Council

Council
Monday, 24th February 2025 at 6:00pm

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Councillor Dilys Neill
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Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer
Councillor Mark Harris
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Councillor Nikki Ind

8 Budget 2025/26 and Medium Term Financial Strategy

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2 Declarations of Interest

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Councillor Nikki Ind
Councillor Tom Stowe
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03. Minutes from the meeting held 22 January - Approve
Status: In progress
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Councillor Len Wilkins
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03. Minutes from the meeting held 22 January - Approve
Status: Ended

4 Announcements from the Chair, Leader or Chief Executive

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08. Conservative Group Budget Amendment - Approve
Status: In progress
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Status: Ended
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Councillor David Cunningham
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Councillor Andrew Maclean
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Councillor Dilys Neill
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5 Public Questions

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6 Member Questions

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2025 02 24 Member questions - with Officer Input

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Councillor Andrew Maclean
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7 Budget Council Protocol

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8 Budget 2025/26 and Medium Term Financial Strategy

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08. Budget 2025/26 MTFS - Approve Recs 1 - 10
Status: In progress
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08. Budget 2025/26 MTFS - Approve Recs 1 - 10
Status: Ended
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9 Council Tax 2025-26

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David Stanley, Deputy CEO
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09. Council Tax 2025-26 - Approve recs 1-8
Status: Ended
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10 Notice of Motions

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11 Next meeting

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8 Budget 2025/26 and Medium Term Financial Strategy

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Councillor Mike Evemy
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Councillor Joe Harris

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Disclaimer: This transcript was automatically generated, so it may contain errors. Please view the webcast to confirm whether the content is accurate.

Councillor Dilys Neill - 0:00:00

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:00:09

Good afternoon and welcome to this meeting of Cotswold District Council's full council.

My name is Councillor Nicky Inge and I am the chair of council. I'd like to welcome

all members of the public, all members, the public in attendance and those watching online.

You are very welcome

For those watching at home. We will be using electronic voting and will broadcast the outcome of each vote

Should anything go wrong with the electronic voting which cannot be resolved. We will revert to voting by a clear show of hands

We'll start with agenda item one apologies

Nikki apologies

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:00:50

Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer - 0:00:55

Thank you very much.

Councillor Mark Harris - 0:00:56

We have apologies from Councillor Chris Twelves, Councillor Helen Mansilla, Councillor Angus

Jenkinson, Councillor Tristan Wilkinson and Councillor John Waring.

Councillor Tony Dale, sorry.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:01:18

Thank you very much.

8 Budget 2025/26 and Medium Term Financial Strategy

2 Declarations of Interest

Declarations of interest.

I would like to draw members attention to section 106 of the local government finance

act 1992 which provides that any member in council tax arrears of two or more months

must declare the fact and cannot vote on the budget or council tax items.

All members records have been checked and there are no council tax arrears,

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:01:50

therefore all members are entitled to vote. Are there any other declarations

of interest from anybody that you haven't declared? Just if you come across

them during the meeting please just let let us know. Agenda item 3, the minutes.

These are the minutes of the full council meeting held on the 22nd of January.

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:02:12

Do I have any changes or amendments that haven't been advised?

If not, can I have a proposer for accepting the minutes, please?

Councillor Fowles, thank you.

And a seconder?

Councillor Evermay, thank you.

And we will go to the vote.

Over to you, Keira.

Thank you.

Councillor Len Wilkins - 0:02:35

difference. Mine's not working.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:03:21

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:03:25

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:03:34

We've had a few technical issues there, but we can, with a couple not coming through,

but it was 21 .4 and four abstentions, so we can let that go.

Those minutes are approved.

Thank you very much.

4 Announcements from the Chair, Leader or Chief Executive

We move on to Agenda Item 4, Announcements.

Not too much from me this month, as we've got obviously the very important Budget Setting

meeting this evening.

But I would like to take this opportunity to thank Deputy Chief Executive and Section

151 Officer David Stanley and his finance team for all their hard work in preparing

this budget.

And also for the useful, very useful member budget briefing which I found personally very

helpful.

Also to the cabinet member for finance Mike Evermy and the colleagues of the overview

and scrutiny committee for their work and consideration.

Finally, a couple of good news stories. Firstly, about our new lift system. So in December

2024, we launched our first campaign using the low -income family tracker lift system

to support pension -aged residents missing out on pension credit. And it's already making

a real difference. So far, 22 pensioners have successfully claimed their entitlement, unlocking

£88 ,025 in financial support, £68 ,545 in pension credit, £15 ,079 in backdated payments

and £4 ,400 in winter fuel payments. Looking at the long -term benefits, including life

expectancy and pass -ported support, this campaign is set to have a lifetime impact of over £420

£21 ,269, a fantastic result for our local residents.

We will be running other campaigns to support local residents going forward.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:05:37

Secondly we've got the Drive and Thrive event taking place on the 6th of March from 10am

to 4pm at Syrinsester Marketplace and in the Corn Hall.

There you'll be able to test drive the latest electric vehicles, explore ways to make your

home more energy efficient and discover smart, sustainable solutions. It is a great opportunity

to see how small changes can make a big impact on your wallet and the planet. I am delighted

that I have also been asked to attend this Wednesday's job fair which is taking place

here in Trinity Road at 10 .30. In order to maximise the use of time available with the

Budget on the agenda, I would like to remind members to be disciplined in their comments,

avoid repetition and be succinct with any remarks made.

The length of this meeting is capped at four hours and after three hours have elapsed,

if we get to that point, we will take a vote on whether to continue for the final hour.

Move now to the leader, announcements from the leader. Over to you, Councillor Harris.

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:06:38

Thank you, Chair. First of all, can I start by paying tribute to our Ukrainian friends and colleagues

here in the Cotswolds on this, the anniversary,

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:06:50

three -year anniversary of Russia's brutal invasion

of Ukraine.

And it's particularly pertinent at the minute,

isn't it, when we see so much uncertainty within

Europe and, of course, the United States attitude

towards Ukraine.

It really is a concerning time,

the geopolitical situation.

But we know here on the ground that our Ukrainian

friends and colleagues make a fantastic contribution to our

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:07:19

community, and our communities are very much richer for it.

Councillor David Cunningham - 0:07:25

So, you know, we're thinking of them at this very difficult time

and the sooner Ukraine can win this war, find a peace,

the better.

But let's be clear, it must be on Ukraine's terms.

This next announcement may well come as a bit of a surprise.

For the past few months I've given this decision careful thought and after much reflection

I've decided to step down as leader of Cotswold District Council effective from May.

Serving as your leader since 2019 has been the honour of my life and it has been a privilege

to serve as leader the area that I have grown up.

I am a sire ancestor, a boy born and bred and it has been an immense privilege.

Over these six years, we've navigated some of the most challenging times imaginable,

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:08:19

from the unprecedented impact of a global pandemic to the unrelenting pressures of

a cost -of -living crisis.

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:08:25

I'm proud that together we've not only weathered these storms, but we've also achieved significant

milestones that will benefit our communities for many years to come.

Under this administration, we have fostered economic growth in our district with our Green

Economic Growth Strategy.

500 jobs can be linked to that document.

We delivered hundreds of energy -efficient and affordable homes in Syrinsester, Moreton,

Tethbury and Kempsford to name but a few.

We've raised over a million pounds for local projects through the award -winning Crowdfund

Cotswolds initiatives.

We've introduced comprehensive support measures that have ensured our most vulnerable residents

are looked after.

Yet as rewarding as these achievements have been, the role of council leader has often

been difficult, stressful and at times emotional.

There has literally been blood, sweat and tears, as well as some laughter and some joy.

I have enjoyed almost every moment, but this journey has also taught me a great deal about myself,

and of course a fair amount about the human condition.

It has demanded an extraordinary amount of time and energy,

often at the expense of personal relationships, I've had a few of those, and of course family life.

Being the figurehead of this organisation and the attention and scrutiny that comes with it

is something I enjoy, but of course it also takes a toll.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:09:39

Recognising the toll that this commitment has taken,

I believe it's time to seek a better balance in my life.

Councillor Patrick Coleman - 0:09:45

It's time to let a younger man or woman have a go.

In the absence of anyone younger than me on this council,

I guess someone older will have to do.

In a personal twist to my next chapter,

I'm delighted to share that in just three weeks,

my partner Samantha and I will be welcoming a new member into my family.

Don't worry, Dad, I'm talking about the dog.

