Agenda item

Capital and Revenue Budgets 2021/22

Minutes:

Background:

 

This report presented proposals for the capital and revenue budgets for 2021/2022. It was noted that the Cabinet had considered initial budget proposals on 17 November 2020, which had been developed in accordance with the principles set out in the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). The MTFS had identified a potential revenue shortfall of £11.710million in 2021/2022.

 

The report stated that at time of writing, there was still a deficit of £2.393 million to resolve. Options were being considered to address this prior to the Council’s budget setting meeting on 18 February 2021.

 

The report highlighted the impact of Covid-19 on the budget, with the provisional settlement confirming the principle that the Government would continue to support local authority spending and income pressures arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, as had been assumed in the MTFS and Draft Budget. The Draft Budget therefore did not reflect any Covid-19 related pressures or income since it was not possible to forecast either with any reasonable accuracy. During the development of the MTFS, a total of £13.009million of general fund Covid-19 related pressures had been identified. These were not included in the forecast gap of £11.710million but were instead reflected in a section called Risk: the Ongoing Financial Impact of Covid-19. Work was ongoing to refine these pressures and replace those reflected in the MTFS with updated forecasts.

 

The current capital programme for 2021/2022 was £443.134 million, with a further £55.523million estimated for proposed additions to the programme for the next financial year, as detailed at section 13 of the report.

 

It was noted that budget proposals had been referred to all the Overview and Scrutiny Committees for consideration. The Overview and Scrutiny Committees’ views together with the recommendations of the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee (28 January 2021) were set out for Cabinet in an addendum report.

 

The report set out the requirements under equality legislation and it was noted that an overarching Diversity Impact Assessment would be included in the budget report to Full Council on 18 February 2021.

 

Decision number:

Decision:

The Cabinet noted the recommendations from overview and scrutiny committees as summarised in Appendix 1 to the report.

 

15/2021

The Cabinet recommended to Council that the net revenue budget summarised at Appendix 2 to the report, should be set at £350.009million, and that this should be funded by a 4.994% increase in Council Tax for 2021/22 with the equivalent Band D figure at £1501.31.

 

16/2021

The Cabinet recommended to Council the capital budget proposals, as set out in Table 7 and Table 8 in the report.

 

17/2021

The Cabinet recommended to Council the fees and charges set out at Appendix 5 to the report;

 

18/2021

The Cabinet recommended to Council the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy set out at Appendix 6 to the report;

 

19/2021

The Cabinet requested the Chief Finance Officer to calculate the formal requirements under Sections 30 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 for resolution by Special Council on 18 February 2021.

 

Reasons:

 

The Constitution required that Cabinet’s budget proposals must be referred to

Council for consideration and approval. The Council is required by statute to set a budget and Council Tax Levels by 11 March each year.

Supporting documents: