Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services

Cabinet Member:     Councillor Alam

Commissioner:         Ney (in advisory role)

Recommendations:

That Cabinet recommend to Council:

·         Approval of the Budget and Financial Strategy for 2018/19 as set out in the report and appendices, including the need to deliver £15.1m of budget savings and a basic Council Tax increase of 2.99%.

·         Approval that the £965k additional Council Tax income generated from 1% of this increase is earmarked for kerbside collection of plastic waste and that the final decision on the operational model for waste services be determined by Cabinet following analysis of the public responses to the consultation and related options. 

·         Approval of the Government’s proposals for the maximum Adult Social Care precept of 3% on Council Tax for 2018/19 to fund additional costs in relation to Adult Social Care Services.

·         Approval that the precept figures from South Yorkshire Police Authority, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority and the various Parish Councils within the Borough be incorporated, when known, into the recommendation to the Council on 28th February 2018.

·         That an updated Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) is brought back to Cabinet in 2018/19 after the accounts for 2017/18 have been closed. 

·         Approval of the proposed use of reserves as set out in Section 3.5, noting that there may be a variation subject to the Final Local Government Finance Settlement and that the final determination will be approved as part of reporting the outturn for 2017/18.

·         Approval that any changes resulting from the Final Local Government Finance Settlement be reflected in the Budget report to Council on 28^th February with the balance of any change being reflected in a change in the required use of reserves.

·         That it notes and accepts the comments and advice of the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services (Section 151 Officer), provided in compliance with Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003, as to the robustness of the estimates included in the Budget and the adequacy of reserves for which the Budget provides (Section 3.9).

·         That it notes the consultation feedback from the public, partners and trade unions following publication of Directorate budget savings proposals on the Council’s website for public comment from 6^th December 2017 to 4^th January 2018 (Section 5).

·         Approval that all Council Fees and Charges are increased for 2018/19 by the September CPI increase of 3% other than Fees and Charges which are determined by national statute and that lists of all proposed fees and charges for 2018/19 are submitted to Cabinet in March for approval.

·         Approval to the proposed increases in Adult Social Care Provider contracts as set out in Section 3 of the report.

·         Approval to use £200k of the Local Welfare Provision balance of grant funding to continue arrangements for Crisis Loan Support as set out in Section 3 of the report.

·         Approval to the carry forward into 2018/19 of any unspent balances of funding for the Community Leadership Fund and Delegated Ward Revenue Budgets.

·         Approval of the use of in-year Capital Receipts up to 2020/21 to maximise capitalisation opportunities arising from service reconfiguration to deliver efficiencies and improved outcomes for clients and residents, and thereby minimise the impact of costs on the revenue budget as included in the Flexible use of Capital Receipts Strategy 2018/19 (Appendix 4).

·        Approval of the proposed Capital Strategy and Capital Programme as presented in Section 3.7 and Appendices 2A to 2E, to a value of £248m for the General Fund and £177m for the HRA.  This requires prudential borrowing of £65m to fund non-HRA schemes over the five year period, for which provision has been made in the revenue budget for the associated financing costs. 

·         That the approved Capital Strategy budget be managed in line with the following key principles:

(i)            Any underspends on the existing approved Capital Programme in respect of 2017/18 be rolled forward into future years, subject to an individual review of each carry forward to be set out within the Financial Outturn 2017/18 report to Cabinet.

(ii)          In line with Financial Regulation 13.8, any successful grant applications in respect of capital projects will be added to the Council’s approved Capital Programme on an ongoing basis.  .  

(iii)         Capitalisation opportunities and capital receipts flexibilities will be maximised, with capital receipts earmarked to minimise revenue costs.

(iv)         Decisions on the financing of capital expenditure for individual capital projects are delegated to the Council’s Section 151 Officer. 

·         Approval of the Treasury Management Matters for 2018/19 as set out in Appendix 3 of this report including the Prudential Indicators, the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy, the Treasury Management Strategy and the Investment Strategy

Consideration was given to the report which proposed the Council’s Budget and Council Tax for 2018/19 based on the outcome of the Council’s Provisional Local Government Financial Settlement, budget consultation and the consideration of Directorate budget proposals through the Council’s formal Budget and Scrutiny process (Overview and Scrutiny Management Board) alongside a review of the financial planning assumptions within the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

In setting the proposed 2018/19 Budget, Council was being recommended to an increase of 2.99% in the Council’s basic Council Tax and a further 3% increase for the Adult Social Care precept; a combined increase of 5.99% for 2018/19.

This Budget focussed on continuing to protect and support Rotherham’s most vulnerable children and adults whilst trying to ensure that a wide range of services continued to be provided to all residents.  There were no new savings from Adult Social Care and a continuation of investment in Children’s Safeguarding, as approved by Council in 2017, with no savings required from Children’s Safeguarding Services. 

The Budget recognised the ongoing demand pressures on both Children’s and Adult Social Care Services, but also that to continue to spend at current levels was unaffordable in the long term.  Therefore, there was no additional base budget funding for the two services and the current demand pressures were to be managed within the Council’s overall resources until such time as the costs could be reduced to levels more representative of other authorities.

The Budget provided sufficient funding to maintain payment of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Living Wage rate for the Council’s own staff and would continue to provide funding to help to partially mitigate the impact of Welfare Reform on the most vulnerable – through the provision of a budget for food parcels and crisis loans.

The Budget included the maximum Adult Social Care Precept in order to maximise resources to directly support Adult Social Care and the maximum Council Tax increase allowable in order to minimise adverse impact on services and also to ensure that there were resources set aside to enable genuine consideration of the feedback from the public on the recent Waste Review.