I'm looking forward to the joy, companionship, and a welcome change of pace, although I suspect

caring for a four -legged friend, working Cocker Spanja puppy, will keep my hands full.

This announcement is being made at a time when change is essential, I believe, not only

for me, but also to ensure that the Lib Dem Group have ample time to undertake a proper

leadership election.

I'm making this announcement now.

the Lib Dem Group have time to run a comprehensive and thoughtful leadership campaign to elect my successor.

While I'll be stepping down as leader, my commitment to our community right across the district remains unwavering.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:10:44

I'll continue to serve as a district councillor, representing Syrinsister, which of course is where it all started and is my first love,

and also seeking re -election to Gloucestershire County Council in May.

Councillor Andrew Maclean - 0:10:54

Moreover, I look forward to devoting more time to my role as Vice Chair and leader of the Lib Dem Group at the Local Government Association,

Association, where I'll strive to ensure that the upcoming changes in local government

keep our communities at their heart.

That is key.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to every member of this council right across the political

spectrum, our dedicated council staff and of course the countless members of our communities

who have supported our journey all the way through.

Your trust and encouragement have been the cornerstone of many of our achievements.

They really have.

It's been a privilege to lead this vibrant community and I remain confident that the

The next chapter for this Council will be just as promising as we prepare for local government reorganisation.

So, thank you for the opportunity to serve, for your unwavering support, and for the many moments, memories and achievements that we've all experienced together.

As I embark on this new chapter, both in public service and indeed in my personal life, and whatever the future of Council structures or

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:11:51

political control, I look forward to continuing to witness our communities thriving.

Thank you very much.

Councillor Dilys Neill - 0:11:57

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:12:03

Thank you, Councillor Harris. Over to you now, Mr Weaver.

Nothing from Mr Weaver. We move on to agenda item 5, public questions.

5 Public Questions

Do we have anyone in the public who wishes to ask a question?

Would you like to come forward?

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:12:22

David Stanley, Deputy CEO - 0:12:27

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:12:35

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:12:42

If you could just let us know your name, that would be great. Thank you.

Public Speaker - 0:12:47

My name is Peter Hooper. Thank you for allowing me this time with you. My wife and I and most

Councillor Paul Hodgkinson - 0:12:57

of my family are long -term residents of Stratton. Our intention is to end our time on this earth

by being buried together in Stratton Cemetery or graveyard, the latter under the jurisdiction

of the Churn Valley benefits, the former under the jurisdiction of this council. Over the

five years my wife has regularly contacted the relevant authority of Cotsworth District

Council to book a grave plot, only to be told continuously that the cemetery is fully booked.

I myself have written to the leader of the council, copied to Rev. David Minns, representative

of the Chirring Valley by benefits, and I am here today to pursue this issue further.

A walk around the graveyard and cemetery reveals there is a large quantity of space that is

unused and could or even should be given over to grave plots. Arguments presented to me

in the past against this just do not stand up to scrutiny. So my question to this meeting

is what action is the Council going to take to provide more grave plots in the cemetery

for the ever -growing number of residents of Stratton and, if necessary, engaging with

the Churn Valley benefits to discuss space in the graveyard and who will be tasked with

taking this action forward?

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:14:18

Thank you for your issue. I appreciate the frustration and I know that you have written

to me in the past about the issue of grave space at Stratton Cemetery.

I need to do a bit more digging.

So what I suggest we do is you and I meet up.

We have a conversation and we will try and explore what's going on.

Obviously our council officers have given you a number of responses it sounds like.

It sounds to me like you haven't had one clear response as to what the situation is.

So in the first instance we want to give you absolute clarity about what the situation

is from our point of view. I think there's a wider point around grave space and it's

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:15:06

a discussion that we need to have across the district. We've inherited graveyards as a

bit of an anomaly from the old urban district council and rural district councils and many

district councils haven't been in the business of creating new grave space and it's fair

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:15:23

to say that we haven't had a proactive approach as a council to finding new grave space. So

a conversation absolutely needs to be had because there is still going to be a large

proportion of people that want to be buried and they want to be buried in

Sire ancestor and with the Chesterton Cemetery and Stratton reaching capacity

there needs to be a conversation about what happens so what I suggest we do Mr.

Hooper is I will get my executive assistant to get in touch with you come

in for a meeting we'll sit down with the relevant officers and we'll see if we

can find a resolution not only for you but also some clarity for people in

sister who want to be buried here.

All right?

Thank you very much.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:16:01

Thank you very much, Mr Hooper.

Hooper.

Hooper, yeah.

And I think we've got Mary as well this evening.

Thank you.

Public Speaker - 0:16:30

My name is Mary Covert.

I would hopefully, as quickly as I can, just start with a huge thank you to Cotswold District

In this last year, we had a 10 ,000 -pound grant from the

Council, and in that time, we are now built up the pantry and

are serving 90 households every week and preventing over 20 ,000

kgs of waste going into landfill and is being used to help people

who are struggling with their cost of living charges around

food. I just also received a grant from a household support fund of household

support fund vouchers which I used as a carrot if you'll excuse the dead full

pun when we carried out 50 benefit checks and found 67 ,000 18 and 67 ,000

816 pounds worth of benefits for our members. The thing that is some of these

will be crossovers with some of the lift pensioners who I know have come via us to you.

But the most interesting statistic is the £28 ,000 that was found for the working families

who had no expectation of receiving any benefits. They were families with couples who were both

working, have a child and rent properties.

And they all said, oh, no, I know we're not entitled.

And yet we've found universal credit housing element for them.

And most particularly for here, council tax reduction,

which has been a fantastic

always that this has been a fantastic

addition for people in the community.

The question comes on a slightly different topic.

I came here two years ago to talk to you about the safe crossing on Midland Road.

And two years ago I met with the Highways and Councillor Rebecca Halifax and Peter Cusdens

from BDL.

We stood on Midland Road and watched the traffic and all agreed we do need a safe crossing.

That day I remember reporting here was the day that somebody was actually hit by a car

trying to cross the road.

I think the changes to the road system have certainly made for

easier flowing for cars and trucks to get into Love Lane and

the estates.

The problem is it's made it more difficult for pedestrians.

We now have a situation where we have people coming off the bus

to go to Lidl's and the retail area there,

and they have to cross not just one but three lanes of traffic.

And two of them, as they come up, are going in opposite directions.

You've got drivers looking either way.

And it happened to us, my husband and I were driving the other day.

We were on the dual road and he stopped to try and let somebody pass.

And I said, don't stop because you can't see the car coming up behind you.

This really is something that I brought back again today because from a Councillor Julia Judd's question

at the last council meeting about the Sill funds and I wondered if it seemed that

the provision of a safe crossing might fit in the in in the

guidance for Sill funds and I wondered were we able to

because nobody seems to want to find the money to build a safe crossing.

BDL have produced plans for it and we're looking at a significant cost of £100 ,000.

And so I would ask where do we go for this money?

Are we able to ask for still money?

Thank you.

Thank you, Mary.

I'm going to pick that up.

Yeah, I totally get the issue.

As a fellow Chesterton resident, I drive through there most days and you're right.

Traffic Pro has greatly improved.

We're not slack queuing in traffic today.

But yeah, I totally get the point you make.

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:21:02

I think with relation to SEAL funds,

I think we need to get you a more detailed response because

it's quite a detailed question.

So I will endeavor to follow up with a detailed response within

a few days of this meeting.

I do think you raise a wider point, though,

that is important around highways,

particularly the upgrades to our infrastructure around Syrinsister off the back of the Chesterton

development, we don't call it that anymore, the Steddings development.

We've got to make sure that the section 106 agreements are, there's a commitment to those

and to those happening.

I appreciate that we know things are tough for developers and we get that things have

totally changed in the last few years in terms of the market, supply chains. It was, what,

seven years ago now since the permission was given, maybe eight. So, yeah, there have been

quite a few material changes. So what we want at this Council is a

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:22:00

pragmatic approach. We

want to make sure those Section 106 commitments happen, but we want to make sure that we're

pragmatic and development can happen too. And as we know in planning, it's not fair,

but so often a lot of this is down to vitality, so viability, sorry, so we've got to balance that.

So let's take this offline, we'll get you a follow -up question, we'll get a briefing as well for members on the Chesterton development,

on the Steadings development, sorry, because a lot has happened, I had a productive meeting with the estate recently,

there's lots of things, they're not evil, as some would lead you to believe, but there are issues there that they have

and there are issues that we've got, I mean, to try and meet in the middle, so we'll take that away.

Can I just finally say, Mary, thank you for everything that you've done to support me as leader of this council.

