Issue - meetings

Revenue Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2021/22

 

 

Meeting: 09/02/2022 - Cabinet (Item 234)

234 GENERAL FUND REVENUE BUDGET 2021/22 AND MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL STRATEGY 2022/23 TO 2025/26 pdf icon PDF 497 KB

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance, Finance and Resource to submit a report on the Revenue Budget for 2021/22 including the proposed level of council tax for borough council purposes and the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2022/26.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Cabinet:

 

1)    NOTED the year end forecast and financial position for the General Fund and Special Expenses for 2021/22.

 

2)    RECOMMENDED to Council:

a)    The proposals for General Expenses and Special Expenses Melton Mowbray as set out in Appendix B (i) and (ii) and summarised in section 4.5 of the report be approved for inclusion in the 2022/23 budget resulting in the estimates set out in Appendix C;

b)    The revenue budget for 2022/23 for General and Special Expenses, as set out in Appendix C, be approved resulting in an overall council tax increase of £5, the individual council tax levels being as set out in paragraph 4.5 of the report;

c)     Any surplus against the target working balance on General Expenses at 31 March 2022 is transferred to the General Expenses Working Balance and any shortfall is made up from the Corporate Priorities Reserve and for Special Expenses Melton Mowbray any surplus/deficit be transferred to/from the Special Expenses Reserve thereby bringing the actual Special Expenses Melton Mowbray Working Balance back to the target;

d)    Members note the changes made to the risk categorisation of budgets as set out in paragraph 4.6.2 of the report and Appendix E;

e)    That a new General Property Repair Fund be established using the residual balance on the Waterfield Leisure Centre Income Smoothing Reserve with delegation provided to the Director for Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Director for Corporate Services to access the reserve to meet unexpected repairs and maintenance needs that arise during the year that cannot be met from existing revenue budgets.

Minutes:

The Director for Corporate Services introduced the report. It was noted that the Council’s finances continue to be challenging due to the impact Covid has had upon income. Members were also informed that any surplus at year end on general expenses would be added to the General Expense Working Balance.

 

Cabinet was informed that due to finalised financial settlement there was no longer a requirement for a recommendation to delegate authority to Director for Corporate Services to make necessary amendments, this was because the budget had already been adjusted to take the final financial settlement into account.

 

In moving the recommendations, the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance, Finance and Resources reminded the Cabinet that 2021/22 had been challenging and that the confirmed financial settlement is welcome. The future for the Council’s finances remain uncertain and the Council need to be ready to respond to ensure any reductions in central government funding has minimal effect upon the core services of the Council.

 

The Leader congratulated all involved in the preparation of the budget and recognised the year round hard work that Officers do towards it.

 

Cabinet:

 

1)    NOTED the year end forecast and financial position for the General Fund and Special Expenses for 2021/22.

2)    RECOMMENDED to Council that:

a)    The proposals for General Expenses and Special Expenses Melton Mowbray as set out in Appendix B (i) and (ii) and summarised in section 4.5 of the report be approved for inclusion in the 2022/23 budget resulting in the estimates set out in Appendix C;

b)    The revenue budget for 2022/23 for General and Special Expenses, as set out in Appendix C, be approved resulting in an overall council tax increase of £5, the individual council tax levels being as set out in paragraph 4.5 of the report;

c)     Any surplus against the target working balance on General Expenses at 31 March 2022 is transferred to the General Expenses Working Balance and any shortfall is made up from the Corporate Priorities Reserve and for Special Expenses Melton Mowbray any surplus/deficit be transferred to/from the Special Expenses Reserve thereby bringing the actual Special Expenses Melton Mowbray Working Balance back to the target;

d)    Members note the changes made to the risk categorisation of budgets as set out in paragraph 4.6.2 of the report and Appendix E;

e)    That a new General Property Repair Fund be established using the residual balance on the Waterfield Leisure Centre Income Smoothing Reserve with delegation provided to the Director for Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Director for Corporate Services to access the reserve to meet unexpected repairs and maintenance needs that arise during the year that cannot be met from existing revenue budgets.

