RESOLVED:
That Cabinet:
1. Approves the revised formulation of the 2023/24 original budget in accordance with the new Portfolio structure (as laid out in Section 2.2 of the report);
2. Notes the latest budget forecasts of the General Fund (section 5 of the report), Capital (section 6 of the report), and HRA (section 7 of the report); and
3. Notes the impact that the anticipated pay award is forecast to have on the Council’s budgets, and the need to identify mitigating actions to address these additional costs.
REASONS FOR DECISION:
As set out in the report.
KEY DECISION:
Yes.
PORTFOLIO:
Finance and Corporate/All.
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED/REJECTED:
As set out in the report.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:
None.
DISCUSSION:
The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Corporate praised the revised budget for 23/24 following the new Portfolio structure, acknowledging the work undertaken in managing the Council’s finance and the delivery of a £100,000 net gain for the year. Cabinet noted that a Central Government cap on any increase in the precept remains in place at 3% for 2023/24 and 2024/25, and 2% thereafter, against a background of a Consumer Price Index (CPI) rise for twelve months to July 2023 of 6.8%.
The Strategic Director of Corporate Finances, S151 and Transformation explained that in the main the report dealt with budgets being brought forward from the previous year, as is typical in the first monitoring report of the year. He also explained, as per the Pay Award in section 4 of the report, final figures had not yet been quantified. It was hoped that the respective Trade Unions would agree a position soon and that a subsequent report would explain how this increase in costs would be mitigated by the Council. It was also anticipated that the General Fund would see an additional recycling glass income of £100,000 due to an increase in price per tonne.