You've been great, and one of the reasons we have such a great council tax support scheme is because of your lobbying and your work.

You are the go -to person, all right? Thank you.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:22:57

Councillor Bloomard just wants to, just indicated, Mary, she just

Councillor Claire Bloomer - 0:23:01

wants to add something.

Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to put my thanks over to Mary.

Mary worked so hard for our residents in the Cotswolds and I just want to thank

her personally from me and for the amount of work and effort that she puts

in in securing these families funding and just nothing is too much you can

phone Mary anytime she's helped so many people and doesn't get paid for doing it

she just does a sterling job and I just want to thank you

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:23:34

Thank you Mary and thank you colleagues. We'll move on to agenda item six members

6 Member Questions

questions. So the written responses to member questions were circulated

yesterday and are available to view in members supplementary papers and on the

meeting page on the council website. I will now ask each

questioner in turn whether they'd like to ask a supplementary question. One

minute is allowed for supplementary question and two minutes is allowed per

response. The first question comes from Councillor Andrew McLean to Councillor

Juliet Layton, cabinet member for housing and planning on the victory fields in

Upper Risington. Councillor McLean do you have a supplementary question?

Councillor Andrew Maclean - 0:24:18

Thank you very much Councillor Layton for the reply. I know that our council

holds a list of all contaminated sites in the Cotswolds. Now the land in Upper

Rislington because it has been remediated does not appear on that list. Although in

your reply there is obviously a need for ongoing maintenance and a

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:24:46

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:24:49

need for ongoing monitoring.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:24:53

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:24:53

But in fact our list on the council shows that we have no contaminated sites in the

which might be a question for celebration or for cynicism.

So my question is,

as we don't have any contaminated land

and not ours that we know was,

do we keep a list of sites where there has been

contamination, which has now been remediated?

And if so, can such a list be made available to councilors?

Thank you.

Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:25:22

That's an interesting and good question.

Cause we all know that there are sites

that are very contaminated and are being worked on,

and we're looking at how they can be developed

or how they can be cleaned and cleared.

I'm gonna have to come back to you with a proper response

from officers about that list.

I would have thought there was one,

but I can't say yes, I don't know.

So I will get you a written response,

but I know that we have a team of people

that are all in ERS working on contaminated land

and how it can be dealt with.

So, thank you for the question.

Thank you.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:26:02

Thank you.

The second question comes from Councillor Twiles to Councillor Harris,

the leader on meetings with Ros Savage MP and the Lime Down Solar Park development.

As Councillor Twiles is not present this evening, I'm unable to ask if you'd like a supplementary.

We'll move on to question number three.

again from Councillor Twill's to Councillor Evermay deputy leader and cabinet member

for finance and transformation on the RGA conference again us Councillor Twill's

is not present we're unable to ask if you'd like a supplementary so we'll move

on to the main item of the budget Council protocol first so before we

7 Budget Council Protocol

begin this item I'd like to remind members and the public observing

proceedings that the budget protocol can be found in the council's

Constitution, Part G, Appendix D, pack on the Council's website. It will be the procedure

used to debate and confirm the Budget for 2025 -2026. I would like to inform members

that the votes on the Budget and the Council Tax Resolutions will be done by electronic

votes as all of our votes are recorded within the minutes. This is in line with requirements

set out in statute. If there is a problem with the electronic voting which can't be

resolved we will conduct a roll call vote. For those present a printed copy of

the relevant section of the Constitution is on the desk in front of you. So we

8 Budget 2025/26 and Medium Term Financial Strategy

move on agenda item 8 to the budget and medium -term financial strategy for 2025

2026 and this is being proposed by Councillor Evermy. Over to you Councillor

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:27:49

Thank you, Chair, fellow members. It's my honour to propose the budget for this Council's

Liberal Democrat administration for the sixth time. It's now nearly six years since we started

working to rebuild the Council's finances and invest in our district. We changed the

way we ran the finances of the Council to help us deal with government funding cuts,

and we've had to deal with the COVID pandemic, cost of living crisis and a huge spike in inflation.

We also wanted to invest more in the area we love and call home.

This budget continues to deliver on our commitments and the major progress we have made since May 2019.

Members will be aware of the challenging financial position of many local authorities

and that several councils have issued section 114 notices declaring themselves effectively bankrupt.

More recently, 30 councils have requested and received exceptional financial support

from the Government.

Six councils have been allowed higher council tax rises without a referendum.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:28:53

Councils of all types, all political complexions are under severe financial pressure.

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:29:00

Because of the decisions we have taken here, we are not in imminent danger of having to

request exceptional financial support or issue Section 114 notice.

For the papers we are considering today show us a forecast budget gap of £1 .6 million

next year and nearly £5 million the year after that we need to close, so we can maintain

our financial security and stability.

Before going into the detail of our budget for 2025 -26, I would like to address the implications

of the Government's devolution white paper published just before Christmas.

As well as outlining a desire to see mayoral authorities across the whole of England, it

also set an ambition for unitary councils across England too, from Cornwall to Northumberland

by the end of this Parliament. There will

be further opportunities to debate the merits of that proposal and what it could mean for

the people of our district. But I

want to focus now on how we should plan financially for the potential abolition of this council.

Council. What we must do in my view is to continue our prudent management of the finances

as we have done over the last six years. Our medium -term financial strategy shows that

we have a budget gap that we must close before the potential end of this Council in March

2028. We must continue and enhance the work that I have led in the Cabinet Transform Working

Group with our senior officers, Cabinet colleagues, Publica and Yubico so we can transform services

and deliver savings. Changes made in 2024 -25, including to the scheduling and

operation of our course centre and the reorganisation of waste grounds, will

deliver £625 ,000 in savings in 2025 -26. But we need to do more.

Building on the savings introduced in this current year's budget around waste

and recycling of rezoning, this budget includes half a million pounds of

savings and over a quarter of a million pounds in revenue increases from fees and charges,

making a contribution of over £800 ,000 towards balancing our budget.

But we are facing expenditure and income pressures of £450 ,000 and we need to find a million

pounds to cover contract pay and energy inflation.

In total, that adds up to almost £1 .5 million more than we budgeted for in the current year.

So, this budget will deliver a surplus next year of over £600 ,000, replenishing our reserves

as we agreed to do when passing a motion on council finances in November 2023.

The funding settlement from the Government for next year is the worst since I took on

this role in May 2019.

The funding from the Government to support our spending next year has fallen by £256 ,000.

The only saving grace is that there is a £1 .5 million grant we will receive for the new

extended producer scheme, which isn't part of the main settlement, nor is it guaranteed

in future years.

Details of the proposed allocations to reserves, including for our corporate priorities, can

be found in paragraph 1 .40 of the main report. The combination of inflationary

pressures and cuts in government funding mean that again this year we have to

face had to face tough choices and have worked hard to make savings so that I

can present a robust and balanced budget for members to discuss this evening. We

also need to recognize the availability of one -off capital funding for this

Council. In March 1997 the Council sold its housing stock to Fosse Way Housing

Association and generated a receipt of £56 million. £8 million of that was used to pay

off the Council's existing debt, leaving £48 million for the Council to use to finance

its capital programme.

Over the past 28 years, this money has been spent by the Administrations in charge on

projects including building the larger Cirencester Leisure Centre, upgrades to the Corinna Museum

and investing in village halls. Many of these investments have provided huge value to our

area and it is the right as a council we should invest in our district.

Since May 2019 our administration has also used these funds to replace our waste and

recycling vehicles, improve our car parks and invest in the webcasting technology we

are using today to name just three.

However, the pot of money is coming to an end.

I said it last year, it is still true, definitely now.

But two current schemes are delivering benefits for the council and our residents.

We used half a million pounds from our residents through the community municipal investment

to provide electric vehicle charging points in our car parks and solar panels on the roofs

of this building, both to reduce the use of fossil fuels.

We've invested in this building here in Syrinsester to make it fit for our new hybrid way of working

and we've made an agreement with a local company who are now letting out parts of the building

for us and generating us a rental income.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:34:03

In the current environment we need to use our capital very carefully to avoid

as much as we can increasing the pressure on our revenue budget. Before I

come to this year's budget I want to talk about how we've worked over the

last six years to rebuild the council's finances and meet the challenges I've

outlined. Our budget, the ongoing cost and income for running the council and

delivering services for residents has been under financial pressure since

before we took over in May of 2019.

And we've been working on that in the last six years

against the backdrop of further real terms funding reductions

from the government.

