Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Finance which provided Cabinet with the budget reduction requirement and the Administration’s budget proposals for 2023/24 and a forecast of the 2024/25 position having regard to the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement (PLGFS) published on 19 December 2022. The report also presented the financial forecasts for the remainder of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) period 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28.

A version of the Revenue Budget 2023/24 and 2024/25 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2023/24 to 2027/28 was presented to the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee (POSC) on 26 January 2023. The Committee scrutinised the report and the other reports on the agenda that form a core part of the Council’s strategic financial planning framework.

This report included the latest financial information and updates the financial position presented to and approved by Cabinet on 12 December 2022 using information from the PLGFS published on 19 December 2022 and the month 8 financial monitoring forecasts. It also provides a commentary on the changes from the position presented to the POSC on 26 January 2023.

The changes compared to the POSC report relate primarily to the recalculation of the Business Rates Tax Base and Grant in Lieu of Business Rates as a result of the submission to Government of a statutory return, the NNDR1.

Section 1 presented an introduction to the report and explained the report format.

Section 2 set out the key Council Policies and Strategies including the Co-operative Council Values, Corporate Plan, Constitution and Rules of Procedure, as the framework within which the Budget has been prepared.

Section 3 presented the Local Government Finance developments which had an impact on 2023/24 and future years budgets. It also highlighted the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Financial Resilience Index, the CIPFA Financial Management Code and a commentary on financial resilience, all of which were of importance when considering the Council’s financial standing in the context of budget setting for 2023/24 and future years.

Section 4 presented the Local Government Finance Policy Statement 2023/24 and 2024/25 which set out the Government’s intentions to assist financial planning for Councils. It confirmed the PLGFS for both 2023/24 and 2024/25 would be single year Settlements and that reforms to redistribute funds such as the Review of Relative Needs and Resources (Fair Funding Review) would not progress until 2025/26 at the earliest.

Section 5 detailed the impact of the 2023/24 PLGFS which was the fifth consecutive one-year Settlement. This included key information in relation to overall funding levels, Council Tax referendum limits and grants for 2023/24.

Section 6 presented the 2022/23 revised budget and year end forecasts. The starting point for preparing the 2023/24 revenue budget estimates was the underlying base budget of £250.517m. The 2022/23 revenue budget forecast outturn position highlighted a current unfavourable projected variance for 2022/23 of £2.233m but the commentary advised that this may be improved by the continuation of management action to control expenditure in year. The month 6  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8