Councillor MJ Saunders to present the 2018/19 Budget to the Conference.

Councillor MJ Saunders, Lead Member for Finance, gave a brief overview of the proposed RBWM budget for the next year which was due to go to Council for approval on the following Tuesday.

The points covered by Councillor Saunders included:

·         There was a 1.95% increase proposed in base Council Tax, less than the 2.99% at most Councils, representing £17.85 on a Band D home, plus the 3% Adult Social Care Levy being adopted by Councils, representing £28.85 on a Band D home.

·         RBWM would remain the lowest Council Tax outside London.

·         This would raise £68.2m (up from £64.1m this year and £60.8m last year) which the Council Officer Leadership Team and Cabinet believe were needed next year to protect and enhance all of our day-to-day services.

·         This did not use any of our funding reserves and was forecast to leave them at £7.1m, £1.2m higher than the £5.9m minimum required.

·         RBWM were allowing for £0.8m of inflation, a £7.6m net reduction in income from Government Grants and Business Rates, £1.5m growth in adult and children’s social care services, £4.4m of savings through efficiencies in our procurement and our partnerships with other Councils and suppliers and £1.5m additional income from non-Resident parking charges.

·         The £85.2m gross budget next year on Children’s and Adult Care and Health and Housing Support is £5.4m larger than this year, responding to the rising demand from younger, older and homeless people requiring care and support from RBWM.

·         Some key decisions were highlighted which may be of particular relevance to the Parishes :

Ø  Securing and exploring how best to enhance our 18 community wardens offering a local and reassuring presence around the Borough;

Ø  Supporting our 17 local libraries and containers and their extended hours and our mobile library services and looking to enhance them all further as one of the easiest local doorways into Council services and support;

Ø  Maintaining our 10 Children’s Centres for easy access to support for families and young people;

Ø  Continuing into next year the Parish Council top-up grants totalling £63k noting in recent years :

§ Bisham, Bray, Cox Green, Hurley, Old Windsor, Sunningdale and Wraysbury have tended to set precepts which decrease their reliance on this top-up grant.

§ While Cookham, Datchet, Eton, Horton, Sunninghill & Ascot and Waltham St Lawrence have tended to set precepts which increase their reliance on this charge which is funded across all RBWM Council Tax payers.

·         Heading into the following year 2019/20, we were also currently projecting a balanced budget with a 1.95% increase in Base Council Tax, no further Adult Social Care Levy, no additional savings and no use of reserves, provided that £2.1m of Negative Revenue Support Grant was not taken from us by Government next year.

·         Negative RSG is a legacy from the past where more prosperous areas lost income so it could be redistributed to less prosperous areas, and the Government announced last week it is looking to remove this unfair cost to areas like ours.

·         At the end of this year, the Council expects to be borrowing £79m which is £22m higher than the long term debt of £57m inherited by the current administration when it came into office in 2007.

·         Our capital plans for 2018/19 will increase this year by £63m enabling us to invest in critical infrastructure essential to the Borough Local Plan and the Regeneration of Maidenhead including:

Ø  £6m on general infrastructure, including roads;

Ø  £14.5m more in the ongoing schools expansion programme;

Ø  £12.5m more on parking and transport capacity in Maidenhead;

Ø  £15.8m on the Braywick Leisure Centre;

Ø  £1.3m to fully upgrade the scope and capability of our CCTV network around the Borough;

Ø  £3m on completing the enhancement to the utility and value of York House in Windsor;

Ø  and £10m to acquire Maidenhead properties which will enhance the substantial Council receipts from the Regeneration, which are projected to enable the Council to be debt free within 10 years.

Points raised by the Conference included:

·         The borough would not have large amounts of CIL to invest. The borough local plan had been submitted. A CIL regime will link to this and be adapted as necessary.

·         Where would the interest on capital borrowing be accounted for? The interest would be in the revenue account, and would be at very competitive interest rates.

·         What risk mitigation was in place? The total borrowing would be £350M, this would be paid for by virtue of all of the developments. As the programme progress, capital receipts would be generated and the programme adjusted accordingly to reflect the available receipts.

·         How do parish councils find out about how much it is using of the revenue. Invite Councillor Saunders and he would be able to advise. All parish councils should have an improved understanding of the £63K support.