And this year, it's not even real terms.

It's an actual terms cut in funding.

Our approach has been to make our service delivery more

efficient while improving standards,

increase our income to replace the lost

funding from the government, and bring in money

from external funding sources and to protect the poorest

and most vulnerable in our district.

We've taken a number of steps to bring in more income and change the way we operate

to deliver more efficient services.

We've raised over a million and a half pounds by reviewing fees and charges after years

of freezes and below -cost charging and we're planning to raise

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:35:09

further £280 ,000 next year.

Over half a million pounds has been saved since 2023 from contributions to the local

9 Council Tax 2025-26

government pension scheme and we expect a further half a million from 26 -27.

and over £1 .4 million has been raised in council tax.

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:35:29

This prudent management and income generation is helping us to weather the financial storms

that we are experiencing.

We have also worked hard to bring in external funding sources and have been very successful.

We have generated over £4 .4 million that has been brought into the district, most of

which required us to make a case for funding to government and other funders.

It's meant we can invest in our local area, support our local communities, improve health

and public safety, tackle the climate emergency and help the pandemic recovery.

And we've continued to work on our priorities.

We've made great progress on these.

Our award -winning fundraising portal, Crowdfund Cotsworld, I think it's now almost over a

million pounds has been raised for local causes.

We've reduced our carbon footprint by decarboning our leisure centres.

We've won awards for consulting about approaches to local plans.

We've set our flood warden scheme to help manage flooding at local level.

I could go on.

We've achieved all of this while also supporting our communities and businesses through the

cost of living prices.

It's still here.

We launched a campaign to help people access the support they need.

We provided fundings to support amazing local initiatives that support our residents.

And we provide additional financial support to most in need.

And we just heard earlier about the success of the most recent project, the LIFT Scheme.

And we can't forget that we deliver over 50 services to residents across the Cotswolds,

our staff working hard day in day out to keep the council and the Cotswolds running.

That includes delivering affordable homes, collecting the household waste, clearing fly tips,

processing, planning and building control applications, helping households with benefit claims,

helping most importantly households in need of emergency or temporary

accommodation and providing children on free school meals activities during the

holidays. The council has delivered on behalf of its residents and I'm proud of

all that we have achieved in the face of continued funding pressures and the cost

of living crisis which continues for many people. I want to thank all our

staff for the hard work that they put in on behalf of our residents. It's a great

achievement, given the pressures of the cost of living crisis and the ongoing financial

pressures placed on local government and on many of them individually.

Turning to our budget for next year, it's all about preparing for tougher times ahead

with more government budget cuts expected, while continuing to support our communities

and businesses and invest in our district.

Due to changes in the communications team and the national budget on 31st October, I

decided to delay our annual consultation with residents, businesses

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:38:09

and community organisations

about our budget.

Unfortunately, we were then able to run the consultation as we would normally due to the

imposition of restrictions due to the pre -election period for the Chesterton by -election.

As a result, we ran a shortened consultation in January, fronted by the Deputy Chief Executive,

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:38:28

which received 46 responses that are published as Annex 1 in your

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:38:31

papers.

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to that consultation.

We have got some difficult decisions in this budget.

Councillor Mark Harris - 0:38:42

Yet again we will be asking residents to pay a little bit more, £5 a year for a Bandy

property on their council tax.

A rise that I will point out to members that government assumes now that we will make and

the only way in which we can bring our funding up to the level, above the level that they

gave us last year.

70 % of respondents, the small number I admit, supported the rise that we're proposing.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:39:03

David Stanley, Deputy CEO - 0:39:06

We're also introducing a premium on second homes and we discussed that last year.

Those two together with the council tax rise, we expect to raise £469 ,000.

That's important but it's not enough to close the budget gap and to start to replenish our

reserves.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:39:22

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:39:23

As I mentioned earlier, we're also planning to increase fees and charges to raise an additional

280 ,000 pounds next year. And as a principle the cabinet has agreed

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:39:32

discretionary charges should be levied at a level which

Councillor Julia Judd - 0:39:35

covers the cost to the council. We as a cabinet decided that we would

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:39:40

freeze the

first half hour and one hour parking charges in our car parks and the

increase to further longer stays will raise a further 90 ,000 pounds next year.

We have also had to look carefully at the garden waste service and the charge for that

will rise to £69 per bin per annum, which is covering the increased costs of fuel and

labour including the national insurance rise imposed by the Government and not properly

refunded to us to run that service.

The service now will cost over £1 .4 million to run a year.

This budget maintains our current funding for our local, voluntary and community sector

organisations when many other councils are reducing or ending such funding.

As I close this speech, I think it's important to recognise the cost of living crisis isn't

over. There are many people across the Cotswolds who are struggling to make ends meet. For

them, council tax is a significant burden. To maintain the value of our help to them,

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:40:44

we agreed at our meeting in November to improve our local council tax support scheme, providing

what financial support we can to those residents most in need.

We're supporting nearly 4 ,000 households in our district with their council tax bill,

10 Notice of Motions

giving them vital help during their continuing cost of living crisis.

11 Next meeting

We will be promoting this scheme again in the coming weeks and I would also encourage

members to let their residents know about it so people who really do need the help are

getting it.

Members will recall that we've established a financial resilience reserve to ensure we

Webcast Finished - 0:41:14

have the funds available to support our services while we transform their

provision to meet the funds available. This budget expects the balance in that

reserve to rise by over £600 ,000 as a result of our proposals. That will help

us manage the finances while we continue to focus our energies on reducing the

budget gap and ensuring we continue to provide the services our residents,

businesses and communities rely on. Members should also note how we are

budgeting for the transition of services from publica back to the council or to a shared

service with our partners. We have included the costs attributed to phase one and have

produced estimates for phase two. The remaining funds from the revenue reserve allocation

we made of half a million pounds to allow for one off costs are there to support phase

two of the project. Members can be assured the Deputy Chief and I are very focused on

ensuring the financial considerations are a key part as we look to the future

service provision. Before bringing my remarks to a close I want to draw

members attention to the report of the Chief Finance Officer in Annex A. It's

important that members have read and digested his comments and understand the

Council's financial position and the risks we face. In conclusion I would like

to move recommendations 1 to 10 on pages 33 and 34 to thank the Deputy

chief executive, the finance team and all the assistant directors and business managers

across the Council and Publica for their work on the Budget and to commend it to the Council

for approval.

The financial circumstances are more challenging than ever but this Budget is both deliverable

and prudent. It continues to work to safeguard the Council's finances and improve its services.

It continues to put liberal Democrat values into practice and delivers on the aims and

of our administration to deliver genuinely affordable homes to respond

to the climate emergency to support our communities and our local economy

through tough times all whilst maintaining the financial resilience of

the council. This budget takes forward our work to improve our district and I

commend it to all members.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:43:22

Thank you Councillor of me that was very good nine seconds to go impressive and

thanks to have me who is seconding this Councillor Harris would you like to

speak now reserve reserve you're right and Councillor Stowe would you like to

respond to now or later in the debate okay thank you

council McLean do you want to respond to now or later in the debate later in the

debate okay is there a conservative amendment

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:44:00

poser yes we do have an amendment thank you I think Democratic Services will

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:44:06

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:44:06

to circulate the amendment to all members now.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:44:45

Councillor Coleman, you wanted to say something?

Councillor Patrick Coleman - 0:44:50

Thank you very much.

Just a technical question with regard to the Annex A on which so much emphasis has been

correctly put.

I wonder if we might use this little pause to explain the way the numbering goes with

the paragraphs.

If we go from 2 .2 to 1 .1 to 2 .3 and then we go from 2 .6 to 1 .2 to 2 .7 and then we go from

2 .9 to 1 .9.

Now I'm not trying to make fun because I know there will be a technical reason, but I just

need reassurance that there's no suggestion that the paragraphs are in the wrong order.

It's just something in the many many versions that would have happened. I'm no doubt, but could we just have a quick check?

It's a bit distracting

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:45:34

Well spotted councillor Coleman, I'm assuming it's just a

Incorrect. Yeah, I think it's nothing more than just where things have moved around it is in the right order

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:45:47

Councillor Stowe over to you

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:45:51

Yes, thank you chair

We do have an amendment which I would like to propose the Democratic Service team have now circulated to all members

It's a straightforward proposal in short

It reduces the budget of the communications team and this funds the creation of an additional

Environmental Protection Officer as well as additional 100 ,000 pound per year savings to be allocated to the council's financial resilience reserve

The communications budget is quite frankly out of control

Members will see on page 202 of the papers that the press PR and communications budget

is increasing by 41 % from $285 ,000 last year to a staggering $404 ,000 for the coming year.