 

Reasons for the recommendations

The Council, having set a Budget at the start of the financial year, needs to ensure the delivery of this Budget is achieved. Consequently, there is a requirement to regularly monitor progress so corrective action can be taken when required, which is enhanced with the regular reporting of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 234

Meeting: 09/02/2021 - Cabinet (Item 155)

155 GENERAL FUND REVENUE BUDGET 2021-22 AND MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL STRATEGY 2021/22-2024/25 pdf icon PDF 294 KB

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Resources to submit a report on the Revenue Budget for 2020/21 including the proposed level of council tax for borough council purposes and the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2021/25.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Cabinet

 

1)    NOTED the year end forecast and financial position for the General Fund and Special Expenses for 2020/21;

 

2)    DELEGATED authority to the Director for Corporate Services to make any amendments necessary to the estimates prior to their submission to Council for approval, as a result of changes to the final finance settlement over the provisional and as a result of the final NNDR 1 form used to calculate retained business rates;

 

3)    RECOMMENDED to Council, subject to any amendment arising from the final finance settlement that:

                     i.        The proposals for General Expenses and Special Expenses Melton Mowbray be approved for inclusion in the 2021/22 budget resulting in the estimates;

                    ii.        Delegated authority be given to the Director for Corporate Services to release the funding for the growth items for town centre improvements, place survey and discretionary council tax support subject to conditions;

                   iii.        The revenue budget for 2021/22 for General and Special Expenses be approved, resulting in an overall council tax increase of £5;

                   iv.        Any increase or shortfall against the target working balance on General Expenses at 31 March 2021 be transferred to/from the Corporate Priorities Reserve and for Special Expenses Melton Mowbray any surplus/deficit be transferred to/from the Special Expenses Reserve, thereby bringing the actual balance back to the target;

                    v.        Members note the changes made to the risk categorisation of budgets.

Minutes:

Dawn Garton, Director for Corporate Services introduced the report on the Revenue Budget for 2020/21 including the proposed level of council tax for borough council purposes and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2021/25.

 

Mrs. Garton highlighted that:

 

·         Estimated year end position 2020/21 - the finances for the current year had been extremely challenging due to the impact of the pandemic but had become easier to manage as clarity had emerged over the level of Government support.  However savings had to be made, particularly in the early party of the financial year, in order to avoid a draw on reserves.  A surplus of £206k for General Expenses and £4k for Special Expenses Melton Mowbray was forecasted and this underspend provided flexibility to deal with ongoing costs and resources for Covid-19 response and recovery and support needed in key areas where additional resources may now be required to maintain momentum and also deal with any backlog of work.

·         Finance Settlement - the final settlement had been published (for debate in Parliament tomorrow) and was in line with the provisional settlement.  No changes to the estimates were required as a result. The referendum limit remained at the higher of £5 or 2% and a £5 overall increase was proposed.  The settlement saw additional resources made available to deal with the ongoing impact of Covid-19  and these were welcomed.  However, there remained much uncertainty regarding the future funding of local government, which impacted on future financial forecasts.

·         Budget 2021/22 - The proposed budget was in line with the Corporate Strategy (approved in September 2020).  Assumptions had been made concerning the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on expenditure and on income streams, when they were likely to return to pre Covid-19 levels and the level of government support.  A contingency had been set aside to accommodate unexpected Covid-19 related expenditure and lost income not contained in the budget.

 

A number of growth and savings proposals for General Expenses were proposed at paragraph 4.4.3 of the report and these were further detailed in Appendix B and incorporated into the budget and MTFS, as detailed in Appendix A.

 

The MTFS had forecast deficits for the next 3 years but these could change significantly depending on the outstanding local authority funding review.  A Financial Sustainability Programme would be initiated following the budget to consider a range of areas where efficiencies could be made or income generated in sufficient time to inform the 2022/23 budget at an early stage.

 

The reserves position had stabilised with a balanced budget being set for 2020/21 and proposed for 2021/22.  On the basis of all available information, the robustness of the estimates and the adequacy of the reserves was satisfactory.

 

Councillor Joe Orson, Leader of the Council reiterated that it had been an extremely challenging year for the Council’s finances.  The Council had made much progress since the start of the pandemic and since its first draft budget in November 2020.  Through hard work, innovative thinking, the additional support the Government had provided  ...  view the full minutes text for item 155