Agenda item

(Report of the Chief Financial Officer. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Employment and Carbon Reduction). The report seeks agreement from Cabinet, to recommend to Council on 26 February 2014, that it adopts the Revenue Budget for 2014/15, agrees the proposed Housing Rent increases and the Medium Term Financial Plan 2014 to 2017, as outlined in the report.  

Cabinet considered a report, introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Employment and Carbon Reduction, which sought agreement from Cabinet to recommend to Council, that it adopt the Revenue Budget for 2014/15 and that it also agree the proposed Housing Rent increases and the Medium Term Financial Plan 2014 to 2017, as detailed in the report.

Cllr Wilson put forward questions about: funding for enforcement as part of the investment in the Planning service[ listed at appendix 3], the reprovision of civic functions and implementation of the default borough wide 20mph limit .

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Employment and Carbon Reduction explained how a  recent zero based budgeting exercise, analysing  the officer base in the council, had  found  a lower number of staff working  in the Planning  team,  in  comparison to  similar boroughs.  Factoring this information and the increase in the number of planning applications coming forward, the investment proposal for improving resources to the Planning service area was a prudent way forward.   It was noted that funding for Enforcement services, from the council’s base budget, had already been agreed at the previous Cabinet meeting in December.

It was noted that the council’s accommodation strategy was an ongoing process and therefore costs were at an estimate stage. As yet, there were no core plans for where civic functions would be located. Once these were devised, they would be consulted upon with the Cabinet and consideration given to how the accommodation plans were to be managed.  In the meantime, there was ongoing work to find appropriate meeting spaces and civic accommodation that can fit 57 councillors, at a lower cost, in the borough.

Analysis of the borough wide 20mph limit consultation was still continuing and would need to be completed before a policy was put forward.  It was the practice to only include agreed policies in budget plans, but funding could still be made available, through the council’s reserves, for implementing the  required street signs.

RESOLVED:

      i.        That the 2014/15 Revenue Budget and the Medium Term Financial Plan 2014 – 2017, including the consequent cash limits as set out in the report (Appendices 1 and 2), be approved for recommendation to Full Council;

    ii.        That approval of the new budget proposals, set out in Section 9 and Appendix 3 of the report, be recommended to Full Council;

   iii.        That approval be recommend to Full Council that a General Fund budget requirement of £281.699m, as set out in Appendix 1, but subject to the final decisions of the levying and precepting bodies and the final local government finance settlement;

   iv.        That approval be recommended to Full Council of a Dedicated Schools Budget at the level of the estimated Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) of £228.755m (Appendix 4);

    v.        That the need for significant additional savings to be delivered in order to deliver a balanced budget in the years 2015/16 and 2016/17, be noted;

   vi.        That the responses made to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee recommendations following their consideration of the draft budget proposals for 2014/15 (Appendix 7) be approved;

  vii.        That the summary of the budget consultation responses (section 7 and separate report) be noted;

viii.        That the proposed fee increase in relation to Commercial Waste collection services, as set out in paragraph 8.25 of the report, be agreed;

   ix.        That the creation of a new earmarked reserve; the Labour Market Growth and Resilience Reserve, as set out in paragraph 9.10 be noted;

    x.        That the housing rent increases, of on average £4.90 (4.89%), as set out in paragraph 14.6 and Table 4 be agreed;

   xi.        That the housing tenants’ service charges set out in Table 7 be agreed;

  xii.        That it be agreed that approval to the Council of the HRA budget for 2014/15 and the MTFP for 2014 -2017 as set out in section 16 and Appendix 5 be proposed;

xiii.        That it be agreed that approval to the Council of the General Fund and HRA capital programme 2014 – 2017 of £294.393m summarised in Table 8 and detailed in Appendix 6 be proposed;

xiv.        That it be noted that this report would be considered by Full Council at its meeting on 26 February 2014 to inform their final decisions on the 2014/15 budget and the associated Council Tax for that year; and,

  xv.        That approval be given to delegate to the Chief Financial Officer any minor adjustments, up to £250k, that may be necessary to the 2014/15 budget as a result of the final Local Government Finance Settlement being announced by the government and/ or final grant figures notified by other bodies. This would impact on the recommendations set out above.

Alternative options considered

In accordance with legislation and the Council’s Constitution, this report proposes that Cabinet should consider draft proposals to deliver a balanced and sustainable MTFP 2014-2017, including the budget for 2014/15, and to make recommendations on those matters to the Council at its meeting on 26 February 2014. Accordingly, no other options have been considered.

Responses received to the Council’s public consultation process together with the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are reflected in the proposals set out in this report.