Agenda and minutes

Councillor David Renard, Leader of the Council, welcomed the invited representatives of local businesses to the meeting and explained that the meeting was designed to give local businesses an opportunity to voice their views on issues impacted by Council spending and that may have direct or indirect implications for the local Business Community and the economy of Swindon.  He referred to the impact of the general election on Central Government’s announcement of the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2020/21, resulting in a delay to the Council finalising the local budget.

Report presented to Cabinet at its meeting on 4^th December 2019.

Councillor Russell Holland, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance, opened discussion by explaining that the meeting was part of the Council’s statutory duty to consult annually with non-domestic rate payers on its budget proposals.  He confirmed that the budget proposals were being finalised and would be presented to Cabinet on the 5^th February 2020 and Council on the 20^th February 2020 and advised that legally the Council had to produce a balanced budget.  He referred to the Chair’s comments regarding the delay in finalising the budget and drew attention to the pressures on the current budget.  Councillor Holland referred to pressures not only being experienced against the budgets of Children’s Services and Adult Social Care Services, but also across the Council generally.

Mr Mick Bowden, Corporate Director of Finance and Assets, referred to the budget report, previously circulated, which Cabinet had considered on 4^th December 2019.  He explained that the Council was coming towards the end of its current two-year savings programme and, as indicated in the report, officers were focusing on the development of a strategy to March 2024. 

Mr Bowden expanded on the faced by Adult Social Care and Children’s Services where the issue of demographic pressures, particularly the ageing population and the impact on the demand for adult social care provision, had to be addressed. He also referred to the pressures within Children’s Services, particularly due to the increase in demand for the support of children with Special Educational Needs. He confirmed that even though cost savings had been undertaken, the Council was focussing on its approach to the community in order to build in long term sustainability.  He explained that these initiatives were being incorporated in budgets over the next four years. 

The business representatives:

• Confirmed that Swindon businesses were aware of the pressure on the budget and enquired whether the Council was aware of any negative impact on town centre businesses following the publication of the 2020/21 budget.
• Enquired on:

a)      The funding received from Central Government.

b)      The actions being taken by the Council to reduce the current budget deficit.

c)      How the Council was to be affected by the increase of the minimum living wage. 

• Expressed their concerns regarding:

a)     Future town centre funding.

b)     The competition for town centre businesses from satellite business parks

·        Made the following suggestions:

a)     The need to review weekday/ weekend car parking charges to address the adverse financial impact on businesses and the Council’s income revenue due to the decrease in footfall to the town centre in order stimulate business growth.

b)    Recommend the introduction of a chargeable fast track lane at the recycling centre to enable customers to complete their site visit quickly. 

• Confirmed that the reduction of footfall into town centres was a national issue and how In Swindon Bid Co Ltd was engaging with businesses to promote Swindon nationally.

The Chair, Councillor Holland and Mr Bowden responded to questions and comments put by the representatives at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

The Chair thanked the representatives of the business community and non-domestic ratepayers for attending and hoped they found the meeting useful.  He confirmed that the budget proposals would be submitted to Cabinet for consideration on the 5^th February 2020 and that recommendations would then be made to the Council meeting on the 20^th February 2020.