Issue - meetings

This report seeks Council approval for the 2022/23 Budget and authorisation for work to continue on ensuring that the 2022-27 Medium Term Financial Strategy is aligned with and supports the delivery of the Council’s ambitions as set out in the Council Plan.

Councillor Peter Butlin, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Property introduced the item by thanking officers for their assistance and hard work in developing the budget.  He also thanked the budget working group for their assistance in developing the proposals. He then proceeded to set out the Conservative Group’s budget proposals as contained in the appendix to the published report. In doing so he emphasised the following points.

• The challenges presented by the pandemic and the response of the Council and residents of Warwickshire to remain true to its ambition and vision.
• The strong financial base that allowed the Council to deliver on its ambitions and make a positive and lasting impact for the benefit of the people and communities of Warwickshire.  The proposed budget continued to ensure that the Council’s finances were robust and sustainable.
• The Council’s commitment to the most vulnerable in the community, particularly highlighting investment of over £14 million to meet the growing numbers of elderly citizens and vulnerable adults who needed help and support; more than £10 million in children’s social care services to meet the costs arising from the increasing numbers of children and families needing support; and just over £13 million to support children and young people with disabilities and those with Special Educational Needs.
• Continuing to seek efficiencies to deliver better value for money to taxpayers; driving cost reductions through investment in digital, data and automation, adopting more commercial approaches and continuing to support investment that provided for buoyant business and household taxbases
• Provision for a £5 million programme over the following three years to invest in digital technology and automation.
• Investment of over £3 million over the following five years to provide targeted support for young people to improve mental health, well-being and resilience, and provide activities that distracted from crime and county lines, meaning fewer children and young people entering the criminal justice system.
• Investment of £1.5 million in the Fire and Rescue Service to develop and embed joined-up approaches to fire prevention, protection and response as well as the promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, making Warwickshire a safer place to work and live.
• Investing over £43 million in transforming Nuneaton town centre through investments in the transport infrastructure and the creation of a new library and business centre as part of a commitment to working with communities and partners to reimagine town centres and create vibrant, quality neighbourhoods.
• Investment of almost £0.5 million supporting early years providers, so that more children living in the most disadvantaged parts of the county would be school ready and could reach their potential.
• Investment of £450,000 a year to create the capacity to drive forward progress towards net zero targets for 2030 and no later than 2050 and to work with partners to plant a tree for every resident in Warwickshire.
• Provision for £120 million for investment through the Warwickshire Property and Development Group to deliver over 2,000 homes initially, 95,000 square feet of industrial space and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3

Ahead of the Council meeting to be held on 8 February 2022 this report updates Cabinet on the emerging budget and the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Cabinet Portfolio Holder – Councillor Peter Butlin

Councillor Peter Butlin (Deputy Leader of the Council) introduced the published report which provided an update on the current financial position:

• The Local Government finance settlement was broadly positive for 2022/23 and provided £5.4m more funding from Central Government had been estimated from the Comprehensive Spending Review, although nearly £2m of this funding came with new expectations and costs in Adult Social Care, so only £3.4m was available to use to balance the budget reported in December. 

·       Additionally because the settlement was only one year and the Government Department for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing had signalled that the fair funding review would be implemented for the 2023/24 settlement it was unclear what impact this would have on core grants from Government moving forward.

·       A cautious approach had been adopted, and a 25% reduction in core grants bad been assumed, meaning that only £0.2m of the £3.4m available in 2022/23 had been assumed would carry forward on an on-going basis from 2023/24 at this stage.

·       In terms of Council tax and business rates the final positions from some Districts and Boroughs were awaited. In respect of Council Tax, initial indications suggested the overall tax base had increased more than planning assumptions and there should be an overall surplus on the collection fund. 

·       The report also provided an update on reserves, which were key to managing the short-term budget position, as was the review of the general risk reserve to ensure that appropriate financial mitigations were available should any risks escalate to become real issues.

·       Since December there had also been a number of additional unavoidable spending pressures identified through the latest 2021/22 financial monitoring and issues that had emerged late in the process, totalling £0.77m.

There were no questions or comments on the report.

Resolved:

That Cabinet:

1.     Notes the latest resource and spending information and the impact on the emerging budget proposals;

2.     Notes the Strategic Director for Resources’ risk assessment on the level of general reserves, as detailed in Appendix A;

3.     Publishes, in light of the information provided, their 2022/23 budget resolutions for recommendation to Council on 8 February 2022; and

4.     Authorises the Strategic Director for Resources to incorporate the outstanding resource information into the budget resolutions to be considered by Council on 8 February 2022.