Agenda item

Cabinet received a report on the revenue budget for 2023/24 and on the capital programme for Buckinghamshire Council covering the period to 2026/27. These proposals were based on the latest known funding position, service budget pressures and the key financial risks facing the Council both now and in the future. They also took account of the findings from the recent budget scrutiny inquiry.

The Council Tax Resolution report would be presented as a separate report as part of the budget to Council in February and would contain the final information from the other precepting authorities leading to the total Council Tax for the area, which Full Council would be required to approve.

The budget reflected the Councils desire to deliver it’s corporate objectives, maintain front-line services and support residents and businesses through the Cost of Living crisis. The budget had evolved and been updated during its development to reflect the changing economic environment, especially the exceptionally high levels of inflation and the increasing demand experienced within our services.

Whilst the Provisional Local Government Settlement had provided additional funding to the Council it remained insufficient to fund the level of inflation and growth forecast for 2023/24.  The Final Local Government Finance Settlement was expected to be announced in February 2023 (after the report deadline for the meeting). There were not expected to be any changes from the figures published in the Provisional Settlement which form part of these budget proposals.

Changes from the draft revenue budget were minimal and largely reflect additional Government Grant announcements.  Overall, the final revenue budget proposals include unavoidable growth of £33.3m, Inflation of £30.0m, savings of £10.1m, and income changes of £20.3m in 2023/24.  The proposed budget was built on the proposed Council Tax base and included increasing Council Tax by the Referendum threshold limits of a 2.99% increase in basic Council Tax and a 2% increase for the Adult Social Care Precept, giving a total increase of 4.99%. This was required to maintain levels of service as much as possible in the current economic climate.

The budget continued to include the use of £1.36m of General Fund in 2023/24, as originally approved as part of the Medium-Term Plan approved at Council in February 2022.

The Capital Programme was balanced across its 4 years, as many schemes spanned multiple financial years. The Council currently had borrowing headroom of £100m. It was proposed that Council delegate to Cabinet the addition of schemes to the Capital Programme which have a financially viable business case, subject to due diligence and final Cabinet approval.

RECOMMENDED to Full Council to –

(1)               Approve the Revenue Budget and Capital Programme (Appendices 1-3).

(2)               Approve the ‘Special Expenses’ budgets, precepts and associated services for Aylesbury Town, High Wycombe Town and West Wycombe Church Yard (Appendices 5 & 6).

(3)               Support the proposal to delegate to Cabinet decisions to add up to £100m to the Capital Programme, to be funded by Prudential Borrowing, subject to a robust business case being approved.

(4)               Approve the Council Tax Reduction Scheme Policy (Appendix 7).

(5)              Note that a supplementary report, the formal Council Tax Resolution, will accompany the final budget to full Council.

Cabinet received a report on the revenue budget for 2023/24 and on the capital programme for Buckinghamshire Council covering the period to 2026/27. These proposals were based on the latest known funding position, service budget pressures and the key financial risks facing the Council both now and in the future. They also took account of the findings from the recent budget scrutiny inquiry.

The Council Tax Resolution report would be presented as a separate report as part of the budget to Council in February and would contain the final information from the other precepting authorities leading to the total Council Tax for the area, which Full Council would be required to approve.

The Leader reported that the budget reflected the Council’s desire to deliver it’s corporate objectives, maintain front-line services and support residents and businesses through the Cost of Living crisis. The budget had evolved and been updated during its development to reflect the changing economic environment, especially the exceptionally high levels of inflation and the increasing demand experienced within services. Feedback from the Residents Survey had also helped shape the budget.

Whilst the Provisional Local Government Settlement had provided additional funding to the Council it remained insufficient to fund the level of inflation and growth forecast for 2023/24.  The Final Local Government Finance Settlement was expected to be announced in February 2023 (after the report deadline for the meeting). There were not expected to be any changes from the figures published in the Provisional Settlement which form part of these budget proposals. 93% of the Council’s income came from Council Tax and business rates.

Changes from the draft revenue budget were minimal and largely reflect additional Government Grant announcements.  Overall, the final revenue budget proposals include unavoidable growth of £33.3m, Inflation of £30.0m, savings of £10.1m, and income changes of £20.3m in 2023/24.  The proposed budget was built on the proposed Council Tax base and included increasing Council Tax by the Referendum threshold limits of a 2.99% increase in basic Council Tax and a 2% increase for the Adult Social Care Precept, giving a total increase of 4.99%. This was required to maintain levels of service as much as possible in the current economic climate.

The budget continued to include the use of £1.36m of General Fund in 2023/24, as originally approved as part of the Medium-Term Plan approved at Council in February 2022.

The Capital Programme was balanced across its 4 years, as many schemes spanned multiple financial years. The Council currently had borrowing headroom of £100m. It was proposed that Council delegate to Cabinet the addition of schemes to the Capital Programme which have a financially viable business case, subject to due diligence and final Cabinet approval. £143 million was being spent on school improvement, £20 million on housing and homelessness, £15 million on climate change and flooding, £20 million on waste and recycling.

The Section 151 Officer would be producing a report to Council on 22 February 2023 and was required to comment on the robustness of the estimates made for the purposes of the calculations and also the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves.

The Leader referred to current and future risks with the budget as follows:-

·       Inflation and national economic conditions which made forecasting very difficult

·       Central Government funding being diverted

·       Complexity and demand in social care and client transport

·       Increased demand for temporary accommodation

·       The sustainability of providers within the social care market and care reforms

·       The impact of the covid-19 pandemic

Each Cabinet Member in turn acknowledged that they had read and understood the risks set out in the report and the Equality Impact Assessment.

During discussion the following points were made:-

·       Reference was made to the EIA in that the draft budget proposals related to the early stages of projects and also changes to services. As individual projects were developed in detail to deliver the changes there would need to be an individual re-assessment of Equalities impacts. The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing reported that if there were any negative impacts on vulnerable people the focus of the service area would be to mitigate those impacts and any transformational work would be closely monitored.

·       The Cabinet Member for Transport reported that his service area had strong links with the Capital Programme which was being affected by high inflationary pressures. He also commented on the reactive repairs which had to be carried out mostly through the winter due to extreme weather.

·       The Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources reported that he welcomed the £100 million investment in roads but it was important that the impact on the roads of external works in Buckinghamshire due to HS2 and East-West Rail traffic should be funded by those bodies not the Council.  The Cabinet Member for Transport and the Leader reassured the Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources that constant pressure was being applied to HS2 and East-West Rail to reinstate roads where damage had been caused by their works.

·       The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services Education and Skills reported that demand was outpacing supply in her area which was a budget risk if this continued in the long term.

RECOMMENDED to Full Council to –

(1)           Approve the Revenue Budget and Capital Programme (Appendices 1-3).

(2)               Approve the ‘Special Expenses’ budgets, precepts and associated services for Aylesbury Town, High Wycombe Town and West Wycombe Church Yard (Appendices 5 & 6).

(3)               Support the proposal to delegate to Cabinet decisions to add up to £100m to the Capital Programme, to be funded by Prudential Borrowing, subject to a robust business case being approved.

(4)               Approve the Council Tax Reduction Scheme Policy (Appendix 7).

(5)           Note that a supplementary report, the formal Council Tax Resolution, will accompany the final budget to full Council.