Issue - meetings

Note: In accordance with paragraph, 14.4 of Council Procedure Rules and in- line with national Regulation the budget decision will be made by way of recorded vote.

Note: The County Council is yet to formally confirm its Council Tax (meeting being held 21 February) in the event that there are any changes from the figures published within this report, the following sections of this report will be re-issued prior to the Council Meeting.

a)        the table at 3.3 of the MTFP

b)         Appendix 8 and

c)         Appendix 12

Members gave consideration to a report which presented the Executive Business Plan and the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2020/21 – 2024/25.  These documents were central to the Council’s financial and strategic planning.

The Chief Executive presented the report and in doing so placed on record his thanks to Tracey Bircumshaw and the finance team for their work in preparing the documents presented to Members.

The Executive Business Plan set out the current contextual environment at a national, regional and local level in which the Council operated and identified at a high level the deliverable outcomes over the next three years.

These outcomes were linked to the Members’ objectives as set out in the Corporate Plan 2019-2023.

The Medium Term Financial Plan set out how the Council intended to finance the Executive Business Plan and forecast over a five year period the revenue and capital financial position of the Authority.   In addition, it attempted to forecast for a ten year horizon the impact of the Council’s longer term projects.

The Budget presented to Members for 2020/21 of £14,357m was balanced with a transfer to reserves of £1.2m.

This position had been arrived at due to the one year roll over settlement which was announced in November 2019. However, with the Fairer Funding review, the Business Rate Reset, Business rate retention and the Spending Review to come in 2020, the settlement for future years was very uncertain.

The underlying assumptions for the budget could be found on page 69, section 2.3 and included 2% increase in Council Tax. It was noted this was lower than the maximum the Council could have charged, which would have been an increase of £5 equivalent to an increase of 2.35%.

The Chief Executive confirmed that the MTFP met the requirements of the regulations; the requirement for the local Authority to agree a balanced budget

for each financial year, prior to the start of that year; the requirement for the local Authority to establish the level of Council Tax for the coming year on the basis of that budget and, furthermore, met best practice (supported by CIPFA) by setting out the coming year’s budget in addition to a 5 year MTFP.

Finally the Chief Executive drew Members’ attention to his S151 Officer statement at page 74, section 2.10 on the robustness of estimates, the adequacy of reserves and the affordability of capital investments.

The Leader of the Council made the following speech in response: -

“Thank you, Chairman.

The Executive Business Plan and Medium-Term Financial Plan 2020/21 - 2024/25 are the documents that form the Council’s Budget.

As members who sit on the policy committees will know, the process of drawing together the budget is an almost never-ending task; and I would wish to record my thanks and that of colleagues on the Administration’s benches for all the officers who have played their part in the process. Thank you.

As you might expect, Chairman, the Budget documentation should contain no surprises; these have been through our  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76

Members considered the Draft Executive Business Plan and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2020/21 – 2024/25, which included actions to be undertaken to deliver the Corporate Plan over the next 3 years.

The MTFP aimed to set a robust overall framework for the Authority’s spending plans over the next 5 years in supporting the delivery of the Corporate Plan.

The Chief Executive gave an introduction to the report, and highlighted to Members some of the current assumptions of the financial strategy.  The first of these assumptions was a 2% rise in Council Tax, with the government allowing a 3% headroom.  The second assumption was a 2% pay increase for staff; however this offer had been rejected by the unions.  Negotiations would be monitored.

Members then asked questions of officers.  Further information was provided as detailed below:

·         Neighbourhood Plans were not included in this paper as they were part of the Council’s ‘business as usual’ work.  Where there was support to revise Neighbourhood Plans in line with the local plan then parishes would be involved;

·         The interest payable on net revenue expenditure was towards the higher end of the risk scale, without being substantially high;

·         The Chief Executive and the Leader had had a meeting with Sir Edward Leigh MP; a letter would be written to him to request a visit from the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding funding.

The Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) had written to government on behalf of Greater Lincolnshire;

·         The possibility of aggregating towns together to attract more government funding was discussed; however this would not be possible as the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government would not accept this approach;

·         The Corringham Road scheme was being forward funded by WLDC to allow development to start; Lincolnshire County Council were to input into this fund in due course;

·         There was a challenge with the smaller towns in the District as it would be difficult for them to attract government funding, hence why Gainsborough would likely attract more money as it was the largest town by population in West Lindsey.

Unanimously RESOLVED to:

(1)  Recommend to Council the approval of the Draft Executive Business Plan and Medium Term Financial Plan 2020/21 to 2024/25;

(2)  Approve the use of and contributions to Reserves;

(3)  Accept the statement of the Chief Finance Officer on the Robustness of Estimates and Adequacy of Reserves;

(4)  Consider and recommend to Council the Revenue Budget 2020/21;

(5)  Consider and recommend to Council the Capital Investment Programme 2020/21 to 2024/25;

(6)  Delegate any housekeeping changes to the Draft Executive Business Plan and the Draft Medium Term Financial Plan to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Chairman of the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee prior to the final consideration by Council on 2 March 2020.