Agenda item

Cabinet:

1.      Noted the potential benefits of entering a pooling arrangement and to grant formal authority for officers to enter into discussions in forming a pool and prepare draft documentation for governance of the pooling arrangement.

2.      Delegated to the Group Director Resources, in consultation with the Leader, Cabinet Member for Value, and Chief Executive, authority to finalise details of any formal submission to DCLG.

3.    Noted that a further report would be brought before Cabinet, should approval be given to the creation of a pool.

Councillor Roger Ramsey, Cabinet Member for Value, introduced the report.

It was reported that the 2013/14 Local Government Finance Settlement had seen the launch of the Business Rates Retention Scheme as the main form of Local Government funding. Under the Retention Scheme, Councils were to be funded through a mixture of the Revenue Support Grant and Business Rates that would make up a Settlement Funding Allocation. Under the scheme, local authorities would be able to retain 30% of their business rate yield (in London, the figure is 50% elsewhere) and would directly benefit from growth in their business rate base.

The Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had encouraged local authorities to pool and had recently released a document called “pooling prospectus” which outlined the benefits and procedures of creating a pool. In May 2013, Thurrock Council commissioned LG Futures to review the potential benefit of pooling. From this exercise, a pool consisting of Thurrock unitary, Basildon district, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Havering had been identified as a viable option. It was explained that in order to join a pool, local authorities had to submit an expression of interest by the 31October with any permanent arrangements being formally submitted by January 2014.

The report therefore sought authority from Cabinet for officers to enter into discussions with other authorities over a potential pool for financial year 2014/15.

Reasons for the decision:

In order to maximise the funding available for the council, it was necessary to explore options especially if there are financial impact to local communities. The option sought could potentially bring additional benefits and give financial stability as the risk of any major developments from within the pool could be shared thus minimising the impact to the local rates collected.

Other options considered:

None.  Other options had been explored however the proposed pool would be the most financially viable, as well as being within a geographical area. The pool was a voluntary membership which could be reviewed at any time.

Cabinet:

1.      Noted the potential benefits of entering a pooling arrangement and to grant formal authority for officers to enter into discussions in forming a pool and prepare draft documentation for governance of the pooling arrangement.

2.      Delegated to the Group Director Resources, in consultation with the Leader, Cabinet Member for Value, and Chief Executive, authority to finalise details of any formal submission to DCLG.

3.    Noted that a further report would be brought before Cabinet, should approval be given to the creation of a pool.