The Budget also maximised the allowable flexibilities in the use of capital receipts to support the Revenue Budget.  The Capital Programme had funding allocated to allow for the continuation of annualised and essential investment and also included the addition of a small number of highways schemes plus funding for items that would make a difference to residents in terms of public realm such as improvements in pavements, CCTV cameras to deal with fly tipping and other environmental crime and the provision or larger or different public litter bins.

Feedback from both public and partners in relation to the budget proposals were also provided that were published on the Council’s website for consultation until 4th January, 2018.

The Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services as Section 151 Officer gave her assurance that the budget estimates for 2018/19 were robust overall when considered in conjunction with the budget risk contingency identified within the report and alongside the identification of the reserves which would need to be utilised if that risk should be realised.  The current spending levels in Social Care Services were not sustainable beyond 2018/19 and needed to be addressed during 2018/19 in order that the Council could maintain a sound financial position.

This assurance was, therefore, predicated on the Council securing plans and actions to ensure that a number of significant risk areas within the budget were addressed and savings delivered.

This report had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board as part of the pre-scrutiny process who were in support of the recommendations with further suggestions that equality impact assessments on budget proposals be made available to inform Council’s consideration of the Budget and Council Tax 2018/2019 at its meeting of 28th February, 2018; that further consideration be given on how improvements could be made to the consultation process to ensure that public views could be taken into account in the scrutiny of the budget proposals; that further discussions take place with the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board to discuss the budget timetable to ensure early consideration of budget proposals takes place and that the Management Board continue to have oversight of the Adult Social Care budgets.

Cabinet accepted all the suggestions made by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, but indicated the equality impact assessments would be made available as background papers and that consideration would be given on any improvements to the public consultation process and the budget timetable.

Resolved:-  (1)  That Council be asked to:-

·                Approve the Budget and Financial Strategy for 2018/19 as set out in the report and appendices, including the need to deliver £15.1m of budget savings and a basic Council Tax increase of 2.99%.

·                Approve that the £965,000 additional Council Tax income generated from 1% of the increase be earmarked for kerbside collection of plastic waste and that the final decision on the operational model for Waste Services be determined by Cabinet following analysis of the public responses to the consultation and related options.

·                Approve the Government’s proposals for the maximum Adult Social Care precept of 3% on Council Tax for 2018/19 to fund additional costs and investment in Adult Social Care Services.

·                Approve the incorporation of the precept figures from South Yorkshire Police Authority, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority and the various Parish Councils, when known.

·                Ensure an updated Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) is brought back to Cabinet in 2018/19 after the accounts for 2017/18 have been closed. 

·                Approve the proposed use of reserves as set out in Section 3.5, noting that there may be a variation subject to the Final Local Government Finance Settlement and that the final determination will be approved as part of reporting the outturn for 2017/18.

·                Approve that any changes resulting from the Final Local Government Finance Settlement be reflected in the Budget report to Council on 28^th February with the balance of any change being reflected in a change in the required use of reserves.

·                Notes and accepts the comments and advice of the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services (Section 151 Officer), provided in compliance with Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003, as to the robustness of the estimates included in the Budget and the adequacy of reserves for which the Budget provides (Section 3.9).

·                Notes the consultation feedback from the public and partners following publication of Directorate budget savings proposals on the Council’s website for public comment from 6th December 2017 to 4th January 2018 (Section 5).

·                Approve that all Council Fees and Charges be increased for 2018/19 by the September CPI increase of 3% other than Fees and Charges which were determined by national statute and that lists of all proposed Fees and Charges for 2018/19 be submitted to Cabinet in March for approval.

·                Approve the proposed increases in Adult Social Care Provider contracts as set out in Section 3 of the report.

·                Approve the use of £200,000 of the Local Welfare Provision balance of grant funding to continue arrangements for Crisis Loan Support as set out in Section 3 of the report.

·                Approve the carry forward into 2018/19 of any unspent balances of funding for the Community Leadership Fund and Delegated Ward Revenue Budgets.

·                Approve the use of in-year Capital Receipts up to 2020/21 to maximise capitalisation opportunities arising from Service reconfiguration to deliver efficiencies and improved outcomes for clients and residents, and thereby minimise the impact of costs on the Revenue Budget as included in the Flexible use of Capital Receipts Strategy 2018/19 (Appendix 5).

·                Approve the proposed Capital Strategy as presented in Section 3.7 and Appendices 2A and 2E, to a value of £248m for the General Fund and £177m for the HRA.  This required prudential borrowing of £65m to fund non-HRA schemes over the five year period, for which provision has been made in the revenue budget for the associated financing costs. 

·                Approve the management of the Capital Strategy budget in line with the following key principles:-

(i)        Any underspends on the existing approved Capital Programme in respect of 2017/18 be rolled forward into future years, subject to an individual review of each carry forward to be set out within the Financial Outturn 2017/18 report to Cabinet.

(ii)       In line with Financial Regulation 13.8, any successful grant applications in respect of capital projects will be added to the Council’s approved Capital Programme on an ongoing basis.  the Development Pool, where funding has yet to be identified.  

(iii)      Capitalisation opportunities and capital receipts flexibilities will be maximised, with capital receipts earmarked to minimise revenue costs.

(iv)     Decisions on the financing of capital expenditure for individual capital projects are delegated to the Council’s Section 151 Officer.

·                Approve the Treasury Management Matters for 2018/19 as set out in Appendix 3 of the report including the Prudential Indicators, the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy, the Treasury Management Strategy and the Investment Strategy.