Agenda item

Report of the Interim Finance and Revenues & Benefits Portfolio Holder - A.2 - Final General Fund Revenue Budget and Capital Programme 2017/18

Cabinet’s approval is sought to the final budget proposals for 2017/18 (including Council Tax proposals) for recommendation to Council on 7 February 2017.

 

Decision:

RESOLVED that:

 

1.               if the financial position changes prior to Council considering the budget on 7 February 2017, the Corporate Director (Corporate Services), in consultation with the Interim Portfolio Holder for Finance, Revenues and Benefits, be authorised to adjust the budget, including the use of Reserves;

 

2.               in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Interim Portfolio Holder for Finance, Revenues and Benefits, the Corporate Director (Corporate Services) reports directly to Council in respect of the formal draft resolutions necessary to implement the Cabinet’s budget proposals, along with any late information or notifications received from the Department for Communities and Local Government etc. as may necessarily affect the budget;

 

3.               the Corporate Management Committee be thanked for the work it has undertaken and continues to take in supporting the development of the budget and that the comments of the Interim Portfolio Holder for Finance, Revenues and Benefits, in response to those of the Committee, as set out in the report, be agreed;

 

4.               in respect of the proposals for the Career Track Service to seek to become a registered apprenticeship training provider:

 

(i)       delegation be given to the Corporate Director (Corporate Services) to undertake the necessary activities to implement the revised delivery model;

(ii)      delegation be given to the Head of Finance, Revenues and Benefits Services to undertake the necessary budget adjustments within the overall approved net budget to reflect the revised delivery model;

 

5.               in respect of the proposals to bring the maintenance of Public Conveniences in-house:

 

(i)       delegation be given to the Corporate Director (Operational Services) to undertake the necessary activities to facilitate and implement the in-house delivery model;

(ii)      delegation be given to the Head of Finance, Revenues and Benefits Services to undertake the necessary budget adjustments within the overall approved net budget to reflect the in-house solution; and

 

6.               in respect of supporting the delivery of Council priorities, the budget be amended to reflect the setting aside of amounts from one-off budgets as set out in Table 3 of the report.

 

That, subject to the above, Cabinet RECOMMENDED to COUNCIL that:

 

(a)            following the consideration of the comments from the Corporate Management Committee and the responses from the budget consultation activities undertaken, the following final budget proposals be made (based on a £5 increase in a Band D Council Tax for district services):

 

i)                 that the detailed budgets, as per Appendix A to the report, be approved, which provides for a Council Tax Requirement for 2017/2018 of £7.229m (£6.855m for 2016/2017) (excluding parish precepts);

 

ii)                that the Council agrees and formally approves:

 

a)              the specific recommendations, calculations and other matters in respect of the Council’s requirements – Appendix C to the report; and

 

b)              the Council Tax for this Council’s services – Appendix F to the report.

 

Minutes:

There was submitted a report by the Interim Portfolio Holder for Finance, Revenues and Benefits, which sought the Cabinet’s approval of the final budget proposals for 2017/18 (including Council Tax proposals) for recommendation to Council on 7 February 2017.

 

It was reported that, at its meeting held on 16 December 2016, Cabinet had considered the Revised Financial Baseline 2017/2018 and associated detailed budget proposals for 2017/2018, which presented a budget “gap” of £0.603m.

 

It was noted that Cabinet’s budget proposals were subject to consultation with the Council’s Corporate Management Committee, which had met on 19 December 2016 and 5 January 2017 to consider these and the Committee’s comments were provided within the report, along with the response from the Interim Portfolio Holder for Finance, Revenues and Budgets.

 

It was further reported that, since the Cabinet’s meeting on 16 December 2016, additional changes had been required, primarily as a result of new or revised information becoming available, which included the Government’s Financial Settlement announcements.  These had been included in the final budget proposals, as set out in the report, which together reduced the budget ‘gap’ to £0.558m.  It was noted that this figure may change as further adjustments could be required as part of finalising the budget for presenting to Council on 7 February 2017, with a delegation included in the recommendations to reflect this.

