This meeting was about the Council’s financial plans and a scheme to retrofit the Council’s housing to make it more energy efficient. It included updates on the financial strategy and the proposals for the Council Tax Support scheme for 2025/26.

Procurement strategy for a retrofit at scale pilot

This report recommended that the Council start a scheme to install solar panels and battery storage at 3,000 council homes, which is 9% of the Council’s housing stock.

This would be the first part of a wider scheme to make all of the Council's homes more energy efficient and achieve an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of band “C” or above.

It was noted that it may be necessary to make a direct award of the contract for the retrofit scheme to a single provider because the scheme is the first of its kind. The Council estimates the total value of the contract to be £68.2m over 30 years.

The proposed approach is the first of its kind at any significant scale. It is required as London Councils estimate that current grant-funded retrofit schemes will only reach between 2% and 3% of homes in the capital.

The scheme is partly funded by a grant from central government through its Social Housing Fund. The Council has applied for the grant, as part of a consortium of 14 London Councils led by the Greater London Authority, and will be told whether the grant is successful in March 2025.

The Council plans to create a special purpose vehicle to deliver the scheme. The vehicle would be partly funded by the Council and partly funded by an institutional investor. The report recommended that the Executive Director Supporting Communities be given the power to make decisions about the project in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance & Cost of Living, the Cabinet Member for Better Homes and the Executive Director Corporate Services.

Review of the Camden Medium Term Financial Strategy

This report was about the Council's financial plans for the next few years. It noted that the Council is facing a number of financial challenges, including:

• High inflation.
• Increased demand for services.
• Reduced government funding.

The report stated that the Council had set a balanced budget for 2024/25. However, a new deficit is expected over the medium term.

The report included a summary of the Autumn Budget. The report noted that the new government had made some promising early signals on local government, including a commitment to give Councils multi-year funding settlements from 2026/27.

The report set out how inflation is affecting the cost of a number of services. It also described the increase in demand for homelessness services, adult social care and children’s social care and the financial challenges these present.

The report recommended delegating to the Executive Director of Corporate Services the power to agree increases of up to 7% on the Council’s Fees & Charges and to reduce charges in exceptional circumstances. The report also recommended agreeing the Council’s planned use of reserves.

Council Tax Support 2025/26 and Housing Benefit disregarded income from assessments

This report provided details about the Council Tax Support (CTS) scheme for the 2025/26 financial year. The report recommended that the Council agree to uplift the current scheme in line with changes in the London Living Wage. It was noted that 16,136 households were receiving 100% reduction in their Council Tax charge through the scheme.

Camden’s current scheme is one of the most generous CTS schemes in the country

The report also provided details of a proposal to change the rules on Housing Benefit to disregard income from the Armed Forces compensation scheme when assessing entitlement.

Agree that the Housing Benefit Service can disregard all income from the ‘armed forces compensation scheme’ rather than just the first £10 of income when assessing entitlement to housing benefits.

The report recommended that the Council delegate authority to the Director of Finance to make further changes to the scheme.