A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Council and councillors

Agenda item

DRAFT 2020/21 REVENUE AND CAPITAL BUDGET

KEY DECISION

03/2020

Decision:

Cabinet approved for consultation:

·         The General Fund Budget for 2020/21 detailed in Appendix 1 of the report, section 3 including savings proposals

 

·         The Directorate budgets per Appendices 4-6 of the report

 

·         An increase in Council Tax of 1.99% with a further 2% for the Adult Social Care precept

 

·         The capital programme as detailed in Section 4 of Appendix 1 of the report

 

·         The consolidation of the Insurance/Legal reserve into the earmarked “pressure reserve” with the ceiling on that reserve maintained at £1m.

 

·         The ceiling on the Extreme Weather reserve is increased from £100k to £200k

 

Cabinet noted:

·         That the funding position may change when the NNDR (business rates) tax base and local government finance settlement is finalised

 

·         That additional revenue or capital expenditure may be incurred in 2020/21 funded through 2019/20 budget under spends to be carried forward via earmarked reserves. The use of reserves for budget carry forwards is not currently shown in the budget but will have no impact on the General Fund

 

·         The estimated surplus of £126k on the Collection Fund as at 31 March 2020 (2.2 of Appendix 1 of the report) of which £108k is the Rutland share

 

·         That Council will be considering the Treasury Management Strategy and Capital Investment Strategy separately

 

·         The position on the Dedicated Schools Grant budget as per para 2.5 of the report

Minutes:

Report No.03/2020 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Councillor Brown, Portfolio Holder for Planning, Environment, Property and Finance introduced the report the purpose of which was to present a draft budget for consultation prior to the budget being formally set by Council in February 2020. 

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

·       The Government was expected to make some announcements on the fairer funding formula within the next 6-8 weeks.

·       Beyond 2021 the funding formula was not known but the picture looked challenging, particularly for Rutland’s situation. As a result RCC was proposing a maximum adult social care precept and Council tax to meet the challenges.

·       There was a demand pressure of £1.6 million where the Council had a duty to respond, for example for older people’s residential care, fostering and SEND costs. This pressure was exacerbated when more care cases were deemed to fall under Adult Social Care rather than Health.

·       Demand pressures would be offset in part by savings of c£479k.

·       External auditors and the recent Peer Challenge both felt that the Council’s budget represented very good value for money.

·       Rutland’s funding split was 80% from Council Tax revenue and 20% from Government. This was in stark contrast to other Councils whose funding split was 60/40.

·       Councillor Wilby commended the Section 151 officer and the Portfolio Holder for Finance, for their hard work on the budget.

·       Councillor Walters voiced his concerns that the Public did not realise just how unfairly funded RCC was and asked how this was being brought to their attention. Councillor Brown had produced a video for the Council’s website and for social media to explain this point. The video outlined the issue and made comparisons with the City of Westminster which was a much richer area but which still received more Government funding and therefore had lower council tax rates.

·       Mr Della Rocca was aware that a lot of myths and preconceptions existed concerning the budget and had written a list of frequently asked questions and answers, to go alongside the report on the website, to dispel some of these.

·       Councillor Stephenson felt that it was the responsibility of all Members of the Council to disseminate these simple messages and that there was need to work with communities to get these messages across.

·       If Council Tax was not raised by 2% over the next five years then there would be shortfall of c£3million which would be in addition to any Government funding reductions.

 

DECISIONS:

 

Cabinet:

1.    APPROVED for consultation:

·       The General Fund Budget for 2020/21 detailed in Appendix 1 of the report, section 3 including savings proposals.

 

·       The Directorate budgets per Appendices 4-6 of the report.

 

·       An increase in Council Tax of 1.99% with a further 2% for the Adult Social Care precept.

 

·       The capital programme as detailed in Section 4 of Appendix 1 of the report.

 

·       The consolidation of the Insurance/Legal reserve into the earmarked “pressure reserve” with the ceiling on that reserve maintained at £1m.

 

·       The ceiling on the Extreme Weather reserve is increased from £100k to £200k.

 

2.    NOTED:

·       That the funding position may change when the NNDR (business rates) tax base and local government finance settlement is finalised.

 

·       That additional revenue or capital expenditure may be incurred in 2020/21 funded through 2019/20 budget under spends to be carried forward via earmarked reserves. The use of reserves for budget carry forwards is not currently shown in the budget but will have no impact on the General Fund.

 

·       The estimated surplus of £126k on the Collection Fund as at 31 March 2020 (2.2 of Appendix 1 of the report) of which £108k is the Rutland share.

 

·       That Council will be considering the Treasury Management Strategy and Capital Investment Strategy separately.

 

·       The position on the Dedicated Schools Grant budget as per para 2.5 of the report.

 

 

Reasons for the decision

 

i.      The Council is required to set a balanced budget and agree the level of Council tax for 20/21.

 

ii.     The draft budget for consultation is affordable within the context of the MTFP and will allow the Council to meet service aims and objectives for the coming year

Supporting documents: