Decision details

a)   Agree, as guidance to officers, that the budget proposals should be based on a Council Tax increase of £5, contract inflation up to 4%, no inflation in other goods and services budgets and that the provision for the national pay award will be up to 3% (effectively 2.75% as 0.25% of the pay provision this year will be carried forward as a result of the 1.75% final pay offer from the employer’s side);

b)   Note the comprehensive spending review savings to be implemented in 2022/23 and 2023/24 as agreed by Council in March 2021 and acknowledge the requirement of Council that compensating savings, delivered to the same timescales, have to be put in place and reported to the next Council meeting should the Executive decide that any savings proposals should not proceed, or are reduced by 10% or more;

c)    Welcome the Collection Fund updated estimate that the Business Rates deficit being spread over 3 years will be met in full by changes to the appeals provision removing a £0.900 million pressure on the General Fund and the forecast increase in Local Council Tax Support cases has not materialised and the Council Tax Base is now forecast to increase in future years;

d)   Note the assumption that the Transforming East Herts Programme will not start to result in revenue savings until the latter half of 2022/23 and into 2023/24

e)    Agree: the re-phasing of the capital programme and revenue impacts of capital financing; that existing minor projects should be subject to a full value for money test before proceeding; and that no new projects may come forward for the capital programme unless they are able to cover the capital financing costs in full or mitigate significant increases in revenue costs;

f)     Note the revised savings requirements of £0.967 million in 2022/23, £1.520 million in 2023/24 – 2025/26 rising to £1.901million in 2026/27; and

g)    Agree that all service areas should review fees and charges and ensure that, where the council has discretion to set the charge, that charges should be set so as to: recover full costs; concessions should be explicitly linked to an Equalities Impact Assessment; and that services which are not currently charged for the introduction of a charge should be considered unless the service is provided generally under a statutory provision.