary Accommodation budget and the Council were funding the anticipated additional cost of £158,000 from in year Temporary Accommodation grant.

·         As part of the outturn the Council contributed an additional £250,000 into the insurance reserve to mitigate against higher costs in 2024/25 and planned to use the full £347,500 balance to offset increased insurance premiums in this financial year. The Council had increased the 2025/26 budget to help mitigate the estimated increased costs.

·         The original budget for 2024/25 included a forecast to achieve £250,000 worth of salary vacancy savings. The current position forecast that the Council would achieve £263,000 based on known vacancies to date. The £250,000 forecast was an estimate of the natural savings that would be achieved due to the timeline to recruit for vacant posts and new post holders to start.

·         The additional costs of £179,000 for Waste and Recycling transport and SFS lease costs had been mostly offset set in year by £170,000 from the SFS vehicle reserve. The variances were due to the increased costs of borrowing within the finance lease payments combined with an increase in vehicle purchase prices that SFS have experienced.

·         Pay and Display income had continued to follow the 2023/24 trend of slightly lower volumes, combined with the effect of the capital works being undertaken at Queen Street car park albeit the Council saw an increase in car park income at Green Lanes as a result of this displacement. The Council were now forecasting an overall £200,000 variance for the year.

·         Building Control income was still forecast to be £70,000 down on budget, but due to a number of recent larger planning applications the Council was now forecasting planning income to be in line with the original budget.

·         Recycling Sales had seen a downturn in quarter 3, however this was still up on the original budget and the Council would continue to monitor the income closely, with expectations that income receivable from recycling sales would increase once the new baler was operational.

·         The Council was now estimating income growth from Business Rates to be an additional £200,000.

·         As at 1^st April 2024 the Collection Fund reserve balance held was £1,790,180. This earmarked reserve was created to deal with the timing impacts of the Collection Fund (Business Rates), which ensured the revenue budget was not unduly affected in the year the taxes were collected. Collection Fund deficits/surpluses were reversed out to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

Report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive to the Strategy and Resources Committee on 3^rd February 2025 (attached), and

(a) Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 3^rd February 2025(to follow).

The Committee considered a report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive (circulated previously) regarding the review of Charges and Fees for 2025/26 together with Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 3^rd February 2025.

The Finance Manager highlighted the following:

·         This year the guidance was to increase fees and charges by 3%, although some fees were set by statute and those would be set nationally. Other variations to the 3% increase were set out in sections 4.3 to 4.8 of the report.

·         Building Control fees had been raised by an average of 13.42% and rounded to the nearest pound, this was to ensure the revenue income recouped the actual cost of providing the service, were competitive in the sector and provided the Partnership with protection against additional temporary staffing costs that were likely to be experienced during the year, as detailed in Appendix B of the report.

·         Land Charges fees had been set to recoup the cost of providing the service, the recommended fees for the land charges service was estimated to recover all the costs and break even, as detailed in Appendix D of the report.

·         The majority of Environmental Health and Housing services were set by statute or set to recover costs. A minor exception to this was that there was no planned increase on charges for “Health and Food Certificates” as detailed in Appendix E of the report.

·         Cemeteries fees were set to increase by 6%, (3% inflationary uplift, plus an additional 3%). This was to enable the fees to be brought closer in line with comparative figures around the County, as detailed in Appendix F of the report.

·         The Garden Waste service charge was to remain unchanged at £60, due to the £5 increases in the previous two financial years (2023/24 and 2024/25), as detailed in Appendix J of the report.

·         Street Name Plates had had a simplification of its charging structure, including an uplift to reflect no inflationary increase in the previous seven years. Fees were now set to recoup the cost of providing the service, as detailed in Appendix P of the report.

·         The net revenue changes from the above charges was estimated to produce £25,000 of additional income, which had been included within the draft 2025/26 revenue budget, for consideration as an item included within this agenda.

RESOLVED, that the decisions and recommendations of the Strategy and Resources Committee be endorsed.

Report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive to the Strategy and Resources Committee on 3^rd February 2025 (attached), and

(a) Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 3^rd February 2025 (to follow).

The Committee considered a report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive (circulated previously) regarding the Revenue Budget 2025-26, Capital Programme and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025-26 to 2030-31.

The Lead Member for Resources and Commercialisation addressed the Committee to give a brief introduction as follows:

·         The Council had achieved a balance budget.

·         Garden waste charges were to remain the same.

·         The Council provided a very affordable bulky waste service.

·         The National Insurance changes to employer’s National Insurance had produced an additional £325,000 cost to the Council.

·         Green Lanes shopping centre continued to provide an income.

·         It had to be assumed going forwards that there would be no increase in funding from Central Government so the Council would need to find more ways to become financially self-sufficient.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive gave a presentation, and highlighted the following:

·         The Government’s Finance Policy Statement issued in November 2024 guaranteed that no council would see a cash reduction in its Core Spending Power (CSP). The increase for local government was 3.2% in real terms.

·         All councils were to receive additional income from Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging payments.

·         Confirmed £233m new funding for homelessness prevention – also consolidating main rough sleeping and single homelessness grants into a single grant outside of settlement.

·         Council tax increases would remain at 2.99% or £5 (whichever was higher).

·         Rural Services Delivery grant was to be abolished – this was currently paid to 50 district councils and worth £15m in total.

