Issue - meetings
Medium Term Financial Plan 2018 Onwards
Meeting: 06/12/2017 - Cabinet (Item 53)
53 Medium Term Financial Plan 2018 Onwards PDF 129 KB
To consider the development of the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2018 onwards.
Decision:
RESOLVED:
(a) That the emerging draft Medium Term Financial Plan 2018-2022, as set out In Report Item 9 to the Cabinet, be approved to form the basis of the Council’s 2018/19 General Fund Budget to be reported to the Cabinet in February 2018; and
(b) That initial preparatory works commence on the 2018/19 Asset Maintenance and Replacement programme, including approval of the programme budget at high level; and
RECOMMENDED:
That the schedule of fees and charges, as set out in Appendix 2 to Report Item 9 to the Cabinet, be approved to take effect from 1 January 2018.
Minutes:
The Cabinet was updated on the development of the Medium Term Financial Plan. Since the Cabinet had been last updated in October the Chancellor of the Exchequer had presented his Autumn Statement which had implications for this Council as it included fundamental changes to the operation of the business rates system, and also the suggestion that there would be a competitive bidding process for the various funds that had been announced to support housing. The Local Government Finance Settlement would be announced towards the middle of December; and would be the second year of the 4 year guarantee arrangement in terms of formula funding. The funding assumptions that had been used were set out in Section 4 of report Item 9 to the Cabinet, together with a summary of the latest projected position for 2018/19. The Cabinet was pleased to note that further savings and income additions of £441,000 had been identified since October which had resulted in a balanced budget position for 2018/19.
The financial challenges facing the Council included an identified funding gap of £1.140 million, the introduction of a grants system for statutory duties under the Homeless Reduction Act; and the roll-out of Universal Credit. The Council would respond through the actions already set out in the Medium Term Financial Plan.
The Asset Maintenance and Replacement Programme that had been supported by the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel was set out in Section 6 of the report, and had been set within the £2.3 million General Fund revenue budget, as required. The programme included the second year of the “Protect and Maintain Frontline Services” ICT fund.
A summary of the General Fund Reserves was set out in Section 7 of the report.
The Cabinet’s attention was drawn to the recommendations of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Panel with respect to the charges levied for pre-application advice and other non-statutory services under the Planning Service, as set out in Appendix 2 to Report Item 9 to the Cabinet.
RESOLVED:
(a) That the emerging draft Medium Term Financial Plan 2018-2022, as set out In Report Item 9 to the Cabinet, be approved to form the basis of the Council’s 2018/19 General Fund Budget to be reported to the Cabinet in February 2018; and
(b) That initial preparatory works commence on the 2018/19 Asset Maintenance and Replacement programme, including approval of the programme budget at high level; and
RECOMMENDED:
That the schedule of fees and charges, as set out in Appendix 2 to Report Item 9 to the Cabinet, be approved to take effect from 1 January 2018.