This is absurd for an organisation the size of CDC, particularly given the difficult financial

decisions that are being made in other areas.

This amendment brings this spending down to a more palatable level while maintaining a

more than adequate budget to deliver the work the Department is providing.

£40 ,000 of this saving will be used to create a new permanent Level 1 Case and Field Work

Officer in the Environmental Protection Team. The team carries out vital frontline work

for residents across the District. When Council taxpayers pay their Council tax, this is what

they expect it to be spent on. Tackling fly tipping, enviro -crime, dog fowling, littering,

graffiti, abandoned cars, the list goes on. The £40 ,000 allocated includes £32 ,000

for salary, pension and National Insurance, £5 ,000 for the lease of an additional vehicle

and £3 ,000 for other miscellaneous costs such as IT. It should be noted that I keep

referring to an Environmental Protection Team is actually a team of one, juggling this important

work across the district and a huge rural area. This is not sustainable and this amendment

gives much needed resource and staff to expand and build upon the great work

that is currently carried out giving further capacity to investigate, prevent,

tidy up and educate on these matters and keeping our communities clean tidy and a

place we can all be proud of. After this role has been created there is still

100 ,000 pounds of further annual savings and these be allocated to the CDC

financial resilience reserve to contribute towards savings that are

needed over the coming years. So I'm pleased to propose this amendment.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:48:16

Thank you Councillor Stowe. And do we have a seconder for this? Councillor Caweld,

Councillor Daryl Corps - 0:48:25

you want to speak now? Yes please chair, thank you. I'm seconding this amendment

because it's a bit of a no -brainer really. I think as members we've spent a

lot of time at one point or another working with the hard working

Environmental Protection Officer. I think we all know that they actually deserve a

team to actually help and enforce this right across the the cost was and of

course it delivers much better value for council tax payers. Thank you.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:48:56

Thank You councillor Cawle. Are there any points of clarification on that

amendment from colleagues.

Right.

Perfect.

Chief Executive, do you have any announcements?

No?

So, I'm going to now adjourn the meeting for 20 minutes in order for groups to discuss this proposal.

Could members please return to their group rooms to do so?

I hope I got something wrong.

Thanks for having me.

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:49:33

I was just going to ask were there any other amendments before we adjourned from any other members?

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:49:36

Sorry, I've got I don't believe there are any other amendments from the Green Party Council McLean. No, and there's certainly nothing from

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:49:45

me either

So if you could please we will reconvene at ten past seven, thank you very much

8 Budget 2025/26 and Medium Term Financial Strategy

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:50:03

Thank you colleagues for your time. We will now go to the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member

for Finance to let us know where the administration is on the Budget

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:50:14

Amendment. Councillor Evermy.

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:50:18

We do not accept the amendment, Chair. Thank you, Councillor Evermy. Right, the debate

on the amendment not accepted by the administrator. Does any member

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:50:31

wish to speak if you have

Thank you. Fair play to the opposition because they have made a lot of good headlines out of the communications function at this council.

We reject this amendment but we understand absolutely the reasons that you guys have bought it.

It's consistent messaging which is of course a key function of communication.

I think we need to look at the wider context of this.

Yes, on the face of it, communications,

it's the fashionable thing to try and attack,

but we have to recognize the times that we are living in.

Now more than ever, communications and engagement

is absolutely critical to local authorities,

It is critical to this local authority in particular.

If you listen to the opposition, they will go, it is all Joe Harris' PR machine and they

will be making him look good, they will be photoshopping him.

That would be nice, wouldn't it?

That would be nice.

Unfortunately it won't be me, so they will try and photoshop one of those plots, so good

luck!

But the point remains, we need to have a communication function.

We need a communication function and an engagement function for a number of reasons.

First of all, we've heard this evening about the good work that our council officers are doing on an issue like the cost of living crisis.

It's absolutely critical that we have a robust and clear communications function in order to speak to residents.

When I say speak to residents, I'm not just talking about putting a few tweets out, but it's how we get to those harder to reach people.

It's absolutely critical that we try and do that.

So whether that's on cost of living issue,

whether that's the lift program that Councilor Bloomer

has been talking about.

One of the big criticisms we've had from members opposite,

particularly in the Morton areas,

oh, we don't hear anything from CDC

about proposed development, the local plan,

and so on and so forth.

Well, one of the reasons we want to invest

in our communication function is that,

so residents are in no doubt

as to what they're being asked to consider,

whether that's in a consultation,

They're clearer of the view of the councils than we can get.

We can get everybody's views taken into account.

It's that engagement function.

The other key point I'd make as well is we had the sewage summit

earlier last year, sorry.

And one of the key actions out of that was a number of actually

public affairs responsibilities.

Basically, a lot of the recommendations were, well,

we need to engage Thames Water, we need to engage various

agencies, whether that's on sewage or in fact a whole other

We do that through our communications function.

That is why we have built a new team with a public affairs role at the very heart of it.

These issues that are causing you grief and concern, we can properly lobby for.

That is part of the role.

The headline is easy, isn't it?

It is going to be a PR function for Joe and the liberty.

That is not the reality of the situation.

If we are to accept this amendment, it would mean making redundancies.

and you know hasn't been specified from the Conservatives which of our brilliant

officers are going to be made redundant. The other key point in

all of this is that we've had this without any notice you know there's a

clear protocol to vote and they say maybe or maybe not and you know we only

40 % turnout for the local elections is considered good and that's

such a shame and so that's why I think it's so crucial that we let let our

residents know not only what the council is doing I mean that's not just sort of

boasting on behalf of the administration it's letting it's letting our residents

know these are the things that the council can do for you these are the

people who you can get in touch with it's treating it's treating our

residents as important and as intelligent adults you know by

communicating with them and I just think the lift program has shown what can be

done by taking the trouble to communicate and with our residents and I

just feel that we need more of it. Thanks. Thank you Councillor Neill.

Councillor Mark Harris. Thank you very much. Well we've heard a lot about why

it's so important to communicate and treat our residents as important as

just been said but something I've taken from this and maybe I wasn't quite so

aware of it beforehand, maybe you weren't quite so aware of it, is that our environment

protection officer is not working in isolation as we've heard from Councillor Layton. They're

working with the police, they're working with the highways authorities, they're working

with environment agencies to name just a few. So from my point of view that's reassuring

that there's a lot of support there going on there. And of course as Councillor Spivey

has said, yeah we'd all like lots more offices in a lot of different areas but with the,

amount of cuts we're seeing right now on top of the cuts we've had in the past

few years as we know tough decisions to make we're suffering the cost -living

crisis as well

Thank You councillor Harris are there any more comments to make?

I think there's three or four demands for it.

Thank you, Councillor Cunningham.

Right. If you insist.

Okay, we'll move on. Back to Councillor Stowe to sum up the debate on any amendment.

Yes, thank you, Chair.

We're not saying to completely get rid of the communications team in its entirety.

all we are looking to do is actually restructure it into a more palatable and sensible size

with a more sensible budget. It is great that the colleagues have highlighted some of the

successes that have come off the back of the communications team, but we do have to remember

that that was under last year's budget of £285 ,000. This huge 41 % increase to £404 ,000

is excessive. It is an obvious place to make savings and ultimately this will come down

to priorities and allocations of those limited resources. By this discussion it is clear

that the Lib Dems are content to continue to prioritise the self -promotion PR and spin

over delivering quality front -line services. That is all I have got to say for now. It

Thank you, Councillor Stowe. Councillor Evmy, you have a right to respond?

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to my colleagues who have spoken in this debate. Yeah, clearly

I think as the leader as well, this is a tactical amendment. The leader of the opposition basically

has just said he believes it's about self -promotion spin. I think the leader answered very clearly

why it isn't. What he didn't also put into his contribution was around the change from

Publica becoming a sovereign service. This isn't the only service that's come across

from Publica and cost us more to run ourselves. You can see that from the papers that we've

got here today. But I think we've got to recognise that actually you can't do communications,

You can't do public relations without people to do the job.

That if you slashed the budget for staffing in that team by 140 ,000 pounds, at least two

or three people are going to be without a job.

And that's a job that we actually fundamentally and for all the reasons that my colleagues

have said in this debate actually needs doing.

And we need to do more of it because local government reorganization is coming down the

And we need to be communicating with our residents about the implications of that to them when things become clearer and the changes come down the line.

