Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

Cabinet have recommended a budget for 2024/25 to Council for their consideration and approval.  

RESOLVED: That Council:

(1)   Noted the position on the Collection Fund and how it will be funded.

(2)   Noted the position relating to the General Fund balance and that due to the risks identified a minimum balance of £2.46 million is recommended.

(3)   Noted the net revenue savings that are likely to be required in future years, combined with the Chief Finance Officer’s section 25 report (Appendix D) which provides a commentary on the risks and reliability of estimates contained in the budget.

(4)   Approved the revenue savings and investments as detailed in Appendix B with the additional investments in 24/25 only of £25k for Area Forum grants and £10k for additional bee corridors.

(5)   Approved a net expenditure budget of £19.933m, as detailed in Appendix C adjusted to reflect the additional investments in 24/25 totalling £35k.

(6)   Approved a Council Tax increase of 2.99%, which is in line with the provisions in the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: To ensure that all relevant factors are considered in arriving at a budget and Council Tax level for 2024/25. To ensure that the budget is aligned to Council priorities for 2024/25 as set out in the Council Plan.

Recording – 1 hour 9 minutes 30 seconds

The Chair invited Councillor Elizabeth Dennis, as Leader of the Council, to introduce the item and present the referral from the Cabinet.  Councillor Ian Albert, Executive Member for Finance and IT was then invited to present the report and at the same time it was noted that Councillor Albert had been granted permission to speak for longer than five minutes on this item to deliver the budget speech.

During the introductory speech by the Leader of the Council, Members were advised that:

·       The Council had a statutory duty to set the budget for the forthcoming year including a prudent use of reserves over the next few years.

·       In September 2021 a vision was set for the Council and the district which was deliberately a medium-term plan and the priorities for the Council had not changed.

·       The Council would be required to make £2.7 million savings each year by 2028/29.

·       The funding received by the Council from the government was insufficient.

The Executive Member for Finance and IT presented the Revenue Budget to Members, and advised that:

·       The Council was required to set a balanced budget which would mean including some of the general fund reserves over the next few years.

·       The general fund reserves were currently above the minimum balance of £2.46 million recommended by the Section 151 Officer.

·       The spending power in 2024/25 was 9.5% higher than in 2015/2016 in cash terms.

·       The Council had been awarded £7.7 million of funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme bid.

·       There would be a one-off expenditure in 2024/25 in respect of the introduction of bee corridors across towns in the district.

·       Further to the submitted report, the recommendations were being amended to include a one-off increase to the Area Forum grants budgets of £25k in 2024/25 and £10k for additional bee corridors.

·       Each Area Forum would receive an additional grant for one year of £5k.

·       The Council was required to find £2.7 million of annual savings or additional income within the next five years.

In response to a question from Councillor Ralph Muncer, the Service Director – Resources advised that the change to the figures quoted in the Cabinet report to those included within the Council report, were to reflect the changes in the energy costs of the leisure centres.  The subsequent change to figures within the Council report reflected the installation of the bee corridors (£10k) and additional Area Forum grants (£25k).

The following Members took part in the debate:

·       Councillor Terry Hone

·       Councillor David Levett

·       Councillor Steve Jarvis

·       Councillor Daniel Allen

·       Councillor Alistair Willoughby

·       Councillor Adam Compton

·       Councillor Ruth Brown

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

·       Councillor Matt Barnes

·       Councillor Elizabeth Dennis

·       Councillor Nigel Mason

·       Councillor Tom Plater

·       Councillor Sean Prendergast

Points raised in the debate included:

·       The Council would need to look across the whole range of services it provided to see where changes could be made over the four year period without a reduction in the level of service.

·       In future  ...  view the full minutes text for item 270