Agenda item - FINAL REVENUE BUDGET 2023/24

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

To consider the Final Revenue Budget 2023/24.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

That Cabinet recommends that Council:

1. Notes the position on the Collection Fund and how it will be funded.

2. Notes the position relating to the General Fund balance and that due to the risks identified a minimum balance of £2.5 million is recommended.

3. Notes the net revenue savings that are likely to be required in future years, combined with the Chief Finance Officer’s commentary on the reliability of estimates and the resilience index.

4. Approves the revenue savings and investments as detailed in Appendix B.

5. Approves a net expenditure budget of £18.123m, as detailed in Appendix C.

6. Approves a Council Tax increase of 2.99%, which is in line with the provisions in the MediumTerm Financial Strategy.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

To ensure that all relevant factors are considered in arriving at a budget and Council Tax level for 2023/24. To ensure that the budget is aligned to Council priorities for 2023/24 as set out in the Council Plan.

Audio recording- 3 minutes 48 seconds

The Chair invited Ian Couper, Service Director: Resources to present the report.

In summary the Service Director: Resources advised:

· The Council was over halfway through the budget process for the year, starting with the Medium-Term Financial Strategy in September through to Council approving a budget in February.

· That there were a few changes between the version presented at this meeting and Cabinet version of the report, primarily the addition of recommendation 2.7 to be presented to Cabinet, with regard to the additional funding for the Leisure Contract.

· Paragraph 8.7 onwards of the report looked at the finality of the outcomes of the draft local government settlement. Overall, in terms of funding, the Council were slightly better than forecasted but inflation pressures have brought the Council back to where they started.

· Whilst the Council hoped that in 2023/24 to be part of a Business Rate Pool, revaluation of Business Rates meant greater risk which resulted in all the Councils withdrawal from the Pool.

· Paragraph 8.12 detailed other grants that the Council gets, including general and specific grants. It also gave an overview on where the Council thought changes would occur and how funds and resources would be affected.

· Paragraph 8.19-8.21 detailed the minimum balance for the General Fund, including the processes that were followed.

· Allowance for General Risk in relation to percentages of the Council’s spend and income. Specific Risks were also covered in Table 5 and Appendix A which may have an impact in the coming year.

· The recommended Minimum Balance was £2.5million. The Council was not near that balance; however, this would help forecast for the coming years.

· Budget Position refresh at the end of November (month 8) is used to flag any issues in the current budget year going forward. This was detailed in Table 7.

· Paragraph 8.25 onwards detailed the Capital Budget and the Revenue impact. It was important the Revenue impact was brought forward as adjustments such as borrowing capital and borrowing internally had to be considered.

· Paragraph 8.27 detailed areas that are of interest and of concern with risks.

· Paragraph 8.35 referred to the Financial Resilience Index, with more detail in Appendix B. There were no concerns on the Index, but it was flagged for consideration.

· Paragraph 8.37 detailed cumulative impact, with more detail in Appendix C.

· In the short term, the Council was in a better position due to lower use of Reserves.

· In the medium term, the Council needed to make annual savings of £2.5million based on current forecasts by 2027/28.

· Due to this, there was the capacity to take a gradual approach in the next two years to factor in the recovery from the Cost-of-Living crisis and to get more certainty over future funding.

· In future years, significant savings will need to be identified and delivered.

Questions were asked by the following:

· Councillor Sean Nolan

· Councillor Terry Hone

· John Cannon

In response, the Service Director: Resources advised:

· There were two components to the £2.5million minimum balance. The amount for specific risks and additional funds also set aside for unknown risks.

· With any large contract there will be concerns around the price of a new tender. There are further concerns during periods of high inflation, and remaining uncertainty over government proposals in relation to waste collection.

· Areas such as Legal and Planning were struggling with recruitment. Different methods of recruiting were being tried such as welcome payments.

· No financial impact is expected in terms of current contract with SLL following the company losing the Stevenage Borough Council Leisure contract, as the open book arrangements only allowed for the direct costs of our contract to be charged.

· Reserves were being used to fund the General Fund position by £3million.

The Chair advised that this report was presented to FAR for comment before referral to Cabinet.

That Chair asked about losses to the reserves over the next financial year.

Ian Couper advised that this was detailed in Appendix C. It was forecast that in 2023/24 £750k reserves added to a potential penalty from Central Government of £1million in 2025/26 could be the losses.

Councillor Terry Tyler proposed and Councillor Terry Hone seconded, there being no debate, it was: