Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence (if any).

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Akpoteni, M Allcock, Anandou, Chidley, Choudhry, S Gill, Khan, Lewis, Randhawa, Rollins and Younis.

Members to declare any interests in matters to be discussed at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 30 January 2024 as a correct record.

Resolved that the minutes of the extraordinary and ordinary meetings of Council held on 30 January 2024 are approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive announcements from the Chief Executive and the Mayor.

The Chief Executive announced that the “Any of Us” film project on fostering recruitment, which was produced through a national collaboration with local authorities across England had been recognised with two awards at the comm2point0 UnAwards.

Sandwell Children’s Trust were one of the founding and lead members on the project at national level, with awards won in both the “Best Collaboration” and “Best Creative Comms” categories. The awards were presented to the Chair of the Trust, Rt Hon Jacqui Smith, at Metsec House on 30 January

To consider written questions under Standing Order No. 9 from

(a)              Elected Members

(b)              Members of the Public

Questions received under Standing Order No. 9. were asked of the relevant members and responses were received.

To receive Grant Thornton’s Value for Money Governance Review Follow Up Review Report of December 2023

On 22 March 2022, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced an intervention package and a set of Directions to ensure the Council was able to comply with its best value duty under Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1999. These Directions were in-part influenced by the Grant Thornton report following their Value for Money Governance Review of December 2021. 

A single Improvement Plan was agreed by Council on 7 June 2022.  Under the Statutory Directions, the Council was required to report progress against the Improvement Plan to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities every six-months following approval of the Plan. The first report was submitted in December 2022.

The Secretary of State had recognised the vast improvements made by the Council during intervention. Additionally, it was highlighted that Grant Thornton had determined that they were satisfied that the Council had made appropriate progress against the three statutory recommendations and that these could be lifted.

To approve the general fund and housing revenue account budget, capital programme and Council Tax for 2024/25.

Council considered the Council Finances and Council tax Resolution for the period 2024/25.

The Final Local Government Finance Settlement was announced on 5 February 2024. The key points from the settlement were as follows:-

·               the Council Tax referendum limit would be 2.99% for local authorities, with social care authorities allowed an additional 2% Adult Social Care precept;

·               Local Government Funding Reform – the Fair Funding Review and reset of Business Rates growth would not be implemented in 2024/25;

·               the Social Care Grant had increased by £692m to £4.5bn nationally. The increase for this Council equated to £10.87m;

·               Adult Social Care Discharged Fund increased by £200m to £500m nationally.  Sandwell MBC received an increase £2.15m to take total grant to £5.38m;

·               Adult Social Care Market Sustainability Improvement Fund totalling £1.05bn for 2024/25.  Sandwell MBC saw an increase of £3.76m with grant now totalling £8.08m;

·               no change to the Better Care Fund;

·               Services Grant continuing to see reductions from £822m in 2022/23 to £464m in 2023/24 to £77m in 2024/25.  The decrease in these grants were being used to fund other increases within the overall settlement. Sandwell MBC saw a reduction of £3.47m with final grant amount totalling £0.65m.

Fees and Charges

The Council’s portfolio of fees and charges had been updated using a figure of 5% although this would change if charges were later specified by Government or there were other relevant constraints. In a small number of cases, charges had been raised beyond this adjustment factor.

Reserves Position

The Council had two types of reserves:-

•                earmarked Reserves which were for specific future projects, commitments or risks, both revenue and capital;

•                unallocated balance, which was to ensure the Council could manage unexpected financial challenges.

The level of unearmarked reserves as at 31 March 2022 was £16.6m based on the unaudited financial statements for 2021/22 and estimated to be £17.4m as at 31 March 2024.

Council Tax Proposals

The Draft Budget 2024/25 assumed a 2.99% increase in core Council Tax and this had been adopted as a general planning assumption across Local Government.

The Autumn Statement and Provisional Finance Settlement confirmed a referendum limit of 2.99% for core Council Tax and allowed 2% for the Adult Social Care Precept. This meant that the Council could raise Council Tax by a total of 4.99% in 2024/25. 

Each 1% increase in Council Tax raised approximately £1.3m in additional Council Tax income and also ensured that the Council Tax Base was maximised for future years. This was an important consideration because if this opportunity was not taken, further cuts to key services would have been required to balance the budget in future years. 

75% of chargeable properties in Sandwell were in Council Tax Bands A and B (42% Band A and 33% Band B).

Housing Revenue Account

The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was a ring-fenced account for the Council’s housing stock and was shown separately to the General Fund. Income came from rent and service charges and expenditure related to the management and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To consider the recommendation arising from the meeting of Cabinet on 17 January 2024.

At its meeting on 17 January 2024, Cabinet recommended to Full Council that the existing contract procedure rules be amended to reflect a tendering evaluation quality weighting of 10-30% on Social Value for all services, goods and work contracts.

The existing Social Value Policy (2010-2013) for Sandwell was deemed not fit for purpose in that it did not reflect contemporary best practice and did not align with the Social Value in Sandwell priority as set out in the Sandwell Business Growth Plan which was approved by Cabinet on 15 November 2023.

The existing policy only applied to services and goods contracts; however, the Social Value in Sandwell Policy proposed to go further and include works contracts. The existing tendering evaluation weighting of 5-30% on Social Value for services and goods contracts was not ambitious enough, considering the contract values of services, goods and works the council had commissioned, the planning applications it determined and the investment it levered into the borough. Increasing the minimum weighting to 10% with a maximum of 30% demonstrated the council’s commitment to maximising Social Value outcomes that could be derived due to the council’s influence as an anchor organisation.

Resolved that a tendering evaluation quality weighting of 10-30% on Social Value for all services, goods and works contracts is approved and that the existing Contract Procedure Rules are amended to reflect this change.