Issue - meetings

To note issues associated with the policy and resources strategy and agree recommendations.

The report had not been circulated five clear days in advance of the meeting. The chair agreed to accept the report as urgent as the council is committed to publishing budget proposals at the earliest possible opportunity to ensure they are available to the public for comments and questions. Presenting this report to cabinet on 17 December 2019 gives the opportunity for debate prior to presentation of budget figures to cabinet on 21 January 2020. Under the council’s constitution, there is a requirement for the overview and scrutiny committee to review and challenge budget proposals and this is due to take place on 27/29 January 2020.

RESOLVED:

1.  That it be noted that the provisional local government finance settlement, due to be published by 5 December 2019, has been delayed (paragraphs 26-27 of the report).

2.  That it be noted, and recognising the continued uncertainty for local government funding, that the intention is to prepare a balanced one year 2020-21 budget for approval by cabinet in advance of council assembly in February 2020 (paragraphs 32-33 of the report).

3.  That it be noted that the budget proposals for 2020-21 contained within this report include:

·  Estimated general grant resources of £152.317m, an increase of £2.442m from 2019-20

·  Additional grant income of £13.571m, including increased social care grant of £7.332m

·  Estimated retained business rates growth of £26.0m (paragraph 59), an increase of £1.0m over 2019-20

·  Estimated council tax revenue of £113.327m, including growth in the tax base of £2.795m

·  A net brought forward deficit on the Collection Fund chargeable to the 2020-21 budget of £6.729m

·  Pay award and contractual inflation of £3.830m (excluding Children’s and Adult Services)

·  Retention of the contingency budget of £4m to mitigate underlying budget risks (paragraph 85 of the report).

4.  That the current budget options proposed to help achieve a balanced 2020-21 budget (Appendices B to E of the report) be noted, including:

·  Efficiency savings of £5.672m;

·  Income generation of £2.376m;

·  Savings impacting on services of £0.420m;

·  Commitments and growth of £19.505m.

5.  That it be noted that in order to ensure that the base budget is on a secure financial footing a number of commitments are proposed for 2020-21, including £7.332m for Children’s and Adult’s Services (paragraph 77 of the report).

6.  That the updated budget gap for 2020-21 of £6.805m be noted, and that this budget gap would reduce by £2.267m if the council determined to increase council tax by 2% for the social care precept in line with government expectation.

7.  That it be noted that the budget gap would reduce by a further £2.255m should the council decide to increase council tax by 1.99%, in line with the government threshold.

8.  That the performance of the London Business Rates Pool arrangement in 2019-20 (paragraphs 61-66 of the report) be noted, and the unallocated London devolution Pool resources of £1.686m from 2018-19 and an estimated £4.8m for 2019-20.

9.  That the allocation of £0.150m from the unallocated London Business Rates Devolution reserve to fund  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23