Agenda item

R eport of the Director of Finance and Business Improvement - Medium Term Financial Strategy 2017/18 Onwards

Decision:

That the Committee:

 

1.  Notes the outcomes of consideration of budget proposals by the Service Committees;

2.  Agrees an updated Strategic Revenue Projection as set out in Appendix A;

3.  Agrees updated budget proposals as set out in Appendix B;

4.  Agrees the Revised Estimate for 2016/17 as set out in Appendix C for recommendation to Council;

5.  Agrees the Budget Estimate for 2017/18 as set out in Appendix C for recommendation to Council;

6.  Agrees the Capital Programme set out in Appendix D for recommendation to Council;

7.  Agrees a £4.95 increase in Council Tax for 2017/18 for recommendation to Council;

8.  Agrees the updated Medium Term Financial Strategy/ Efficiency Plan as set out in Appendix F;

9.  Recommends to Council the appropriate matters for decision to set a balanced budget for 2017/18 and the necessary level of Council Tax in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and the Localism Act 2011 including the decisions made above.

10.  Requires that the planning service review currently in progress pays particular attention to the volume of planning enforcement activity required, the associated policy, and the consequent resourcing of the planning enforcement service in the round – including staffing, legal support and direct action.

 

Minutes:

The Director of Finance and Business Improvement updated the Committee on the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2017/18 onwards. He made a presentation that covered the following key issues:

·  The Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee had been asked to reconsider the £100,000 growth commitment to the Museum, but they had chosen to keep this item in their budget;

·  The Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport Committee had requested that the £45,000 saving in their budget for Planning Policy be removed, however it was recommended that this saving remained in the budget;

·  The Communities, Housing and Environment Committee had chosen not to remove Voluntary and Community Sector Grants altogether and had instead reduced them to 25% of the previous total;

·  The Local Plan Inspector had required the council to conduct a review of the local plan in 2021 so this needed to be budgeted for;

·  The Council Tax Collection fund had been adjusted upwards since the previous estimate, and these extra funds had been added to the budget;

·  The Mote Park Café had been overspent, therefore required a contingency fund;

·  Due to all of this the savings required had increased by £300,000 from £1.5 million to £1.8 million.

 

The Committee considered the report and discussed the budget consultation that was carried out to inform the Medium Term Financial Strategy. Members of the committee were concerned that the council was allocating money to the museum when it had been relatively low on residents’ priorities when they were consulted on the budget.

 

An amendment was moved to recommendation 3, to add the following wording to the end of the recommendation:

 

except deletes the revenue growth item for the museum for 2017/18 and 2018/19. The committee agrees that a planning enforcement fund, of £50,000 for 2017/18 and a further £50,000 2018/19, is established to allow direct action should a case require escalated enforcement.’

 

However this amendment was lost and the committee instead added the additional resolution number 11.

 

RESOLVED: That the Committee

 

1.  Notes the outcomes of consideration of budget proposals by the Service

2.  Committees;

3.  Agrees an updated Strategic Revenue Projection as set out in Appendix A;

4.  Agrees updated budget proposals as set out in Appendix B;

5.  Agrees the Revised Estimate for 2016/17 as set out in Appendix C for recommendation to Council;

6.  Agrees the Budget Estimate for 2017/18 as set out in Appendix C for recommendation to Council;

7.  Agrees the Capital Programme set out in Appendix D for recommendation to Council;

8.  Agrees a £4.95 increase in Council Tax for 2017/18 for recommendation to Council;

9.  Agrees the updated Medium Term Financial Strategy/ Efficiency Plan as set out in Appendix F;

10.  Recommends to Council the appropriate matters for decision to set a balanced budget for 2017/18 and the necessary level of Council Tax in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and the Localism Act 2011 including the decisions made above.

11.  Requires that the planning service review currently in progress pays particular attention to the volume of planning enforcement activity required, the associated policy, and the consequent resourcing of the planning enforcement service in the round – including staffing, legal support and direct action.

 

 

Supporting documents: