This meeting was the third of the financial year, and covered a wide range of financial, planning and housing matters, and in particular considered the Council's draft response to the Government's consultation on social housing rents.

Consultation on Social Housing Rents

The meeting was scheduled to consider the Council's response to the Government's consultation on social housing rents. The Government was proposing that rents on social and affordable housing could be increased by up to CPI plus 1% each year between 2026 and 2031. The consultation document stated that:

This is a cap and registered providers would have flexibility to apply a lower increase or freeze rents if they so wish.

The Council's draft response agreed that the Government should set a 5 year rent policy, but suggested that allowing rents to rise by CPI plus 1% per year could have a negative impact on affordability. The draft response said that:

The rent policy could look to build in flexibility to spread the impact of inflationary spikes over a number of years as well as restricting the cap in a single year.

Draft Local Lettings Plan for Gilbert Close New Build Council Housing Development

The meeting was also scheduled to consider a draft Local Lettings Plan for the Council's new build housing development at Gilbert Close, Swanscombe. The development is due to be completed in February/March 2025, and provides 16 new homes for rent. The draft plan aimed to ensure that the Council’s homes are allocated to people with a genuine housing need, and to help create a balanced community in the new development. The draft plan gave priority to existing tenants in Swanscombe and Greenhithe who were overcrowded, or who wished to downsize. It also placed additional conditions on new tenants, including requiring them to pay rent by direct debit, agree to regular inspections by housing officers, maintain their gardens, and register to vote.

Community Infrastructure Levy Monitoring 2024

The meeting also included a scheduled discussion about the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). The CIL is a levy that local councils can charge on new developments to pay for infrastructure. In 2023/24, Dartford Council received £8.269m in CIL payments. The Council can keep 5% of this money to cover its administrative costs. It is required to pass 15% of CIL receipts from developments in parish and town council areas to the relevant parish or town council, a sum known as the Neighbourhood Portion. It can choose to pass more than 15% to a parish council if the parish has an adopted Neighbourhood Plan.¹ This amount increases to 25% where a Neighbourhood Development Plan is in place. In Dartford, only Stone Parish Council currently has an adopted Neighbourhood Plan. A similar proportion of receipts from the unparished areas of Dartford is kept by the Council to spend on those areas. The Council also keeps the rest of the money to spend on strategic infrastructure projects. After making those payments and deductions, the Council had £6.508m left in 2023/24 to spend on strategic infrastructure.

The report pack contained the Council’s Infrastructure Delivery Plan, which sets out the infrastructure projects that the Council has identified as needing to be delivered in the next few years. This document also sets out the Council’s progress on projects that have already been allocated CIL funding. These projects include the Dartford Town Centre Regeneration Project, to which the Council allocated £4.152m of CIL funding, Stone Recreation Ground, which received £3.8m of CIL funding, and Beacon Wood Country Park, which received £54,600. The Infrastructure Delivery Plan also includes details of projects that the Council has identified as needing to be delivered in the borough, but that have not yet been formally considered for CIL funding. These included Greenhithe Medical Centre, Fleetdown United FC, Dartford Grammar School for Boys, Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy, Ebbsfleet Green Primary School, Darent Valley Hospital, and the A226 London Road Sustainable Transport Corridor.

Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2025/26

The meeting also included a scheduled discussion about whether to roll forward the Council's Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme (LCTRS) for 2025/26. This scheme determines the amount of Council Tax Support that working age people can receive. Pensioners' council tax support is determined nationally, and is more generous than the support available to working-age people. The LCTRS allows for a maximum award for working age claimants of 80% of their council tax bill. The report pack recommended that the scheme be rolled forward to 2025/26 unchanged.

Financial Contributions to Parish Councils

The agenda also included a scheduled discussion of the financial contributions to be paid to the borough’s parish councils in 2025/26. The parish and town councils are funded by a precept that is collected by Dartford Council alongside its own Council Tax. The Council is required to pay an amount to parish councils to reflect the amount of Council Tax Support that is paid to people living in their areas. Because the parish element of the council tax is based on the amount of council tax that is collected, rather than the amount that is charged, this funding ensures that parishes do not lose out as a result of people in their area being unable to pay their council tax.

The agenda pack proposed that the Council should pay a total of £27,596 to parish councils in 2025/26, to be split between the parishes as follows:

• Bean Parish Council: £334
• Darenth Parish Council: £1,923
• Longfield Parish Council: £631
• Southfleet Parish Council: £198
• Stone Parish Council: £7,021
• Sutton at Hone and Hawley Parish Council: £1,737
• Swanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council: £14,435
• Wilmington Parish Council: £1,317

Revenue Budget Monitoring 2024/25

The meeting was also scheduled to discuss a report on the projected outturn for the General Fund for 2024/25. The report pack predicted that the General Fund was likely to underspend by £2.8m for the year. The report also discussed the projected outturn for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) which was expected to be £4m under budget.

Capital Programme Monitoring 2024/25

The meeting was also scheduled to discuss a report on the progress of the Council's Capital Programme in 2024/25. The report pack predicted an underspend of £2.5m on the HRA Capital Programme and an underspend of £6.4m for the General Fund capital programme. The HRA programme includes funding for new homes, asbestos removal, and the replacement of kitchens, bathrooms and windows in council properties. The General Fund programme included funding for the Orchard Theatre, Acacia Hall, Fairfield Leisure Centre, Stone Lodge, Dartford Town Centre, and the purchase of a development called Copperfields.