Decision details

Cabinet:

1)    NOTED the year end forecast and financial position for the General Fund and Special Expenses for 2023/24.

2)    RECOMMENDED that Council:

2.1     Approve the revenue budget subject to any amendment arising from the final settlement for 2024/25 for General and Special Expenses, including proposed growth and savings items, as set out in Appendix A and D and summarised in section 4.5.

2.2     Approve an overall Band D council tax increase of 2.99%, with the individual Band D council tax levels across each fund set out in para 4.5.7.

2.3     Note that the Council’s employee establishment will be updated in line with any changes arising from approval of any of the growth proposals set out in Appendix A.

2.4     Approve implementation of a 100% premium for properties that have been empty and unfurnished for longer than one year and a 100% premium for second homes as set out in para 4.5.5. The premiums will be implemented from 1 April 2025.

2.5     Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Director for Corporate Services, to increase resources required to meet the needs of the resettlement scheme subject to there being sufficient grant funding to meet the revenue costs.

2.6     Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Director for Corporate Services, to access the Corporate Priorities Reserve to fund any one-off change and redundancy costs arising from the reconfiguration of the IT service provided by the Leicestershire ICT Partnership, as set out in para 4.5.6 (m).

2.7     Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Director for Corporate Services, to access the Corporate Priorities Reserve to fund any one-off costs associated with any potential future planning appeals.

2.8     Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Director for Corporate Services, to access the Corporate Priorities Reserve, to fund a permanent Environmental Programme Manager, to support the introduction of food waste collection and other environmental projects, until such time as the sufficiency or otherwise of the revenue grant funding is known and assessed.

2.9     Approve that any current year surplus/deficit on general expenses at 31 March 2024 be met by transfers to or from the Corporate Priorities Reserve, in order to maintain the working balance at its agreed level of £1m;

2.10    Approve that any current year surplus/deficit for Special Expenses Melton Mowbray at 31 March 2024, be transferred to/from the Special Expenses Reserve thereby bringing the actual working balance back to the target £50k;

2.11    Note the changes made to the risk categorisation of budgets as set out in para 4.8.1 and Appendix F.