Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services presented the Council’s proposed budget framework for 2024/25 which incorporated the following:

·  Proposed General Fund revenue budget for 2024/25;

·  Proposed level of Council Tax for 2024/25;

·  Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2024/25 to 2026/27;

·  Draft Capital Budget for 2024/25 and revised Capital Programme 2024/25 to 2026/27;

·  Strategy for the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts 2024/25;

·  Chief Financial Officer’s Statutory Finance Report (Section 25 Statement)

The proposed General Fund net budget for 2024/25 was £221.745m, which incorporated a drawdown from reserves of £8.809m to balance the 2024/25 budget after the inclusion of £15.595m of savings and £54.129m of growth from the 2023/24 revised budget.  In order to achieve that budget, it would be necessary for the Council to increase its element of the Council Tax by 4.99%, made up of 2.99% for general spending and 2% that would be ringfenced as an adult social care precept.  The Greater London Authority element of the Council Tax would increase by 8.6%.

The Cabinet Member outlined the steps taken by the Council to achieve a balanced budget for 2024/25 in the context of high inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, increasing pressures and demand for social care services and the continued uncertainty around local government finances.  The Government’s delay in introducing Fair Funding reforms meant that Barking and Dagenham continued to be significantly disadvantaged due to its population increase and high levels of deprivation which were not being properly funded by the Government.

The Cabinet Member also highlighted a number of other important aspects within the report, which included:

·  The key principles that underpinned the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, as set out under paragraph 4.14 of the report;

·  The key financial risks for both the local government sector as a whole and those specific to Barking and Dagenham, as detailed in section 18 of the report;

·  The key implications of the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024/25, as set out under paragraph 7.7 of the report, and the continued failure of the Government to provide local authorities with any confidence to plan for the future;

·  The service budgets for 2024/25, which included details of the growth, inflation and savings to be achieved in each area, as set out under paragraph 12.1 of the report;

·  The Council’s reserves position for 2024/25, which meant that the main budget reserve would remain above the £12m minimum level previously set even after the drawdown to achieve a balanced budget for 2023/24; and

·  The outcome of the budget consultation exercise recently undertaken which reflected the local community’s acknowledgement of the need for the Council to increase Council Tax by the maximum amount allowed in order to deliver its aspirations and the priorities that were most important to residents.

In response to questions, the Cabinet Member advised that pressures on the budget were coming from across the borough impacting on all services; however, pressures were fundamentally coming from Government with a third of funding for the Council lost and the fair  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Integration introduced the Council’s proposed budget framework for 2024/25 which incorporated the following:

·  Proposed General Fund revenue budget for 2024/25;

·  Proposed level of Council Tax for 2024/25;

·  Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2024/25 to 2026/27;

·  Draft Capital Budget for 2024/25 and revised Capital Programme 2024/25 to 2026/27;

·  Strategy for the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts 2024/25;

·  Chief Financial Officer’s Statutory Finance Report (Section 25 Statement)

The proposed General Fund net budget for 2024/25 was £221.745m, which incorporated a drawdown from reserves of £8.809m to balance the 2024/25 budget after the inclusion of £15.595m of savings and £54.129m of growth from the 2023/24 revised budget.  In order to achieve that budget, it would be necessary for the Council to increase its element of the Council Tax by 4.99%, made up of 2.99% for general spending and 2% that would be ringfenced as an adult social care precept.  The Greater London Authority element of the Council Tax would increase by 8.6%.

The Cabinet Member referred to the steps taken by the Council to achieve a balanced budget for 2024/25 in the context of high inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, increasing pressures and demand for social care services and the continued uncertainty around local government finances.  The Government’s delay in introducing Fair Funding reforms meant that Barking and Dagenham continued to be significantly disadvantaged due to its population increase and high levels of deprivation which were not being properly funded by the Government.

The Cabinet Member commented specifically on the Council’s debt levels which had been highlighted in the press, primarily as a consequence of the problems being experienced at a number of other local authorities, several of whom had issued Section 114 notices in view of their inability to achieve and/or set a balanced budget.  Those local authorities had arrived at that position for various reasons, some due to poor investment decisions, yet the position at Barking and Dagenham was substantially different as its debt had arisen from sound investment decisions to achieve growth in the Borough.  Since 2016, the Council and its subsidiary, Be First, had delivered 1,465 new homes with a further 2,336 under construction and the borrowing that had been secured to deliver that investment was at low interest rates, typically below 2%, and based on a return to the Investment and Acquisition Strategy (IAS) of at least 5% in the longer term.

The Cabinet Member also highlighted a number of other important aspects within the report, which included:

·  The key principles that underpinned the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, as set out under paragraph 4.14 of the report;

·  The key financial risks for both the local government sector as a whole and those specific to Barking and Dagenham, as detailed in section 18 of the report;

·  The key implications of the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024/25, as set out under paragraph 7.7 of the report, and the continued failure of the Government to provide local authorities with any confidence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87