·         Services grant would also be abolished – this was currently paid to all districts and worth £3.5m in total.

·         A new £600m recovery grant – targeted councils with highest levels of deprivation – would likely only be open to a minority of districts.

·         Councils would be compensated for the cost of the Employers National Insurance increase – for directly employed staff only.

·         There would be a fundamental reform to the local government funding model after 2025/26.

·         Government would launch a consultation in December on a new approach to allocation funding (Fair Funding) and a further technical consultation on resetting business rates in January.

·         The Core Spending Power total for England was 6%. By region, the South West Core Spending Power was 5.4% and by authority type North Devon Council, being a Shire District, the Core Spending Power was however only 0.3%. In comparison, the CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation to November 2024 was 2.6%.

·         The draft budget has assumed an increase on Council Tax of 2.99%. The overall Council Tax Increase of £708,000 was broken down as £223,000 from the 2.99% increase and £485,000 from increase in tax base (of which £353,000 came from the second homes premium and £132,000 tax base).

·         The Business Rates draft budget figure came from the Retained Growth (made up of £2m North Devon Business rates growth, £680,000 Renewable Energy Schemes and £350,000 Devon pool retained income).

·         Giving an overall figure of £3.030m factored into the draft budget.

·         Revenue Support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

Report by the Chief Financial Officer to Strategy and Resources Committee on 3^rd February 2025 (attached), and

(a) Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources Committee on 3^rd February

     2025 (to follow).

The Committee considered a report by the Head of Governance (circulated previously) regarding the Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2025/26 together with Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 3^rd  February 2025.

The Head of Governance highlighted the following:

·       This Treasury Management Strategy covered the borrowing and investment requirements of the Council for the year 2025-26.

·       In terms of the Capital Financing Requirement (CFR), the Treasury Management Strategy ensured the Council was able to meet its borrowing needs to cover the capital programme plans.

·       It was estimated that the borrowing requirement (CFR) at the end of the financial year 2024-25 would be circa £34m increasing to approximately £40m for the year 2025-26.

·       To cover the £40m CFR it was projected to borrow £22m through external borrowing, £5m borrowing through finance lease arrangements, for our vehicle fleet and finally £13m through our own reserves and cash flows (internal borrowing).

·       Current external borrowing for 2024-25, excluding finance leases, stood at £8m but an additional £7m short-term borrowing was being projected by year end to cover the approved capital costs.

·       Any slippages to the capital programme expenditure and or additional capital receipts or grants received would reduce the amount of actual borrowing undertaken.

·       The authorised limit for 2025-26 for the Council to borrow was set to £42.5m.

·       In terms of our investment strategy, there were no plans to change the way we currently invested and section 7.1 of the report detailed the guidance the Council adheres to in regard to the investment policy.

·       The Council’s investment priorities remain as:

1. Security,

2. Portfolio liquidity; and

3. Yield or return.

RESOLVED, that the decisions and recommendations of the Strategy and Resources Committee be endorsed.

Report by the Chief Financial Officer to Strategy and Resources on 3^rd February 2025 (attached), and

(a) Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 3^rd February 2025 (to follow).

The Committee considered a report by the Head of Governance (circulated previously) regarding the 10 Year Capital Strategy for 2025 to 2035 together with Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 3^rd February 2025.

The Head of Governance highlighted the following:

·       The 10-Year Capital Strategy looked at the Council’s long-term sustainability of its capital ambitions, affordability and risk management.

·       Business as usual projects such as vehicle fleet replacement and ICT improvements impacted on our long-term borrowing plans.

·       The Strategy covered the next ten years and the projection for our Capital Financing Requirement was estimated to remain at circa £37m in 2034/35.

·       This would be funded by £23.5m external borrowing, £7m financial lease borrowing and £6.5m internal reserves and cash flow (internal borrowing).

·       The cost of borrowing was set to remain at around £3m a year over the long term period of this forecast.

RESOLVED, that the decisions and recommendations of the Strategy and Resources Committee be endorsed.

To consider and discuss the proposed draft work programme (attached).

The Committee considered the draft work programme for 2025/26 (circulated previously).

The Committee discussed the work programme and the items due for consideration for the forthcoming year.

The Chair highlighted that there were still two outstanding special meetings to be held as part of the agreed work programme for 2024/25, which were:

·         GP surgeries and health inequalities.

·         Transportation and infrastructure.

He also suggested that it might be appropriate to hold another workshop similar to those that were held in 2023 and 2024 to discuss other areas that the Committee would like to explore further.

The Committee discussed potentially holding the special meeting of the Committee to discuss GP surgeries and health inequalities towards the end of April 2025 together with a suggestion that the meeting be held in Ilfracombe.

The Clerk advised that she would require names for those members of the panel that the group wished to invite as soon as possible to enable her to begin the arrangements for the meeting.

She suggested to the Committee that it might be appropriate to add future work programme discussions to the Committee scheduled for Thursday 20^th March 2025.

She added that there were also currently a number of meetings scheduled for the forthcoming year, which did not have business for discussion at the current time and suggested that potentially some of those dates could be utilised for special meetings should the Committee wish.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the work programme be noted; and

b)    That the item related to future work programme discussions remain on the agenda for the meeting scheduled for Thursday 20^th March 2025.