Recommendations
The Leaders’ Committee is asked to approve the following borough subscription and charges:
• The proposed Joint Committee subscription for boroughs of £161,958 per borough for 2023/24, no change from 2022/23 (paragraph 14);
• The proposed Joint Committee subscription for MOPAC of £15,410 for 2023/24, no change from 2022/23 (paragraph 14);
• The proposed borough contributions to the Grants scheme of £6.668 million to maintain the same level as 2022/23 (paragraphs 19).
The Leaders’ Committee is also asked to note and endorse the following subscription, charges and use of reserves for 2023/24 as recommended by the TEC Executive Sub-Committee to the TEC main committee for approval:
• The Parking Core Administration Charge of £1,500 per borough and for TfL (2022/23 - £1,500) (paragraph 23);
• No charge to boroughs in respect of the Freedom Pass Administration Charge, which is covered by replacement Freedom Pass income (2022/23 – no charge) (paragraph 25);
• The net Taxicard Administration Charge to boroughs of £338,000 in total (2022/23 - £338,000); (paragraph 26);
• No charge to boroughs and TfL in respect of the Lorry Control Administration Charge, which is fully covered by estimated PCN income (2022/23 – no charge) (paragraph 27);
• The Parking Enforcement Service Charge of £0.2975 per PCN, which will be distributed to boroughs and TfL in accordance with the number of PCNs issued in 2021/22 (2022/23 - £0.3751 per PCN; paragraphs 30-31);
• The Parking and Traffic Appeals Charge of £29.75 per appeal or £25.57 per appeal where electronic evidence is provided by the enforcing authority (2022/23 - £29.36/£25.55 per appeal). For hearing Statutory Declarations, a charge of £23.49 for hard copy submissions and £22.65 for electronic submissions (2022/23 - £23.64/£22.88 per SD) (paragraphs 32-33);
• Congestion Charging Appeals including the ULEZ scheme – to be recovered on a full cost recovery basis, as for 2022/23, under the current contract arrangement with the GLA (paragraph 34);
• The TRACE (Electronic) Charge of £7.53 per transaction (2022/23 - £7.53) (paragraph 29);
• The TRACE (Fax/Email) Charge of £7.70 per transaction, which is levied in addition to the electronic charge of £7.53 per transaction, making a total of £15.23 (2022/23 - £15.23) (paragraph 29);
• The TEC Charge of £0.175 per transaction (2022/23 - £0.175) (paragraph 29); and
• The use of £721,000 of TEC reserves which consists of £258,000 of previously approved committed reserves to fund environmental initiatives, including climate change, from the TEC Special Projects Reserve. The residual amount of £463,000 will be funded from the £1.1 million forecast TEC surplus for 2022/23 and will not reduce the existing level of uncommitted reserves (paragraphs 22)
On the basis of the above proposed level of subscriptions and charges, the Leaders’ Committee is asked to approve:
• The provisional consolidated revenue expenditure budget for 2023/24 for London Councils of £277.642 million, as per Appendix A of this report;
• The provisional consolidated revenue income budget for 2023/24 for London Councils of £276.466 million, also as per Appendix B;
• The establishment of a Premises Transition Earmarked Reserve of £850,000 to support the move to a smaller premises and use £437,000 of this reserve to part fund the current level of premises costs in 2023/24, as detailed in paragraph 12;
• An overall level of expenditure of £6.686 million for the Grants Scheme in 2023/24 (2022/23: £6.668 million); and
• The use of Grant Committee reserves of £18,000 in 2023/24 during the transition period until a move to a smaller premises, as detailed in paragraph 19;
• The closure of London Care Services due to insufficient subscriptions to cover costs, as detailed in paragraphs 50-56; and
• The facility for officers to draw down a maximum of £300,000 from reserves for the Shared Ambition Impact Fund, subject to the maintenance of a sustainable level of reserves, as detailed in paragraph at 15.
The Leaders’ Committee is also asked to note:
• The position in respect of forecast uncommitted London Councils reserves as at 31 March 2023, as detailed at paragraphs 57-62;
• The indicative income and expenditure budgets for 2024/25 and 2025/26 detailed at Appendices C-F;
• The positive statement on the adequacy of the residual London Councils reserves issued by the Director, Corporate Resources, as detailed in paragraph 61; and
• The proposed review of London Councils operating model to identify potential savings and efficiencies to ensure its financial arrangements remain affordable and sustainable.