But you know, I what I would say to colleagues is a lot of thought has gone in to planning a new communications team.

We have staff who are already accepted job offers who are about to start working for this council and will do a fantastic job.

And I don't think it's the time to pass an amendment which basically says we don't need you and we don't want you

Because that's not true

I don't believe that's true at all and actually what we need to be doing as colleagues have said is we need to be doing more

communications better communications

In order to be able to support our residents

Across the whole district and therefore I would urge colleagues to reject this amendment

And vote against this amendment in the vote to come up. Thank you, Jeff

Thank you, Councillor Evermy. Right, we will now go to the electronic recorded vote on

that Conservative amendment. Over to you, Keira. Thank you.

Thank you colleagues. That was 8 for 16 against and two abstentions. So that amendment falls.

We now return to the substantive budget. So questions on the substantive budget.

So do I have any questions?

Councillor Cunningham over to you.

I'm long at 8 .15 so I've got to drag it out as long as I can.

Actually I wanted to ask a question of some of the other members here as to whether or

not for a council that is telling us it's green to the core, that it believes that it

should spend the same amount of money on a transformation lead in 25 -26 as it does on

the entire district for flooding over the same time period.

Madam Chair, I'd like to ask whether or not some of the councillors here are happy voting for this budget

when there are numbers like that in there. Thank you.

Do you want to go, Councillor Harris? Do you want to respond to that?

I mean, you know, we're not going to take a lecture from the Conservatives on Custer flooding when they have gutted the environment agency

Absolutely gutted the environment agency. It's not the issue of this council

You know

Having to try and solve the flooding issue. It's a multi -agency. It's actually Gloucestershire County Council who are the lead flood authority

What on earth do they do? I don't know. I don't know and who runs the who runs the County Council?

it's the Conservatives.

So, you know, we're not gonna be lectured about cuts

to flooding or a lack of budget for flooding

when the party opposite have an appalling record

when it comes to flooding and drainage issues.

So I'm content with the brilliant work

that our brilliant flooding officer does in our district.

Of course, every officer would like to have more resourcing.

Of course we keep all budgets under revision but the question is what are the County Council

doing to support flooding and what is the Environment Agency doing?

Those are the two agencies responsible for flooding.

We do what we can and I'm very proud of our flooding officers and our Yuba co -operatives

who are quite often the first on the ground when flooding hits.

Councillor Coleman, did you wish to say something?

No, Chair, I was just about to say the leader has made the point I was going to make. But

I can't, the very last words he spoke, when we had some really bad floods and he was a

very young new Councillor, he was one of the first people on site. And that has stayed

with him, possibly something you were aware of now I think about it, Chair.

Also, the world has changed so much.

At the county council in Wiltshire many years ago, the top lawyer said to me, I will tell

you what this council's public relations strategy is, least said, soon it is mended.

Because nobody questioned local authorities in those days.

They were there and nothing else was.

Everything else is there and we are squeezed out.

So, I'm not reopening the old debate, but I thank everybody who does their best to get

truths across in this time of misinformation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Coleman.

Any other questions?

Oh, who am I?

Councillor McLean.

Sorry, I don't wish to lecture you about flooding, but I think it's very good that Councillor

cutting raised it because in the changing climate that we have in the

Cotswolds having increased rainfall intensity flooding is going to become

more and more important in all our communities I know at least two out of

my four really suffered from flooding coming off from the high walls and I

know it's Gloucestershire County Council's prime responsibility and I

I hope people will bear that in mind in the coming elections next year for Gloucester County Council

and think very carefully about how they elect because it's a really, really important issue that we're all going to face.

And it's not just Cheeksbury that gets flooded with the changing climate that we have.

It's going to affect so many of our communities in the Cotswolds. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor McLean.

Councillor Neill.

It was just a question of interest. On page 90 it states that the council has submitted

an expression of interest to the MHCLG for delivery funding towards the local plan. Have

we been successful in that? It said in February. Of course it's not quite the end of February

yet but I wondered if you had some good news for us on that or not.

Well that was going to be my question Councillor Neill as well. Mr Stanley.

Thank you chair unfortunately we weren't successful in receiving any allocation

from the government in that respect.

Well that's disappointing. Any other questions on the substantive budget? No?

Okay so now we go to the general debate on the substantive budget. So anybody

wish to speak? Councillor Hodgkinson. Yeah I just wanted to say something about

parking charges actually because as the person who took on the parking portfolio

last May I spent a lot of last year talking to chambers of commerce to

businesses to residents we went around some of the parish councils etc. So spoke

a lot of people, it was clear to me that to help them we needed to do something to help

them with regard to parking. And it's really, really tough to be able to do anything in

this climate because with inflation climbing once again, and remember it was as high as

11, 12 % under the Conservatives before they lost the general election last year with that,

and the cuts to local government funding, again from the Conservatives 50 % cut from

you guys and unfortunately under the current government nothing better in

fact actually worse which is staggeringly awful even despite that

backdrop it was really important to me and my discussions with Councillor

Eberme that we did something within parking charges to help people and

that's why I'm pleased that we froze we've been able to freeze in this budget

half hour and one hour parking charges it's something that just goes towards

helping people and businesses and it's interesting because in the parking

strategy. We've done an awful lot of analysis over the last 12 months and we

will be bringing that forward later this this year a new strategy. And I was

just looking at some of the stats the other day and the vast majority of usage

now is coming through in one and two hour slots. You know half hour, one hour,

two hour slots. So there's been a change from the longer term car parking to

shorter term car parking. So actually our freezing of half hour and one hour

parking charges will impact positively an awful lot of people who use our car

park so I just wanted to say that and I think it's important to remember it

because I know on social media Councillor Stowe had a go at me for you

know increasing parking charges last year well since I took the parking

portfolio and I have thought about that that's why I wanted to freeze some of

our charges and I'm glad that Councillor Evermey agree with me in in doing that

just wanted to say that. Thank you. Thank you Councillor Hodgkinson and apologies

colleagues I have put a tick for the Conservative group to respond to the

substantive budget and then for the Green group so I'm going to go back to

Councillor Stowe and ask him if you'd like to respond to the budget. Yes thank

you chair. This is my fourth CDC budget meeting and sadly it's the same old

story after five and a half years of Liberal Democrat control the council

continues to limp on with future bankruptcy and having to go cap in hand

to the government to seek exceptional financial support still a very real

threat it says in the papers it's a very real threat the Liberal Democrats have

learned nothing from the last few years they continue to prioritize style over

substance and blame everything but themselves for their financial woes.

Clearly there are external economic factors that do impact on the Council's finances.

Inflation, interest rates, national government policies all have an impact.

These impacts are thoroughly and expertly analysed and allowed for in this Budget Report.

These are the same economic factors that every family and business in the District has to

contend with and budget for.

CDC isn't unique in facing these challenges.

It's important to concentrate on what is under CDC's control.

Despite the Liberal Democrat Administration's track record

and the ensuing financial meltdown and pleas of poverty,

they continue to splash taxpayers' cash on self -promotion, PR and virtue signalling.

The eye -watering 41 % increase in this year's budget

for PR and communications to 405 ,000 to fund a six -strong team shows what this

administration's real priorities are. Any private business of this scale spending

that much money on overhead would simply be out of business. Then there was the

extraordinary decision to blow 40 ,000 pounds on a rebrand, changing the colour

of the council's logo, a process that the leader himself described as not a major

rebrand. Well these two examples of which there are many more exemplify the

mindset of this Liberal Democrat administration. They are simply clueless

about delivering value from money for taxpayers. We've all seen the

local headlines trumpeting the parking freeze for the first hour. The Liberal

Democrats putting themselves across as the newly anointed patron saints of High

Street shoppers. Now come on this is an obvious pre -election gimmick, much as

when they froze parking charges prior to the district elections in 2023. The

reality is very different. They've scrapped the popular free after

free scheme and just 12 months ago they scrapped free Sunday parking and hiked

parking fees by a whopping 15%. Looking to the future CDC is now in an unusual

position in terms of its MTFS. It is having to continue to assume that CDC

will continue to exist beyond the time that it is likely to exist. There's a

danger of short -termism creeping into the decision -making process. It's crucial

that the council remains focused and continues to scrutinise and challenge

any financial decisions. There is very little wriggle room in the capital budget

so any decisions here will need to demonstrate a solid return on the

investment. However all of this pales in insignificance when we look at the

elephant in the room, the process which is having by far the largest impact on

finances of this Council and that is the public hurt transition.

