During the meeting the Speaker of the Council agreed to change the order of business. Specifically, Agenda Item 6 was taken before Agenda Item 5. For clarity the minutes are presented in the order the items appeared on the agenda.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Abdal Ullah.

Councillor Ayas Miah joined the meeting online.

Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest, identified in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine; whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

Members are also reminded to declare the nature of the interest at the earliest opportunity and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it is the Members’ responsibility to identify any interests and also update their register of interests form as required by the Code.

If in doubt as to the nature of an interest, you are advised to seek advice prior to the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services.

Ms Jill Bayley, Head of Safeguarding – Legal Services advised that the Standards Advisory Committee had agreed to a general dispensation to all Councillors in respect of matters relating to the Council Tax and also Housing where the Councillor (or spouse or partner) holds a tenancy or lease with the Council. Members did not therefore have to declare a DPI in respect of these matters.

There were no other Declarations of Interest.

The Speaker of the Council, Councillor Jahed Choudhury stated that he would provide an update on his activities at the next ordinary meeting of the Council on 20^th March 2024.

The Chief Executive provided an update on the Best Value Inspection, the Corporate Peer Review, Awards the Council had been shortlisted for and the temporary appointment of Ms Linda Walker as the Director of Legal following the departure of Ms Fasan. The Chief Executive, Mr Steve Halsey read out the statement made by the Council following comments made in the national press about ‘no go’ areas.

The Council Procedure Rules provide for a maximum of four petitions to be discussed at the Budget Meeting of the Council where those petitions relate directly to the Council Budget and Council Tax.

There are no petitions for consideration at this meeting.

There were no petitions listed for consideration for this meeting.

At this point the Speaker of the Council Proposed, seconded by Councillor Maium Talukdar, that under Procedure Rule 12.1 (c) the Order of Business be changed to take Agenda Item 6 (Designation of Monitoring Officer) before Agenda Item 5 (Budget and Council Tax 2024/25) due to the importance of having a Monitoring Officer in place before the main business of the meeting took place. This proposal was put to the vote and was agreed.

The Mayor Lutfur Rahman and Councillor Saied Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Resources and Cost of Living, moved the budget and council tax proposals of the Mayor and Executive as set out in the agenda pack, with Councillor Maium Talukdar, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Education, Youth and Lifelong Learning seconding the proposals. This included the amendments tabled at the meeting.

Councillor Marc Francis moved the Labour group amendment set out in the supplementary agenda, which was seconded by Councillor Sirajul Islam. Councillor Nathalie Bienfait also moved her amendment which was seconded by Councillor Peter Golds.

During the debate the Speaker of the Council adjourned the meeting from 21:39 to 21:48 due to disturbance from the public gallery. The Speaker then, in line with Paragraph 21 of the Council Procedure Rules, asked for the public gallery to be cleared for the remainder of the meeting.

Following debate, the amendments moved by Councillor Marc Francis and Councillor Nathalie Bienfait were put to a recorded vote and were rejected.

The substantive Budget Motion for 2024-25, including the Council Tax Resolution, the Treasury Management Strategy and the Investment Statements as well as the Capital Strategy report submitted by Mayor Lutfur Rahman and Councillor Saied Ahmed were put to a recorded vote and were AGREED.

Decision:

Budget Motion:

Revenue 2024-27 and Capital 2024-27

1.    To note a General Fund Revenue Budget of £462.606m and approve a Council Tax (Band D) of £1,204.11 (Council share) for 2024-25 as set out in the motion and Council Tax Resolution attached at Annex 1 to this report. This incorporates a 2.99% increase to the Tower Hamlets element of Council Tax and a 2% Adult Social Care precept for 2024-25.

2.    To note the GLA precept as set out in the Council Tax Resolution is subject to the approval of the GLA Assembly at their meeting scheduled for 22 February, any changes as a result of that meeting will be made known to Council before the date of this meeting.

3.    To note the change in the budget report appendices to reflect the final Local Government Finance Settlement grant allocation for the Social Care Grant, Services Grant and Public Health Grant. (Annex 2 Appendix 1A, 1B, 2, 3A and 6)

4.    To note the Capital Programme, Housing Revenue Account budget and Dedicated Schools budget.

5.    Treasury Management Strategy Statement, Investment Strategy and Capital Strategy 2024-25 5. To adopt the Treasury Management Strategy Statement set out in Annex 3 Appendix A attached to this report.

6.    To adopt the Investment Strategy Report set out in Annex 3 Appendix B attached to this report.

7.    To adopt the Capital Strategy Report (which incorporates the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement) set out in Annex 3 Appendix C attached to this report. Section 25, Local Government Act 2003

8.    To note the Section 151 officer’s view on the robustness of estimates and adequacy of reserves required under Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003, set out in section 2 of this report.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Mr Steve Halsey, Chief Executive asked Council to note that he had appointed Linda Walker as an Interim Director for Legal Services following the departure of the previous Director.

This post would usually carry the designation of Monitoring Officer and Council was asked to endorse Linda Walker being designated as such. Following the debate Members AGREED to:

1. Endorse the appointment of Linda Walker as the designated Monitoring Officer for the Council.