Agenda item

To consider the developing Medium Term Financial Plan and the Council’s business model.

RECOMMENDED:

That the actions and development of the plans for options to support the Medium Term Financial Plan, as set out in Report Item 4 to the Cabinet, be supported, to include a budgeted sum of up to £250,000 to be made available to drive forward the operational business model set out in Section 6 of the Report, designed to achieve the required savings.

Cllrs Harrison, E J Heron and White disclosed non-pecuniary interests as members of Hampshire County Council, insofar as this item related to partnership working arrangements with other partner organisations.  They concluded that there were no grounds under common law to prevent them from remaining in the meeting to speak, and in the case of Cllr E J Heron, to vote.

Members were updated on developments within the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2017 onwards.

At the national level, although the Queen’s Speech in the summer had not mentioned the future of local government finance, the Fair Funding Review was continuing and, through a number of factors, had the potential to generate significant change to the funding received from the Government.  In addition, the outcome of the 2018 pay claim was yet to be determined.  The Government also maintained its commitment to balancing the budget by 2025, which the Institute for Fiscal Studies concluded would require further significant cuts in real public service spending per person.  The proportion of the forthcoming cuts to be met by local government was currently unknown.

The Medium Term Financial Plan had been developed on the assumption of a further £1.776m reduction in funding by 2022 compared to 2017/18, but there was still considerable uncertainty.  The Government’s ethos that local taxes should pay for local services shifted future increases towards Council Tax, and the Medium Term Plan assumed an increase of £5 per annum per Band D property, which would have a significant cumulative effect on local Council Taxpayers in the longer term.

The further assumptions that had been incorporated into the Medium Term Plan were set out in Section 5 of Report Item 4 to the Cabinet, with the anticipated financial position summarised as Appendix 1 to the report.

The Council’s developing Business Model, as set out in Section 6 of Report Item 4 to the Cabinet, focussed on aligning the services being provided with the Corporate Plan, a wider consideration of the best operational delivery model, maximisation of income and a move towards more efficient methods of customer interaction.  Members welcomed the intention to adopt a widely-based approach to closing the anticipated budget gap.  The Council had a long history of working successfully with partner organisations and these relationships would be further strengthened in the future.

A draft resource plan had been developed for each portfolio, as attached as Appendices 2-7 of Report Item 4 to the Cabinet.  These draft plans would be reviewed by the Budget Task and Finish Group and their recommendations would be reported to the Cabinet in due course.

The 2018/19 programme for asset maintenance and replacement was still under development, within a defined budget of £2.3 million, and would be subject to review by the Executive Management Team and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel.  This would include year 1 of a 2 year ICT investment programme focussing on frontline service delivery.

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel had made a number of comments, as set out in Section 10 of the report.

RECOMMENDED:

That the actions and development of the plans for options to support the Medium Term Financial Plan, as set out in Report Item 4 to the Cabinet, be supported, to include a budgeted sum of up to £250,000 to be made available to drive forward the operational business model set out in Section 6 of the Report, designed to achieve the required savings.