Blimey, that human engine report certainly has a lot to answer for.

This group has been steadfast in its position since the very earliest days of this process.

From then and every time this matter has come to fore this Council, we have said that there

was too much uncertainty around the true cost of the process and that the figures proposed

were unrealistic given the complexities of the process.

Indeed, as one of our Liberal Democrat colleagues said, he likened the process to heading off

down a ski slope blindfolded.

They then went on to back the process anyway, as did all of their Liberal Democrat colleagues.

Members will recall that the human engine report which triggered the decision suggested

that the additional annual cost for this council to deliver the services in -house would be

around £150 ,000 per year.

Separately at the start of the process, a figure of 200 ,000 was initially included for the transition process itself.

So now that we are through phase 1 of the transition and we head towards phase 2, the true picture is starting to emerge.

If we start with the cost of the transition, the starting point at 200 ,000 soon became 500 ,000.

This pot will undoubtedly have been exhausted by the end of the phase 2 transition.

On top of this there was a separate provision for redundancy and associated costs of £300 ,000 for Phase 1.

And there was now an additional £300 ,000 being budgeted for Phase 2.

So the costs of just the transition process up to the end of Phase 2 will sit somewhere in the region of £1 .1 million.

In terms of ongoing costs of delivering these services in -house,

Phase 1 alone projected to cost £481 ,000 extra per year when the council was paying

publica.

There is now an estimate for the additional cost of Phase 2 of £300 ,000 extra per year.

So by the end of Phase 2, council taxpayers will be footing a bill for an extra £780 ,000

a year to deliver the same services, over five times higher than suggested in the human

engine report.

There was an opportunity to use this process to build an entirely new structure from the

bottom up.

We worked out how we could cut out waste, streamline our operations and deliver more

efficient services.

However, this opportunity has been missed and instead we have now got layer upon layer

of management directors, assistant directors with grand job titles.

Included in this budget there is a list of four new additional managerial posts totalling

£363 ,000 per year.

This council simply cannot afford these roles and you need to go back to the drawing board

and work out how you can deliver these services with the resources we already have.

This process is going to continue to spiral out of control and is going to ultimately

cost millions and all to change the structure of an organisation which will cease to exist

in the next few years.

It is this process which has blown a hole in this Council's finances and created so

much uncertainty.

It is this process which is forcing the Liberal Democrats to reduce the quantity and quality

of the services it provides.

and it is this process which has put the council on the financial brink.

This is entirely self -inflicted. This isn't just the mismanagement which we have come

to expect. This is a scandal and it's the council taxpayers of the Cotswolds who

will ultimately be left to pick up the pieces.

Thank you Councillor Stowe. Councillor McLean, does the Green group wish to respond to the

move back to the general debate on the substantial budget.

Anyone else wish to speak?

No?

Well I do.

Just really some observations I suppose.

So since my election in 2019,

I've expressed at every budget meeting

my frustration at the constant one year

fending of local government.

And sadly I don't think things are any better

under the new government and with the changes in the local government and

devolution life for district councils is going to continue to be challenging over

the next couple of years. I think it's really important for our residents to

understand as Councillor Evvor Meade outlined that the government are

expecting us to increase our council tax by the maximum amount allowed without

referendum and I noted that 30 % actually disagreed with that in the consultation

and in addition that any support towards national insurance increases from the government is

nowhere near what it's going to cost us.

As a District Council, we now need to find a way to navigate these challenging times,

cutting our cloth accordingly and working hard to constrain costs whilst keeping business

as usual for services and vital services that we provide for our residents.

Phase 2 is going to be a challenge in the coming months.

it is vital that detailed consideration and planning is going to be required,

including the financial implications of phase two, whilst of course considering at all times

the effect that any uncertainty has on our staff. UberCo, whilst it's not something to

with in this year for next year, replacement vehicle changes, whilst they're not the charges

aren't in this year's budget, that's going to be another extremely challenging area to look at.

And I hope that as a council we can start to look at alternatives to changing these vehicles ahead of devolution.

So a detailed review of all of these things needs to happen to avoid borrowing and

keeping us on a state track.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing the results of the detailed asset strategy.

Because again all our assets need to be working for us as a district council.

So I'm going to be watching closely and I will work with colleagues as I'm sure we all will during what I know as I see ever -changing and ever -challenging times for us as a district council.

Thank you.

Councillor Harris.

Yeah, I was hoping to second if I may.

I'm observing my right, is that alright?

You may.

Thank you very much.

Well, first of all, a huge thanks and congratulations

to Councillor Mike Everly for another budget in really

difficult times which balances.

And also, of course, to David Stanley, who does so

much hard work to, A, make sure it's legal, B, make

sure it all stacks up, and C, make sure that people get

billed the right to make, because that's just as

important as well.

So thank you, David, for all of your hard work, and,

of course, Mike.

And, you know, we look at the backdrop.

Under this Labour government, I didn't expect things to be worse

in terms of local government funding than they were under the

previous Conservative government, but they are.

Rachel Reeves' budget, coupled with the announcement on local

government funding, has led to a very uncertain time for local

government across the sector, and we're having to make a

budget, a better budget this evening that takes

that into account.

So it's really tough times, and the fact that Mike and David have

been able to pull something together is absolutely commendable.

We also need absolute certainty from the government about our

medium -term financial position, because let's be honest,

that is the real concern.

It's that funding drop -off in the next couple of years.

Clearly, if we're not going to exist past 2028,

that gives us options, but the government at the

minute still require us to put a medium -term

financial strategy, despite the fact we might

not even exist.

So hopefully we'll have clarity in the next year

on that, and we'll be able to plan our finances a

little more prudently.

Mike, thanks to your steady hand, we have a

balanced budget.

Thanks to you, we still have one of the lowest

of council tax rates in the southwest,

something which we should be absolutely proud of

and remind people of.

We have one of the most generous council tax support schemes

in the country for people struggling to pay.

And we heard from the opposition a tale of doom and gloom.

And I don't share that.

I think our area is a brilliant place to live, work, and visit.

And I think alongside a council that backs local business,

that backs local communities and causes,

Just look at the investment through the shared prosperity

fund that we've been able to allocate.

We have seen fantastic examples of innovation and positivity.

Just the other week I visited the Greece network for their

opening thing.

A derelict building in the center of Cirencester,

we were able to put 70 ,000 pounds towards that to make

it happen.

And what a brilliant addition to our community it is.

But unfortunately I've heard from the opposition the same

old broken record.

the last vestige of credibility draining away.

Soundly rejected making the same argument

in the last local election.

In fact, not just rejected, they went backwards.

So to be lectured about our credibility

and our financial management is a total joke.

And of course the residents in the recent Chesterton

by -election also saw the light

and pushed them into third place.

Yeah, some endorsement that is, crikey.

So, folks, we have a competent man in charge

of our finances.

We are incredibly lucky.

We have an incredibly difficult financial backdrop,

but we are in safe hands.

Because of the decision that Mike has made,

because of the decisions that this administration

has made, we are investing in the Cotswolds.

We are protecting vital frontline services.

We're helping to protect the most vulnerable people in our society and that is something we can be very proud of and we have a budget

Tonight that helps us do that despite all the difficulties that we face

And I'm more than happy and I'm pleased and privileged to second it. Thank you

Thank you councillor Harris councillor ever me, would you like to sum up?

Thank you chair and thank you colleagues for your contributions to the debate

even though only brief on the main substantive debate.

To Councillor Stowe, thank you for your contributions.

Tom, I think somewhat similar

that I might have heard before, maybe last year,

but obviously with the addition of the information

that you're putting into your speech

about the publicer review and the next phase of that.

So I don't wish to debate that with you now

because we will have an opportunity to do that

in under a month's time, so when we consider the phase two proposals.

Suffice it to say that whilst you might be correct in some of the costs you're talking

about, what you're not talking about is the benefits I hasten to hear, and the benefits

that people who have come back from public and working for the council are now getting

a decent pension, which they weren't getting before.

They weren't getting local government pension scheme like everybody else.

And the difficulties that has provided, in particular in areas like our planning department

in recruiting people in a very hard to recruit area when we couldn't offer them in publica

the level of pension that they would get in any other council across the country.

So we'll have that debate in a month's time when we consider the next stage of the publica

transition.

But, you know, I think it's really important for us to understand there is a counterfactual

of actually, you know, I think Councillor Stowe wants to say it's a terrible mistake

and we shouldn't have done it.

I think we have to consider and we will do when we debate it next time what the alternatives might have been if we decided to say no, sit on our hands and just continue as they were.

