Discussion:
The Chief Finance Officer introduced the report advising that the budget deficit had increased from £19.5 million to £23.5 million. Paragraph 8 of the report (page 70 of the agenda) highlighted budget pressures with the following paragraph detailing what the council proposed to do to meet the funding gap. The committee was reminded that it had requested further information on the ward improvement fund and this was detailed in paragraph 9.10 of the report.
The committee agreed not to discuss this report as it did not contain specific information on how the £23.5 million funding gap was to be met. Members discussed the ward improvement fund and stated that they did not want to recommend the deletion of the fund from the budget.
Decision:
The committee agreed to forward to Cabinet that it recognised the value of the Ward Improvement Fund within the council’s budget.