A special council meeting held last week saw a motion pass to reduce the expenditure associated with the allotments service by £26,400. 

The meeting, on March 24, was held after a council U-turn on its decision to increase rent costs for allotment holders by 200 per cent. 

Following a backlash, the council decided to instead increase allotment rent costs in line with inflation, leaving a £26,400 deficit in its budget. 

All council members agreed to the motion for the amount required to come out of the council's allotment budget, which is a part of the special expenses calculations.

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The U-turn came at a meeting on Wednesday, March 15, after Liberal Democrat and Labour groups put forward a motion to reverse the 200 per cent rise.

The motion was passed, with 22 in favour and 21 against.  

Prior to Friday's meeting, council members said consideration has been given to finding a funding solution for the approved motion that will enable the charges to be amended without the need to reopen the budget decision. 

The effect of reducing the allotment fees and charges as part of the budget decision would mean that the allotment income budget would be reduced.

In turn, this would mean that the net expenditure associated with the allotments would increase, and therefore amend the special expenses calculation.  

                                                                                                        

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A report following the March 15 meeting said: "If the decrease to the allotment income budget was funded from elsewhere in the budget, for example by use of reserve, this would not change the net expenditure recorded against allotments or the requirement to recalculate the special expenses, it would only change the way by which the council has balanced it budget."

The summary of the amendment stated that "the only way to ensure that the special expenses do not have to be recalculated is to ensure the net expenditure for the service remains the same".  

Therefore, the recommendation was to reduce the expenditure associated with the allotments service by £26,400, which was approved.