Deputy Leader of the Council & Cabinet Member for Finance

To review the council’s approach to balancing the budget and:

i)               note the draft revenue budget for 2024/25 included in this report, which shows a preliminary balanced position.

ii)              note the proposed capital budget for 2024/25 and revised Medium Term Financial Plan to 2028/29 set out respectively in Appendices A and B.

iii)             consider the proposed budget pressures and savings / transformation / income proposals set out in Appendices C and D;

iv)             note the Equality Impacts Assessments shared at Appendix E; and

v)              agree to commence public consultation on the draft 2024-25 budget, including proposals to increase Council Tax by the maximum allowed by Government.  The consultation is expected to run from 14th December 2023 to 22nd January 2024.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report, reviewed the council’s approach to balancing the budget and:

i)               noted the draft revenue budget for 2024/25 included in the report, which showed a preliminary balanced position.

ii)              noted the proposed capital budget for 2024/25 and revised Medium Term Financial Plan to 2028/29 set out respectively in Appendices A and B.

iii)             considered the proposed budget pressures and savings / transformation / income proposals set out in Appendices C and D;

iv)             noted the Equality Impacts Assessments shared at Appendix E; and

v)              agreed to commence public consultation on the draft 2024-25 budget, including proposals to increase Council Tax by the maximum allowed by Government. The consultation was expected to run from 14th December 2023 to 22nd January 2024.

Councillors Hill & Bermange re-entered the room and rejoined the meeting.

Councillor Jones introduced the report to Cabinet and stated that it contained the details of the draft budget for 2024/25 and asked for approval of the document to gout to public consultation ahead of the final budget setting in February 2024. According to the local Government association almost one in five Council Leaders and Chief Executives in England, that completed a recent survey, believed that it was very or fairly likely that their Chief Finance Officer would need to issue a Section 114 notice in the current year or next due to a lack of funding to keep key services running. This had proved to be even more challenging due to not having a realistic baseline as the inherited budget set for 23/24 had proven to be non-realistic and undeliverable almost immediately. The draft budget before Cabinet, not only had to balance for the financial year 24/25, but also close a budget gap of £6 million, which was caused by the deficiencies of the budget approved in February 2023, that had left the Council with an unbudgeted overspend of over £7 million.

Councillor Jones said that due to historic financial decisions, the Council had a much lower level of funding than comparable Councils. Currently, the amount RBWM received in Council tax for a Band D property was on average between £413 and £698 lower than other neighbouring Councils. The report and accompanying appendices set out the Councils proposed Revenue budget, Capital budget, medium term Financial Plan & Growth and Efficiencies tables. It was clear from the revenue budget, that forecast costs relating to adult services had increased by £5 million, Children’s services by £2.6 million and the borrowing and MRP costs of servicing the circa £200 million debt had increased by £4 million to £13 million. A vitally important way to address the shortfall was to propose an increase in fees and charges, which was a tough decision to make and one that officers, and the Cabinet did not take lightly.

Councillor Jones then provided Cabinet with a breakdown of each inclusion within the appendices and outlined above. She then outlined the Council’s aims to achieve financial stability and was required to do this. These were:

•                Using technology across services including road repairs.

•                Bringing statutory services back in-house to the Council.

•                Investing more in early Intervention and prevention.

•                Investment in procurement and contract management to ensure best value for money and better outcomes.

•                Exploring new commercial opportunities for income from events, advertising, and sponsorship.

•                Investigating opportunities to develop Council owned accommodation and facilities to reduce reliance on high-cost providers.

•                Make better use of Council assets.

•                Securing investment and growth in our economy.

She concluded by putting on record her thanks to Elizabeth Griffiths, Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, and her team for their hard work over the last three months. The budget would go through public consultation, the 3 Overview  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7