Issue - meetings

That (A) the Executive agreed, as guidance to officers, that the budget proposals should be based on the base case presented in paragraph 1.4; with a Council Tax increase of 2.98%, contract inflation of 2.5%, no inflation in any other goods and services budgets and that the provision for the national pay award will be 3%; and

(B)    the revised savings requirements of £2m in 2025/26, rising to £2.5m in 2027/28, be noted.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability presented the report. He said that the report set out the savings requirements for the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2025 to 2035, the assumptions included in the 2025 to 2026 budget and the risks and uncertainties facing the council in setting the budget and the timetable for the budget setting process.

The Executive Member said that the 2024 to 2034 MTFP approved at council on 28 February 2024, had included a savings target of £5.6m for 2025/26 and £4.2m of savings had been agreed, with a further £1.4m to be identified.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that subsequently, the quarter 1 forecast had identified further ongoing budget pressures of £0.55m, taking the additional savings requirement for 2025 to 2026 to almost £2m. He said that a number of assumptions had been made regarding council tax increases, government support and inflation.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that 3 models had been created, the base case, the optimistic case, and the pessimistic case. He said that the proposal was that the base case was the model to be used for the budget setting process, as this reflected the outcomes that were most likely at the moment.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that the details of these assumptions were set out in the report, and the Executive was referred to Appendix A for the base case MTFP, and to Appendix B for the outcome for the optimistic case.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability referred to many uncertainties ahead and these were outlined in the report. He expected clarity on a number of these to emerge in the course of the next 3 months, and he said that there was much work to do to bring the council finances back to a sustainable level. He said that realistic assumptions had been made about finding internal solutions due to no firm indications of support from the new government.

Councillor Brittain proposed that the recommendations in the report be supported. Councillor Dumont seconded the proposal.

Councillor McAndrew referred to a number of high-profile projects that had greatly benefited residents. He said that with much of the groundwork already established, the time had come to consider a shared chief executive officer (CEO) rather than filling the position with a full-time appointment. He said that there were opportunities for significant savings, especially given the current financial constraints.

Councillor McAndrew mentioned aged debtors and referred to the £2m that needed to be found in respect of the 2025/26 budget. He said that 40 to 50% of £1.8m was a substantial amount of money and would this be realised and ensure that the budget deficit was reduced accordingly.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that there were plans to reduce aged debtors. He said that this would be a one-off saving which would be incorporated into the savings proposals for 2025/26.

Councillor Estop asked about the £50k regarding the reduced grounds maintenance specification. She said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5