Agenda item

The Cabinet is requested to consider the agenda reportand its four appendices in the agenda supplement and to make (a) the following recommendations to the Council and (b) in addition resolutions with regard to the matters indicated:

A - RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE COUNCIL

(1)  That a net budget requirement of £12,988,300 for 2018-2019 be approved.

(2)  That Council tax is increased by £5 from £150.81 to £155.81 for a band D equivalent in 2018-2019.

(3)  That the Investment Opportunities Reserve is increased by £820,200.

(4)  That, should the final settlement differ from the provisional settlement, any increase or decrease be dealt with by adjusting the transfer to the Investment Opportunities Reserve above.

(5)  The capital programme, including the asset renewal programme (appendix 1c and 1d).

B - RESOLUTIONS BY THE CABINET

The Cabinet is recommended in the agenda report to give further consideration to and make resolutions with regard to:

(1)  The current resources position (appendix 2).

(2)  The budget variances included in the Draft Budget Spending Plan as set out in appendix 1b including growth items.

RECOMMENDED TO THE COUNCIL

(1)  That a net budget requirement of £12,988,300 for 2018-2019 be approved.

(2)  That council tax be increased by £5 from £150.81 to £155.81 for a band D equivalent in 2018-2019.

(3)  That the Investment Opportunities Reserve be increased by £820,200.

(4)  That, should the final settlement differ from the provisional settlement, any increase or decrease be dealt with by adjusting the transfer to the Investment Opportunities Reserve above.

(5)  The capital programme including the asset renewal programme (appendix 1c and 1d) be approved.

RESOLVED

That the current resources position in appendix 2 and the budget variances included in the Draft Budget Spending Plan in appendix 1b including growth items be noted.

The Cabinet received and considered the agenda report and its four appendices in the agenda supplement. The third agenda supplement gave details of an amendment to note 23 to the list of major variations on page 12 of the agenda supplement (car park fees and charges – inflation increase (additional income of £273,300)).

This item was introduced by Mr Wilding.

Mrs Belenger and Mr Cooper were in attendance for this matter.

In commending the draft spending plans and the recommendations in the report, Mr Wilding explained that this was the next stage after the Council’s approval on 23 January 2018 of CDC’s Financial Strategy and Plan 2018-2019, leading to the Council being asked to set the budget and the council tax at its next meeting on 6 March 2018.  The report focussed on the budget spending plans of each Cabinet portfolio, how they aggregated and, together with the various funding streams, underpinned the balanced budget before the Cabinet. He acknowledged the impressive collaborative effort undertaken by budget managers and CDC’s finance team and overseen by the Strategic Leadership Team whereby service delivery priorities were met within the onerous constraints on public sector financial resources. The budget would be the third year in the four-year settlement agreed by CDC and the government.  The funding sources in the financial strategy set out the best estimate for funding going forward beyond 2019-2020 (the last year of the four-year settlement).  Final details from the government of the local government annual financial settlement were awaited and so the draft budget was based on the draft settlement released on 19 December 2017. There was one variance from CDC’s earlier estimates: a slight increase in the Rural Services Delivery Grant (RSDG) of £35,000, which had brought the RSDG back to its 2017-2018 level of £152,000.  The balancing of the budget was undertaken in the context of a five-year financial strategy and some of the key variables and issues affecting that model were described in the report: income from fees, charges and rents; use of reserves; and council tax. It was firmly believed that CDC should once again take up central government’s offer of allowing a rise in council tax by £5 for band D properties (less than 10 pence per week) and equivalent increases for other property bands. This would help to offset the continued withdrawal of central government funding eg in 2018-2019 CDC would no longer receive any Revenue Support Grant. The modest council tax increase (assumed in the five-year financial strategy) would generate an extra £264,000 per year and assist in closing the budget deficit which would otherwise emerge in the medium term. In addition there was the continuing work on the deficit reduction plan which aimed to generate further income and savings amounting to £2.3m over the next five years. Those measures would help to minimise future council tax rises. 

He alluded to and summarised the following from the papers: the net revenue requirement in the income and expenditure statement; the effect any increase or decrease of the final government settlement on the amount of transfer into the Investment Opportunities Reserve; the major variances by department and service area between the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 budgets (the service efficiency savings would more than fund the growth items); the portfolio budget summaries; the Capital and Projects Programme and Asset Replacement Programme; the Statement of Reserves (which was consistent with the Financial Strategy, remained robust and healthy and showed that the Capital Programme and Asset Replacement Programme were fully funded); and the section 151 officer’s statutory report in para 14.2 of the report, in which Mr Ward advised that financial estimates were sound, the resultant estimates robust and reserves adequate.

Mrs Belenger and Mr Cooper did not wish to add to Mr Wilding’s introduction.

Mr Frost replied to a question about the correlation between the decrease in planning income (item 19) and the 20% increase in planning fees additional income (item 27) in the major variations listed on page 8 of the agenda supplement.

Mr Dignum commended this very well prepared budget, which continued CDC’s well-established practice of producing a balanced budget. 

Decision

The Cabinet supported the budget spending plans for 2018-2019 and voted unanimously on a show of hands to make the recommendations to the Council and also the resolution which are set out below. 

RECOMMENDED TO THE COUNCIL

(1)  That a net budget requirement of £12,988,300 for 2018-2019 be approved.

(2)  That council tax be increased by £5 from £150.81 to £155.81 for a band D equivalent in 2018-2019.

(3)  That the Investment Opportunities Reserve be increased by £820,200.

(4)  That, should the final settlement differ from the provisional settlement, any increase or decrease be dealt with by adjusting the transfer to the Investment Opportunities Reserve above.

(5)  The capital programme including the asset renewal programme (appendix 1c and 1d) be approved.

RESOLVED

That the current resources position in appendix 2 and the budget variances included in the Draft Budget Spending Plan in appendix 1b including growth items be noted.