Agenda item

Question 1 – Why does the Council think that acquiring property is more beneficial than selling it?

Response – Revenue funding pays for all the services and this is under pressure.  Using capital funding to acquire property will enable future income streams to be off set against the revenue expenditure.  It is important that the Council grows its income by investing in the rights things to give a good return.  We have increased our revenue already by £1million.

Question 2 – Do you believe the Council is better at managing property than the private sector?

Response – The Council has a good track of managing commercial property and working with the private sector.  Our staff are very experienced, many of whom have private sector property backgrounds.

Question 3 – Does this mean the Council will not sell any of its assets in the future?

Response – The Council continues to review its portfolio of assets and will consider whether it needs to reinvest elsewhere to obtain a higher return.

Question 4 – How does the Council protect itself through interest rate rises?

Response – The Council is able to get very competitive rates and any borrowing is based on a fixed rate.  A review of the Council’s existing loans has been completed and a better rate is now been realised.

Question 5 – A reference was made to £2.25 million investment into super-fast broadband. Will the Chew Valley benefit?

Response – This investment in Bath will create an opportunity for income generation to the Council.  BT were committed to improving 90% of the coverage, unfortunately they were unable to deliver on their commitment. 

(Comment from Chris Head – The Forum will be hosting a discussion about Broadband in February.  This was identified by the Forum as a priority issue in their Action Plan.  Andrew Pate said that the feedback from this meeting would be very helpful.)

Question 6 – The Council has reduced the Parish Council grants.  As this will impact on our budgets, will the Council be freezing or capping the precept rates that parish councils’ receive?

Response – Over a number of years’ parish council grants were subsidised by the Council.  This was due to the implementation of a new system of council tax support which created a shortfall in grants.  The subsidies have been reduced on a sliding scale.  The Council does not have the power to freeze or cap the rate of council tax collected.  This decision will be made by the Government. 

Question 7 – Why is planned expenditure increasing, can we have more details? 

Response – There are a number of reasons.  Adult and social care pressures from an aging and growing population, employers national insurance contribution increases, public sector wage settlement (likely to be 1%), inflation on contracts.  More details can be made available if requested.

Question 8 – Will there be a council tax increase?   

Response – This will depend on the final settlement from the Government.  If there is a shortfall then the Council may have to increase the Council tax to reduce the funding gap.

Question 9 - How can you ensure investment / income generated in Bath benefits the wider area?

Response – All additional investment / income goes back into the main revenue budget and is distributed across the whole area.  There is an assumption that Bath gets a disproportionate amount of the income spent on it however this is not the case.  The monies raised in Bath are distributed across the area.