Now clearly the circumstances have now changed, local government reorganisation is coming onto the horizon and we need to reflect how we move forward with the public contrition in light of that.

I don't accept the points he makes about communications but we've already debated that earlier on the amendment.

To Councillor Rind, thank you very much, Chair, for your very considered and thoughtful contribution, as always, into the budget debate.

And I note, you know, particularly the points you make about the challenging times that we have ahead.

You know, the decisions we've got to make about replacement vehicles for our waste fleet, you know,

there's a five million pound figure in our capital programme in a couple of years' time.

And we really need to, you know, we are looking very hard at that, about whether we need to spend that money,

how we're going to spend it, what we're going to spend it on.

That's very big decisions, which will come back to us to consider in this place.

And to Councillor Harris, thank you for pointing out the paucity of this settlement.

I mentioned it in my speech.

I think it's the worst settlement we've had since I've been doing this job for the last six years.

But, you know, essentially what the government is assuming that we will put the council tax

up by the maximum amount, which is what we are intending to do.

And if we didn't, essentially we would be cutting the resources, we'd have to cut more out of the budget.

And all that does is just get us to pretty much where we were last year in terms of the government funding.

And so it's a grave situation of local government finance across the country and we're part of that.

So we're not immune to the challenges and I don't accept picking out the point from Councillor Stowe's speech,

that we are on the bridge, a bank birch, a bankruptcy,

said, talking about going and capping hand to the government.

We do have a lot of work to do.

We do recognize that, and I said that in my speech,

to make sure that we put together plans

and we make transformational savings so that we can continue

so that whatever council comes beyond us

will inherit services that are funded

through the level of resources that we have at that time

in our revenue budget.

So it is a lot of work to do to get to that but the fundamental point about why the financial

position is difficult is not to do with anything that we have done as an administration, it's

to do with the fact that the fair funding review which it's now been renamed by the

government, the funding changes that they are currently consulting on, you know, potentially

will take three million pounds away from us next year.

That's a massive drop in anyone's numbers.

You know, when we have a 15 million pound revenue budget, 3 million pounds taken out

of it is a massive hit.

So that's what's causing our financial worries.

Maybe potentially that keeps either myself and or the Deputy Chief Executive awake at

night.

It isn't decisions that we've taken here.

You know, we can stand up and justify those decisions and I will and I will continue to

do so.

But if our main principal funding source from the government is reduced to 2 million pounds

from five million pounds any organisation with that sort of level of

cut would be struggling would need to do a lot of work and we are going to be

doing a lot of work to make sure that we can continue so I would urge all members

to please to support this budget it's very prudent it's robust please support

it thank you. Thank you councillor Evermy. Well you'll be very pleased to know

colleagues I shan't be reading out all the recommendations so it's on page 33

of your papers. The recommendations start over to page 34. So recommendations 1 to 10.

So we'll open the voting. Over to you, Keira. Thank you.

Thank you colleagues.

that's 18 for 7 against and one abstention thank you very much we move

on to agenda item 9 now the council tax this item is to be presented by

Councillor Evermay overdue Councillor Evermay

Thank You chair now we get to the point of the meeting where we formally set the

Council tax. You have the report starting on page 229, a very long resolution which

I won't read out, which goes on to as far as page 232. But it's a formal resolution

that we have to make legally to set the Council tax and to allow our officers to implement

it, including things such as obviously chasing up people that don't pay. What you have in

in terms of the appendices is the levels of council tax

that if we pass this resolution will be paid

by residents in our district.

And you can see there the list of parishes.

This is on page 237, schedules, this is one, two,

three and four.

The council tax base for each parish,

the preset that the parish has asked for,

and then how that breaks down

in terms of banned properties.

So, Band D being the middle point

and everything is then moved off that.

So, if you're Band A property, you'll pay six -ninths,

two -thirds, as I would reduce it to,

but legally it's six -ninths.

And then if you're in a Band A property,

you will pay twice as much, 18 -ninths of the Band D.

And so you can see the parish preset.

The preset that we just agreed

when we voted for the budget,

For a Band D that's a 158 pounds and 93 pence for Cotswold District Council.

And then you've got the amounts added on for the Gloucestershire Police and the County

Council.

And you can see those on page 236 in paragraphs 2 .2 there.

The amounts requested by Gloucestershire County Council for the services that it provides

to our residents an increase at the maximum level I understand a 4 .99 % and

the police and crime commissioner for Gloucestershire an increase of 14 pounds

which I also understand is the maximum allowable so all three councils

ourselves Gloucestershire County Council and the police and crime commissioner

are all setting council tax levels at the maximum allowed without referendum I

think a note that in terms of the comments made in the previous debate

about government settlements and the assumptions for local authorities. So I will stop there

I think, Chair, other than formally move the resolution. Happy to take any questions that

members may have on the matter. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Evermy. Are there any questions of clarity for Councillor Evermy?

No. The seconder for this, Councillor Harris, do you want to reserve your right to speak

or would you like to speak now?

I wasn't going to say anything, so you know.

That's fine, thank you very much. Does anyone wish to speak in debate on this item? Councillor

Mark Harris.

I do have a question. This might be for an officer, but there are a number of parishes

here who don't charge any precept at all. I won't say who they are. How if there's an

election for a councillor, do they pay for it?

Mr Stanley?

I would need some time to respond to that. I would hazard a guess without a

precept being set on an annual basis that that parish would have adequate

reserves to meet those costs.

Thanks very much.

There may also be some of those that don't have a council so they're just a meeting.

Is that what you were going to say, Councillor Jed?

Yes, I have two parish meetings and it's exactly that.

Perfect. Does anyone else wish to speak on this item? No?

Councillor Harris, you decline, you don't want to say anything?

Councillor Everly, would you like to sum up? No? Okay.

right well we're going to the recommendations so the recommendations

you'll be pleased to know I won't be reading so on pages the recommendations

run from page 229 to page 232 that's items 1 through to 8 so I will now take

that vote on a block on the block and I'll call for the voting to be open over

Thank you.

Thank you colleagues. That's 26 for zero, none against, no abstentions.

So that brings us to agenda item 10, notice of motions.

There are no motions received for consideration

at this meeting.

And the final agenda item 11,

I'd just like to let the public present

and those watching online know

that the next meeting of the full council

will be on the 19th of March at 2 p .m.

Thank you very much colleagues.

Well done.

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Council - Monday 24 February 2025, 6:00pm - Cotswold District Council Webcasting

CouncilMonday, 24th February 2025 at 6:00pm

Agenda

Slides

Transcript

Map

Resources

Twitter

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Speakers

Feedback

Votes

Council

Councillor Dilys Neill - 0:00:00

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:00:09

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:00:50

Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer - 0:00:55

Councillor Mark Harris - 0:00:56

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:01:18

8 Budget 2025/26 and Medium Term Financial Strategy

2 Declarations of Interest

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:01:50

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:02:12

Councillor Len Wilkins - 0:02:35

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:03:21

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:03:25

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:03:34

4 Announcements from the Chair, Leader or Chief Executive

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:05:37

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:06:38

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:06:50

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:07:19

Councillor David Cunningham - 0:07:25

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:08:19

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:08:25

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:09:39

Councillor Patrick Coleman - 0:09:45

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:10:44

Councillor Andrew Maclean - 0:10:54

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:11:51

Councillor Dilys Neill - 0:11:57

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:12:03

5 Public Questions

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:12:22

David Stanley, Deputy CEO - 0:12:27

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:12:35

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:12:42

Public Speaker - 0:12:47

Councillor Paul Hodgkinson - 0:12:57

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:14:18

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:15:06

Councillor Tom Stowe - 0:15:23

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:16:01

Public Speaker - 0:16:30

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:21:02

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:22:00

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:22:57

Councillor Claire Bloomer - 0:23:01

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:23:34

6 Member Questions

Councillor Andrew Maclean - 0:24:18

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:24:46

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:24:49

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:24:53

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:24:53

Councillor Juliet Layton - 0:25:22

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:26:02

7 Budget Council Protocol

8 Budget 2025/26 and Medium Term Financial Strategy

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:27:49

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:28:53

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:29:00

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:34:03

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:35:09

9 Council Tax 2025-26

Councillor Mike Evemy - 0:35:29

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:38:09

Councillor Joe Harris - 0:38:28

Councillor Nikki Ind - 0:38:31

Councillor Mark Harris - 0:38:42

Council
Monday, 24th February 2025 at 6:00pm