Issue - meetings

Further to Minute 25 (11 July 2017), the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment presented an update report on the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and the Budget Strategy for 2018/19 to 2020/21.

The Cabinet Member commented that the Council continued to face significant financial pressures as a consequence of unrelenting funding cuts by the Government, which had already resulted in savings of over £122m having to be made since 2010.  To compound the pressures on Council services, population growth in Barking and Dagenham was four-times higher than the national average and there were high levels of deprivation. 

The Cabinet Member advised that the budget gap for 2018/19 currently stood at £12.437m, which took into account £11.3m of the total £47.9m cost reductions by 2020/21 stemming from the Council’s Transformation Programme.  To achieve a balanced budget for 2018/19, savings proposals totalling £9.646m had been identified while the remaining £2.791m was proposed to be met by a drawdown on reserves. The Cabinet Member also drew attention to the current in-year budget pressures, other potential risks and future opportunities which could impact on the Council’s overall financial position going forward.  In respect of opportunities, the Cabinet Member spoke on new London devolution arrangements and a proposal for the Council to participate in a London-wide Business Rates pooling arrangement in place of the current joint arrangement with Basildon, Havering and Thurrock Councils.  A prudent income estimate of £1.1m for 2018/19 had been factored into the MTFS pending formal consideration of the Council’s participation at a future Cabinet meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration suggested that the Government should not be allowed to hoodwink the public in relation to extra social care funding pledges and gave the example of last year’s announcement which, unbeknown to the public, came with strict conditions that it be spent to support problems associated with the NHS.  The Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement shared similar sentiments in respect of education spending and referred to a campaign involving 5,000 schools which had identified that the Government needed to allocate an additional £1.7bn, on top of the £1.3bn it had already announced, in order to properly fund the country’s education system.

The Leader also commented on his fears that the Chancellor’s 2017 Budget, to be announced later in the month, would further impact on local residents and the services and support that they received from the Council.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree the implementation of the savings proposals for 2018/19 totalling £9.646m as set out in paragraph 6.2 of the report, subject to the outcome of consultation;

(ii)  Support the drawdown of circa £2.8m from general reserves in order for the Council to set a balanced budget for 2018/19 as set out in section 7 of the report, which would be reflected in the Council’s statutory budget setting report in February 2018;

(iii)  Note that carry costs of the Council’s Investment and Acquisition Strategy would be incorporated in the Medium Term  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62