Agenda item

Report of Executive Director (Finance and Resources) to follow

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director (Finance and Resources) presenting the draft General Fund Revenue Budget and capital investment priorities for 2023/24.

Resolved:

1. That it be noted that a detailed Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2023/24 – 2027/28 will be available for consideration in February 2023 and that the draft Medium Term Financial Forecast and estimated Earmarked Reserves Balances up to 2027/28 (Annexes 1 and 2 to Appendix 1 to the submitted report), be endorsed.

2. That the draft Section 151 Officer’s statement on the robustness of the proposed budget, the adequacy of the Council’s reserves and the Council’s Reserves Strategy (Appendix 2 to the report), be noted.

3. That the appropriation of the sums to earmarked reserves totalling £0.706M (Appendix 3 to the report), be endorsed.

4. That the appropriation of the sums from earmarked reserves totalling £1.953M (Appendix 3 to the report), be endorsed.

5. That the use of £1M from the General Fund balances to support the core 2023/24 revenue budget which will be replenished over the life of the Medium Term Financial Plan (Annex 1 to Appendix 1 to the report), be endorsed.

6. That a General Fund Budget Requirement for 2023/24 of £143.875M and Council Tax Requirement of £97.499M (Appendix 4 to the report) and any required commencement of consultation, statutory or otherwise, be endorsed.

7. That it be noted that the 2023/24 revenue budget has been prepared on the basis of using £2M from accumulated Collection Fund surpluses to support the core budget and to allow for a smoothing of the budget gap.

8. That a Council Tax increase of 4.99% for the Southend-on-Sea element of the Council Tax for 2023/24, being 2.99% for general use and 2.00% for Adult Social Care, be endorsed.

9. That it be noted that the position of the Council’s preceptors is to be determined:

· Essex Police – no indication of Council Tax position

· Essex Fire & Rescue Services – no indication of Council Tax position

· Leigh-on-Sea Town Council – proposed Band D precept decrease of 0.71%

10. That no Special Expenses be charged other than Leigh-on-Sea Town Council precept for 2023/24, be endorsed.

11. That the proposed General Fund revenue budget investment of £23.448M (Appendix 5 to the report), be endorsed.

12. That the proposed General Fund revenue budget savings and income generation initiatives for 2023/24 of £9.140M (Appendix 6a to the report), be approved.

13. That the proposed General Fund revenue cost avoidance and overspend reduction initiatives for 2023/24 of £1.628M (Appendix 6b to the report), be endorsed.

14. That the approach proposed for the development and implementation of a new transformation blueprint for the Council (Section 12) and to confirm the use of £1.5m from existing earmarked reserves over the next three years to support this programme of activity, be endorsed.

15. That the implementation of the new Adult Social Care Charging Policy from 1 April 2023 (Appendix 7 to the report), be endorsed.

16. That the proposed range of fees and charges for 2023/24 (Appendix 8 to the report), be endorsed.

17. That the Dedicated Schools Grant budget and its relevant distribution as recommended by the Education Board (Appendix 9 to the report), be endorsed.

18. That the Capital Investment Strategy for 2023/24 to 2027/28 (Appendix 10 to the report) and the Capital Investment Policy (Annex 1 to Appendix 10 to the report), be endorsed.

19. That the following be endorsed:

(i) new schemes and additions to the Capital Investment Programme for the period 2023/24 to 2027/28 totalling £16.1M (£3.6M for the General Fund and £12.5M for the Housing Revenue Account) (Appendix 11 to the report)

(ii) new schemes subject to viable business cases totalling £5.6M for the General Fund (Appendix 11 to the report).

20. That the proposed changes to the current Capital Investment Programme that were considered for approval as part of the Resourcing Better Outcomes – Financial Performance Report – Period 8 earlier on this agenda (Appendix 12 to the report), be noted.

21. That the proposed Capital Investment Programme for 2023/24 to 2027/28 of £116.0M to be delivered by the Council and £53.1M to be delivered by Subsidiary Companies, Partners and Joint Ventures (Appendix 13 to the report) of which £57.8M is supported by external funding, be endorsed.

22. That the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy for 2023/24 (Appendix 14 to the report) and the prudential indicators (Appendix 15 to the report), be endorsed.

23. That the operational boundary and authorised limits for borrowing for 2023/24 which are set at £390M and £400M respectively (Appendix 15 to the report), be endorsed.

Reasons for Recommendations:

The recommendations in this report are to comply with statutory requirements

and relevant Local Authority codes of practice and to ensure the budgets align

to and enable the delivery of the Councils ambition and desired outcomes or to enhance the Councils infrastructure.

Other Options

The Local Government Act requires billing authorities to complete and approve their budgets and set a council tax before 11 March immediately prior to the start of the financial year on 1 April.

Note: This is an Executive Function save that approval of the final budget following Cabinet on 14^th February 2023 is a Council Function

Referred direct to Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee

Cabinet Members: Cllr George/Cllr Collins