Agenda and draft minutes

To sign and confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 23^rd October 2019

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 23 October 2019 were received and signed by the Chairman.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Chelcei Sharman and the Monitoring Officer. 

To receive declarations of interests in respect of any item on the agenda.

Councillor Martin Griggs declared an interest in the recommendation from the Boston Town Area Committee on the grounds of being a member of that committee and voting in favour of the recommendation at its meeting on 2 October 2019, and 27 November 2019 and would take no part in the discussion or vote on that item.

Councillor Yvonne Stevens declared an interest in the recommendation from the Boston Town Area Committee on the grounds of being a member of that Committee, but had not participated in previous deliberations and was therefore able to take part in Cabinet debate and the vote.

To answer any written questions received from members of the public no later than 5 p.m. two clear working days prior to the meeting – for this meeting the deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday 29^th November 2019.

Question submitted by Mr. Darron Abbott to the Leader:

“As you at present wear the hat for portfolio holder for finance I am sure you were aware of the fact that, in the agenda for the Audit and Governance Committee on 11^th November, were the details regarding the performance of the Council’s £21m investments.

I apologise if, as layman, I may have read the figures incorrectly and misunderstood them, but it appears that over the whole portfolio the value has decreased from the purchase price to the 30^th September 2019 valuation by £561,000 is that correct?

Would you also like to take this opportunity reassure me and other townsfolk that are concerned about this matter that in the long term these funds will increase to amounts over the purchase price and more to cover the interest that is being paid out on loans that were taken out to facilitate the investments?”

Response by the Leader:

“I thank Mr Abbott for notice of his question, and would say that he shows much deprecation in using the term layman, given his professional standing.

However, I would clarify that there are two specific elements to the fund, one being the capital value and the other the return from the holdings. Fluctuations in the capital value, whilst being reflected on the Balance Sheet, are not crystallised until there is a sale. Returns are based on the ongoing rental obtained from the occupiers of the holdings, and are not directly affected by the capital value.

In response to your question, the quarterly treasury management report to the Audit and Governance Committee on 28^th January 2019 showed that the costs of acquiring the holdings totalled £420K - £19,989K less £19,569K – and therefore the reduction in capital value from the property fund acquisitions, to 30 September 2019 is £141K.

Thus the £561K is a combination of purchase cost plus a slight reduction in fair value. This has occurred during a period of much uncertainty as a consequence of the ongoing wider economic environment. The expectation is that over the longer term, in line with the strategic aim, capital values will recover and exceed the purchase price.

As for the costs of borrowing, as you will note from the 11^th November 2019 treasury management update report, total loan interest payable for the current year is estimated at £494,000 whilst interest receivable from the property funds is estimated at £767,000.

The Capital Strategy approved in April 2018 was clear that the purchase of property fund holdings was a long term strategic decision, and included commentary on the risks involved. This included the recognition that the Council should ensure that any potential future reduction in revenue returns below the cost of borrowing was mitigated by the creation of a reserve, and by the end of the current financial year it is proposed that this will total £1m.

For you and other interested local residents, the quarterly treasury management update reports will continue to be presented  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

The Executive/Scrutiny Protocol had been considered by both Overview and Scrutiny Committees and their recommendations were set out in the report.

(A draft minute from the BTAC meeting of 27^th November will be circulated prior to the meeting)

A recommendation from the Boston Town Area Committee (BTAC) had been referred to Cabinet at its meeting on 23 October regarding the 2020/2021 events programme and seeking approval for an additional £27,000 of expenditure to support the proposed programme.  

As the proposed expenditure was above the delegated limit of £10,000 the recommendation was referred to Cabinet for consideration.

Cabinet resolved to defer the decision to the next Cabinet meeting for a detailed report on the proposed events and associated expenditure to be produced.

BTAC had met on 27 November 2019 and resolved to re-affirm its previous decision of approving an additional £27,000 expenditure for the 2020/21 Events Programme, for referral back to Cabinet in the expectation that the new Portfolio holder would be able to answer any questions from Cabinet Members .

BTAC further resolved that should the recommendation be not approved the Chairman’s proposal for an increase of £9,999.99 for the 2020/21 Events Programme be approved in order that the programme was not delayed, which would not require Cabinet approval.

Concern was expressed regarding the detailed information requested at the last meeting of the Cabinet not being provided with the papers for the item, which did not support a transparent decision making process.

It was confirmed that the information relating to the proposed events in the 2020/21 events programme and associated expenditure had been provided to the Chairman of BTAC and with the Chairman’s agreement, to the Portfolio Holder who was supportive of the proposals.

Councillor Goodale, Chairman of BTAC, addressed Cabinet to confirm that the information was based on historical data and were assumptions to base the 2020/21 budget on.  The budget figure was a total allocation for each event, it was not possible to identify exact expenditure on specific items until it had been spent.  At the meeting of BTAC on 27 November the Chairman had informed Members that the budget information was available, but there had been no request to receive it.

It was proposed and seconded that Cabinet adjourn to allow time for the information requested to be collated.

On the meeting being reconvened concern was expressed that the information should have been provided by BTAC.  Therefore it was proposed to support the original BTAC recommendation for the additional £27,000 of expenditure, subject to a report being submitted to the next meeting of BTAC to include detailed costings for the events programme and published as part of the public agenda papers.

 (Councillor Martin Griggs declared an interest in the above item on the grounds of being a member of BTAC and voting in favour of the recommendation at its meetings on 2 October 2019 and 27 November 2019, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

(A report presented by Suzanne Rolfe, Transformation & Governance Manager and Paul Julian, Chief Finance Officer)

Portfolio Holder: Councillor Aaron Spencer

(A report presented by Lorraine Bush, Democratic Services Manager & Deputy Monitoring Officer)