Decision details

The Council is required to set a balanced budget each year. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 requires the Council to estimate revenue expenditure and income for the forthcoming year from all sources, together with contributions from reserves, in order to determine a net budget requirement to be met by government grant, Business Rates and Council Tax.

(A)     Confirm the savings proposals, after consideration of the comments from Audit and Governance Committee, to be taken forward, subject to detailed impact assessments and accepting that some may need to be reconsidered in the light of the current pandemic;

(B)     Agree, as guidance to officers, that the budget proposals should be based on a Council Tax increase of £5, general inflation assumption of up to 1% and that the provision for the national pay award will be up to 2%;

(C)     Endorse the production of a phased capital programme over 5 years to better reflect actual phasing of delivery and more realistic revenue impacts of capital financing; and

(D)     Endorse the additional programme of work to transform the Council and place it on a financially sustainable footing as set out in paragraph 4.7.