Agenda item - Mayor's Communications.

58.1.        I have to inform the Council that I am a little under the weather and in order to save my voice I shall to ask the Monitoring Officer to outline the procedure for today’s meeting.

58.2.        The Monitoring Officer outlined the financial and legal requirements for the setting of a Budget and referred to the legal note and the proposed protocol for the Budget debate that had been circulated.  He reported that under Section 30(6) of the Local Government Act 1992 the Council had a duty to set the Council Tax by 11 March 2015.  A failure to set a tax did not then in itself invalidate the tax demands but it had other adverse consequences including the potential loss of income to the Council.  One significant practical implication was that the contractor who printed and sent out the Council Tax bills had a slot booked to process the City Council’s bills and a delay in setting the Budget could have significant implications in this respect.

58.3.        The Mayor then advised the council that Procedural Rules would need to be suspended in so far as was necessary to enable the business under Items 79-82 on the agenda to be dealt with as set out in the annex and the procedural note as circulated and moved the suspension accordingly.

58.4.        The motion was carried.