Issue - meetings

A video highlighting the Borough’s key developments and initiatives during the year was shown before the Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services introduced the Council’s proposed budget framework for 2019/20 which incorporated the following:

·  the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2019/20 to 2020/21;

·  the General Fund budget for 2019/20;

·  the level of Council Tax for 2019/20;

·  the draft Capital Programme for 2019/20 to 2022/23;

·  an update on the Dedicated Schools Grant and Local Funding Formula for Schools; and

·  the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy to support the Council’s transformation agenda.

The Cabinet Member advised that a revised Appendix C for the statutory budget determinations setting out the amount of Council Tax, had been tabled to the Assembly, which was a slight adjustment on “rounding” but which made no difference to the Council Tax valuation bands.

With regard to revenue funding, the Cabinet Member outlined the grant funding available to the Council. He explained that the abolition  of the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) system meant that the Council’s main source of revenue funding now came from business rates, which will see the Council no worse off than previous with an estimated £79.16m coming from new pooling arrangements, representing a small increase of  £0.5m, albeit this is dependant on business rates growth in London which in the current economic climate is not guaranteed.  As a consequence, it was proposed to increase Council Tax by 2.99%. this included 1.99% for general Council services raising an additional £1.2m, plus an additional 1% specifically ring-fenced for Social Care and Support services, raising an additional £0.6m.

The Cabinet Member commented on the 2019/20 budget consultation that had taken place between November 2018 and January 2019, which included several face-to-face events with the local community, and the key projects, issues and risks associated with Council services in the years ahead. He added that the Council sought to keep the Council Tax as low as possible and the higher amount raised would be ringfenced for social care and disabilities.

The Cabinet Member referred to the unprecedented financial challenges faced by local authorities as a result of the year-on-year funding cuts by Central Government, which had coincided with increasing demand for services and a growing population. The Council had chosen in 2014 to take a bold and ambitious approach in response to those challenges, focussing on investing in services, maximising economic growth and transforming the way the Council was run by pursuing new and innovative transformation solutions to the delivery of services and as an alternative to outsourcing, ensuring that no one was left behind. He outlined examples of this innovative approach including Community Solutions, (the Service set up to work with people and families in need of early help and support to get back on track), Be First (the Council’s Regeneration Company), Reside (Council owned Affordable Landlord) and Beam (Council Energy Supplier). The Cabinet Member also referred to the proposed Capital Programme for the next four years which would see over £740m of investment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services introduced the Council’s proposed budget framework for 2019/20 which incorporated the following:

·  the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2019/20 to 2020/21;

·  the General Fund budget for 2019/20;

·  the level of Council Tax for 2019/20;

·  the draft Capital Programme for 2019/20 to 2022/23;

·  an update on the Dedicated Schools Grant and Local Funding Formula for Schools; and

·  the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy to support the Council’s transformation agenda.

The Cabinet Member referred to the unprecedented financial challenges faced by local authorities as a result of the year-on-year funding cuts by Central Government, which had coincided with increasing demand for services.  The Council had chosen to take a bold and ambitious approach in response to those challenges, focussing on investing in services, maximising economic growth and transforming the way the Council was run.  In that respect, the Cabinet Member referred to the proposed Capital Programme for the next four years which would see over £740m of investment in the Borough.

With regard to revenue funding, the Cabinet Member explained that the abolition by the Government of the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) system meant that the Council’s main source of revenue funding now came from business rates, which was lower than the funding received under the former RSG.  As a consequence, a 2.99% increase to the level of Council Tax that applied to Council services was proposed which would raise an additional £1.974m, of which £0.6m would be specifically ring-fenced for Care and Support services.  The Cabinet Member commented on the 2019/20 budget consultation that had taken place between November 2018 - January 2019, which included several face-to-face events with the local community, and the key projects, issues and risks associated with Council services in the years ahead.

The Cabinet Member also referred to the statutory Chief Finance Officer’s statement regarding the robustness of the overall Budget proposals for 2019/20 and the paper appended to the report setting out the potential local implications relating to Brexit.

In respect of schools’ funding for 2019/20, the Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement elaborated on changes required to the funding formula approved by the Cabinet under Minute 62 (11 December 2018) as a consequence of the recent announcement by the Department for Education of the final funding allocations.

The Cabinet resolved to recommend the Assembly to:

(i)  Approve a base revenue budget for 2019/20 of £148.820m, as detailed in Appendix A to the report;

(ii)  Approve the adjusted Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) position for 2019/20 to 2020/21 allowing for other known pressures and risks at the current time, as detailed in Appendix B to the report, including the additional cost of borrowing to accommodate the capital costs associated with the implementation of the MTFS;

(iii)  Delegate authority to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services, to finalise any contribution required to or from reserves in respect of the 2019/20 budget,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89