Issue - meetings

This report sets out the Council’s budget proposals for 2021/22 and 2022/23.  It also sets out the results of the consultation, scrutiny and equalities processes.  Subject to approval by Cabinet, these will form the basis of the budget to be agreed at the Full Council meeting of 22 February 2021.

The report also sets out the overall financial position facing the Council for the medium term and highlights the significant risks, issues and uncertainties.

NOTED

1.           The comments made by Councillor Mashari in summarising the key themes from the Budget Scrutiny Task Group report.  In introducing the Task Group report, Councillor Mashari highlighted that whilst supportive of the overall budget proposals and grateful for the support of everyone engaged in the review process, the Task Group had made a number of key recommendations which included:

·             The need to more clearly demonstrate within the budget how funding followed the democratically agreed strategic priorities for the borough;

·             The need to outline how the £1m funding allocated for implementation of the Borough Plan objectives would be spent;

·             The need to ensure a cumulative equality impact assessment of the final decisions made within the budget was undertaken reflecting the severe impact of the pandemic;

·             The need for an in depth analysis and modelling to be undertaken in order to identify the impact of the UK leaving the EU on residents, funding streams and the local economy;

·             The need to undertake a full and independent economic analysis of the borough ahead of future budget setting processes in order to better inform decisions.

The Task Group report was therefore commended to Cabinet to take account as part of the final decision making process.

2.          The comments made by a member of the public, Paul Lorber, who had also requested to speak on the budget report.  In recognising the various elements that contributed to the budget and different elements of the Council Tax, Mr Lorber was concerned to ensure there was no duplication in the way certain proposals contained within the budget were funded in order to protect residents as far as possible from the impact of any Council Tax increase.  As specific examples he referred to the proposals contained within the budget for an additional payment to staff, to pursue the London Living Wage as standard within Council contracts and to provide £1m as an additional growth pressure identified as an allowance for uncertainty.  Referring to the overall level of reserves being held by the Council, he urged the Council to consider funding these as one off funding elements from reserves rather than as an additional charge against the base budget in order to mitigate any increase in costs residents would need to cover as part of the Council’s element of the Council Tax.

Having noted the comments provided, CabinetRESOLVED:

(1)        To recommend to full Council an overall 4.99% increase in the Council’s element of Council Tax for 2021/22, with 3% as a precept for Adult Social Care and a 1.99% general increase.

(2)        To recommend to full Council the General Fund revenue budget for 2021/22, as summarised in Appendix A of the report.

(3)        To recommend to full Council the cost pressures and technical adjustments detailed in Appendix B of the report.

(4)        To recommend to full Council the budget savings proposals detailed in Appendix C of the report.

(5)        To note the report from the Budget Scrutiny Panel, as set out in Appendix D of  ...  view the full decision text for item 7

Prior to consideration of the main report Councillor M Butt, Leader of the Council, invited Councillor Mashari as Chair of the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee and Budget Scrutiny Task Group to introduce the Budget Scrutiny Task Group report, which had been included as an appendix to the Budget and Council Tax 2021/22 report.  Councillor Mashari began by advising that whilst supportive of the overall budget proposals the Budget Scrutiny Task Group had, as part of their review of the proposals, identified a number of key findings and recommendations. These included what the Task Group had considered to be a need:

·         to more clearly demonstrate within the budget how funding followed the democratically agreed strategic priorities for the borough;

·         to outline how the £1m funding allocated for implementation of the Borough Plan objectives would be spent;

·         to ensure a cumulative equality impact assessment of the final decisions made within the budget was undertaken reflecting the severe impact of the covid pandemic;

·         for an in-depth analysis and modelling to be undertaken in order to identify the impact of the UK leaving the EU on residents, funding streams and the local economy; and

·         to undertake a full and independent economic analysis of the borough ahead of future budget setting processes in order to better inform decisions.

In summing up, Councillor Mashari thanked the members and officers who had been engaged in the review process. In response, Councillor M Butt expressed his own gratitude for the hard work of members and officers in producing the report and highlighted its importance to the overall budget setting process. 

Councillor M Butt then welcomed Paul Lorber to the meeting who he advised had requested to speak on the Budget and Council Tax 2021/22 report. In addressing Cabinet, Paul Lorber recognised the various elements that contributed to the budget and in particular the different elements of Council Tax. He felt it important to ensure there was no duplication in the way certain proposals within the budget were funded in order to mitigate the impact of any Council Tax increase on residents. As specific examples, he referred to the proposals for an additional payment to staff, to pursue the London Living Wage (LLW) as standard within Council contracts and to provide £1 million as an additional growth pressure identified as an allowance for uncertainty. In reference to the overall level of reserves being held, he urged the Council to consider funding these proposals from reserves rather than as an additional charge against the base budget.

Councillor McLennan, as Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Resources then introduced the report which set out the Council’s budget proposals for 2021/22 and 2022/33. The report also set out the results of the budget consultation, scrutiny and equality processes and the overall financial position facing the Council for the medium-term.

Councillor McLennan also took the opportunity to thank all officers and members who had been involved in the budget setting process, including those members involved in the Budget Scrutiny Task Group.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7