 

Cabinet was informed that, following the Government’s confirmation that Councils could increase their Council Tax by £5 instead of being limited to just 2%, the budget now reflected this change which in percentage terms equated to an increase of just under 3.3%.

 

It was further noted that the remaining budget ‘gap’ of £0.558m had been met by taking both the 2016/2017 position and 2017/2018 together across a two-year budget cycle.  The favourable variance in 2016/2017 totalled £0.801m, which therefore more than offset the £0.558m required in 2017/2018, with the balance of £0.243m being a net contribution to the Building for the Future Reserve across both years.

 

It was reported that the above reflected the continuing challenging position of identifying the necessary savings whilst balancing, wherever possible, the aim of protecting services, a position that would be increasingly difficult to maintain going into 2018/2019.

 

Taking all of the changes into account, the Council Tax requirement had been revised to £7.229m,which was based on a £5 increase for this Council’s services in 2017/2018 with a Band D Council tax of £157.64.

 

The Council’s annual budget and the district and parish elements of the Council Tax would be considered by Full Council on 7 February 2017 with approval of the ‘full’ Council Tax levy for the year to be considered by the Council Tax Committee on 22 February 2017.

 

Cabinet was made aware that, in line with legislative requirements, the Council’s

statutory Section 151 Officer had confirmed the robustness of the estimates along with the adequacy of reserves.

 

The report also set out proposed changes to Career Track and the Public Conveniences Maintenance Contract and also proposed to set aside funding from one-off budgets such as the New Homes Bonus to support the delivery of key priorities.

 

Accordingly, it was moved by Councillor G V Guglielmi, seconded by Councillor Turner and:

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.   if the financial position changes prior to Council considering the budget on 7 February 2017, the Corporate Director (Corporate Services), in consultation with the Interim Portfolio Holder for Finance, Revenues and Benefits, be authorised to adjust the budget, including the use of Reserves;

 

2.   in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Interim Portfolio Holder for Finance, Revenues and Benefits, the Corporate Director (Corporate Services) reports directly to Council in respect of the formal draft resolutions necessary to implement the Cabinet’s budget proposals, along with any late information or notifications received from the Department for Communities and Local Government etc. as may necessarily affect the budget;

 

3.   the Corporate Management Committee be thanked for the work it has undertaken and continues to take in supporting the development of the budget and that the comments of the Interim Portfolio Holder for Finance, Revenues and Benefits, in response to those of the Committee, as set out in the report, be agreed;

 

4.   in respect of the proposals for the Career Track Service to seek to become a registered apprenticeship training provider:

 

(i)  delegation be given to the Corporate Director (Corporate Services) to undertake the necessary activities to implement the revised delivery model;

(ii) delegation be given to the Head of Finance, Revenues and Benefits Services to undertake the necessary budget adjustments within the overall approved net budget to reflect the revised delivery model;

 

5.   in respect of the proposals to bring the maintenance of Public Conveniences in-house:

 

(i)  delegation be given to the Corporate Director (Operational Services) to undertake the necessary activities to facilitate and implement the in-house delivery model;

(ii) delegation be given to the Head of Finance, Revenues and Benefits Services to undertake the necessary budget adjustments within the overall approved net budget to reflect the in-house solution; and

 

6.   in respect of supporting the delivery of Council priorities, the budget be amended to reflect the setting aside of amounts from one-off budgets as set out in Table 3 of the report.

 

That, subject to the above, Cabinet RECOMMENDED to COUNCIL that:

 

(a) following the consideration of the comments from the Corporate Management Committee and the responses from the budget consultation activities undertaken, the following final budget proposals be made (based on a £5 increase in a Band D Council Tax for district services):

 

i)       that the detailed budgets, as per Appendix A to the report, be approved, which provides for a Council Tax Requirement for 2017/2018 of £7.229m (£6.855m for 2016/2017) (excluding parish precepts);

 

ii)      that the Council agrees and formally approves:

 

a)      the specific recommendations, calculations and other matters in respect of the Council’s requirements – Appendix C to the report; and

 

b)      the Council Tax for this Council’s services – Appendix F to the report.

 

Supporting documents: