Agenda and minutes

            An apology was reported on behalf of Councillor Doherty.

No declarations were reported.

            The information contained in the reports associated with the following item is restricted in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

      Resolved – That the Committee agrees to exclude the Members of the Press and public from the Committee meeting during discussion on the following item as, due to its nature, there would be a disclosure of exempt information as described in Section 42(4) and Section 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

            The Committee was also reminded that the content of ‘restricted’ reports and any discussion which took place during closed session must be treated as ‘confidential information’ and that no such information should be disclosed to the public as per Paragraph 4.15 of the Code of Conduct.  

(Mr. T. Wallace, Director of Finance, attended in connection with this item).

            The Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance, in relation to the establishment of the District Rate and the compilation of the Estimates of Revenue Expenditure for the year 2025/2026.

            The Director recommended that the paper should not be subject to call-in since it would cause an unreasonable delay which would be prejudicial to the Council and the public’s interest in striking the District Rate by the legislative deadline of 15th February, 2025.

            He referred to the cash limit for the People and Communities Committee for 2025/2026, as recommended by the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, at its meeting on 27th January, and outlined the next steps in the rate setting process.

            The Committee noted the next steps in the rate setting process and agreed to the following: 

·        that a cash limit for the People and Communities Committee for 2025/26 be set at £109,423,272 and the individual service cash limits; and

·        that the decision be not subject to the call-in mechanism, given that it would cause an unreasonable delay which would be prejudicial to the interest of the Council and its ratepayers in striking the rate by the legislative deadline of 15th February 2025.