Agenda item

1(a)      “Note and have due regard to the report and Statement of the Chief Finance             Officer (see section 8 of Annex A).

1(b)     Approve a Council Tax precept of £72.16 for a band D equivalent property             (equal to an increase of 9.6p per week) and the revenue budget as set out in             Appendix 1.

1(c)      Approve the capital programme as set out in Appendix 2.

1(d)     Transfer the £600k from the referendum reserve to the revenue contribution             to capital reserve.”

The report considered by the Executive Committee is attached at item 9(b)

The Lead Member for Finance and Assets, Information Security, IT and Climate Change advised Members that there was a line of text missing that should have preceded the recommendations that was erroneously omitted from the paper, which should have read “It is recommended that the Authority be recommended to:” Also, Appendices 1 and 2 had been updated following more accurate council tax and rates collection figures provided by the respective billing authorities.

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that the report presented the proposed revenue and capital Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for the financial years 2022/23 to 2026/27. The final settlement was published on 7 February 2022 and showed there was one key change this year from previous settlements, which was that the government provided the lowest charging quartile of fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) with the flexibility to increase their band D precepts by £5 in 2022/23 only, without the need to hold a referendum. This was to assist these FRAs in addressing immediate pressures and to maintain a sustainable income baseline for future years. The Authority was included within these eight FRA’s and had the option to increase the council tax precept by £5.

The Service’s most recent report (December 2021) by HMICFRS noted in its summary, “that they were encouraged by the service’s work to improve value for money, but  still have concerns about the service’s funding model as its limited reserves are being used to supplement funding of its response functions.”  If the Authority were to approve a £5 increase in precept, this would result in approximately £1.1m additional funding compared to a standard precept increase of 2%. The additional funding would predominantly be utilised to recruit additional firefighters to build its response functions.  Furthermore, the Authority would be able to increase the revenue contributions to capital which would build the reserves that were used for funding the capital programme, in the process, addressing another concern raised within the HMICFRS report.

Furthermore, an additional £822m unringfenced Services grant would be distributed to all tiers of government.  This grant was for 2022/23 only and the government would work with the sector on how they distribute this funding from 2023/24 onwards. The funding was in recognition of the range of vital services delivered by all tiers of government across the country. Published figures showed that the Authority would receive £0.355m, which had been reflected in the projections under the heading Services Grant. Council tax collection funds were adversely impacted since the start of the Pandemic, whereby the tax base reduce by 0.65% in 2021/22.  However, the latest projections show a recovery in the collection fund with a projected growth of 2.19% in the tax base.

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that uncertainty persisted regarding pensions following the ruling in December 2018 that the transitional arrangements introduced for the firefighters’ pension schemes in 2015 were discriminatory. The Executive Committee had adopted the immediate detriment framework in November 2021, and officers were currently processing claims from members who want to be treated as if they remained on their original pension scheme.  It was expected that this would increase the longer-term costs of the firefighters’ pension schemes, although it was not yet possible to quantify the impact.

The Revenue Support Grant/Business Rates for 2022/23 had been revised downwards from £8.000m to £7.826m (a decrease of £174k).  Future years forecasts had been updated to reflect this movement.  Previous figures used were taken from the provisional funding settlement which was an estimate, more accurate figures were provided when billing authorities confirmed them.

The Council Tax surplus figure for 2022/23 had been revised downwards from £257k to £222k (a decrease of £35k) as one of the billing authorities had recently confirmed their deficit which was not available at the time of producing the papers. Due to these changes, the Revenue Contribution to Capital budget had been revised downwards from £1.825m to £1.616m (a net decrease of £209k). The Net Budget requirement had therefore also decreased by £209k (from £33.689m to £33.480m).

The Chairman asked if the recent increase in inflation, would have an adverse outcome on the Authority.

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised that where officers were aware of increases, for example, utilities, it had been factored into the budget, but it would have an impact in terms of services and contracts that were being renegotiated. The Procurement team were trying to ensure that the risk was mitigated as best it could be.

The Chief Fire Officer advised Members that as they were aware, there were a lot of areas of deprivation in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes and the £5 would have quite a significant effect on some people’s budgets. Any further increases in funding should be spent appropriately and properly. There was a Members Workshop scheduled in March, and the discussion with Members would include taking a longer-term view of the increase in the precept, and the recommendations in the HMICFRS report to try to answer the question about the resilience of the model that was currently employed, but also the resilience and the longer-term view in terms of some of the property assets the Authority currently had.

Members discussed the Medium Term Financial Plan, as lobbying for an increase in the precept had been supported by all political parties and Members were in agreement that additional funding was necessary. The additional funding needed to be spent wisely, looking at resourcing, investing in front line firefighters and addressing the HMICFRS cause for concern, including allowing the Service to focus on Prevention activities. Members were keen to discuss this further at the meeting on 23 March 2022.

The debate can viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7IeYPXI9y0&t=163s (1.10.45 minutes approximately)

RESOLVED –

1(a) that the report and Statement of the Chief Finance Officer (see section 8 of Annex A) be noted.

1(b) that a Council Tax precept of £72.16 for a band D equivalent property (equal to an increase of 9.6p per week) and the revenue budget as set out in Appendix 1 be approved.

1(c) that the capital programme as set out in Appendix 2 be approved.

1(d) that £600k be transferred from the referendum reserve to the revenue contribution to capital reserve.

Details of the recorded vote for resolutions 1(a) to 1(d) are set out below: