Voting record

“The first bullet point in the recommendation from Cabinet to Council, beginning “That the General Fund Revenue Budget….”, be amended with the addition of the following text to the end of the sentence ‘…subject to the removal of the £2.8m transfer from DDC earmarked reserves to the Port Health service in 2024/25 indicated in Annex 1, replacing it with a £2.8m transfer to the Tides Replacement project in Annex 6A, and a corresponding reduction in the 24/25 Port Health Authority budget in Annex 3B.”

(a)  That the General Fund Revenue Budget, the Capital and Special Projects Programmes, the Housing Revenue Account Budget, the Council Tax Resolution and the content of the MTFP be approved.

(b)  That the Strategic Director (Finance and Housing), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance, Climate Change and Environment, be authorised to draw on the Earmarked Smoothing Reserve to meet in-year variations in the budget.

(c)   That a Council Tax increase of 2.98% for DDC purposes be approved, resulting in an increase on Band D properties of £6.21 per year and an annual DDC Council Tax of £214.38.

(d)  To note that it was the opinion of the Section 151 Officer that the Council’s budget had been prepared on a rigorous and robust basis and the Council’s reserves were sufficient for its immediate needs. However, it was also the opinion of the Section 151 Officer that there were two significant factors that could undermine the budget over the next year or two because of the actions of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). Members were referred to the Section 25 Report included separately on the agenda for further information.

(e)  That the various Council recommendations at the end of the sections within the attached budget and MTFP, and summarised in Annex 10 to Appendix 1, be approved.