Issue - meetings

To consider the recommendations of the Corporate Policy Committee.

The Corporate Policy Committee, at its meeting on 13 February 2024, had considered a report on the Medium-Term Financial Strategy for Cheshire East Council for 2024/25 – 2027/28.

The Corporate Policy Committee had recommended to Council the recommendations set out in Appendix A to the report.

Following debate, the recommendations were put to the vote, and in accordance with legislation, a recorded vote was carried out with the following results:

FOR

Councillors L Anderson, S Bennett-Wake, J Bird, L Braithwaite, J Bratherton, M Brooks, C Browne, L Buchanan, C Bulman, A Burton, C Chapman, D Clark,  Coiley, N Cook, S Corcoran, L Crane, B Drake, D Edwardes, K Edwards, M Edwards, H Faddes, A Farrall, E Gilman, M Goldsmith, M Gorman, C Hilliard, D Jefferay, N Mannion, G Marshall, A Moran, R Moreton, C Naismith, J Place, B Puddicombe, J Rhodes, H Seddon, G Smith, John Smith, Julie Smith,
J Snowball, R Vernon, M Warren and F Wilson.

AGAINST

Councillors S Adams, R Bailey, M Beanland, D Brown, R Chadwick, J Clowes, T Dean, S Edgar, A Gage, S Gardiner, E Hall, A Harrison, G Hayes, A Heler, S Holland, T Jackson, R Kain, A Kolker, R Morris, H Moss, M Muldoon, C O’Leary, J Pearson, B Posnett, J Pratt, P Redstone, J Saunders, M Sewart, M Simon, L Smetham, L Wardlaw and J Wray.

NOT VOTING

Councillors R Fletcher, M Houston and L Smith.

The motion was declared carried with 43 votes for, 32 against and 3 not voting.

RESOLVED:    

That Council notes

1                  the Report of the Council’s Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer), contained within the MTFS Report, regarding the robustness of estimates and level of reserves held by the Council based on these budget proposals (Appendix C, Report from the Section 151 Officer).

That Council, having given due regard to the report of the Chief Finance Officer, approves:

2               the Revenue estimates for the 2024/25 budget and the medium-term Capital Programme estimates 2024-2028, as detailed in the Medium-Term Financial Strategy Report (MTFS) 2024-2028 (Appendix C to the report).

3               Band D Council Tax of £1,792.59 representing an increase of 4.99%. This is below the referendum limit (including 2% ringfenced for Adult Social Care) and arises from the provisional finance settlement (Appendix C to the report, Section 2).

4               the 2023/24 planned use of Flexible Capital Receipts is increased to £3.414m, an increase of £2.414m from the £1m approved in the 2023-27 Medium-Term Financial Strategy Report to fund transformational projects within the Council (Appendix C to the report, Section 2).

5               the 2024/25 planned use of Flexible Capital Receipts is £1.0m (Appendix C to the report, Section 10)

6               the allocation of Revenue Grant Funding for 2024/25 of £359.868m (Appendix C to the report, Annex 7), and delegates authority to the Chief Finance Officer, to approve supplementary estimates if the value of any named grant changes from the figures contained within Appendix C, Annex 7  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72

Report to follow

The committee received the report which presented the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for Cheshire East Council for the four years 2024/25 to 2027/28. The committee considered the feedback from the budget consultation and proposals recommending a balanced budget for 2024/25 to the full Council meeting on 27 February 2024.

Councillor Ken Edwards addressed the committee as a visiting member and asked the committee to consider an amendment to the proposals that stated “where a parish or town council expresses an interest in the devolution of a car park, that negotiations are undertaken according to Cheshire East devolution policy in order to protect both Cheshire East and local town and parish council interests”.

The committee acknowledged the extremely difficult financial challenges facing the local authority, particularly in relation to inflation, HS2 programme costs and DSG. Members raised concerns in relation to the inadequate council reserves. Officers confirmed that the MTFS included several proposals that had not yet been costed which could result in additional savings but highlighted that more needed to be done to recover reserves. Members requested that each proposal be worked up fully and subsequently added to the relevant committee work programme to ensure scrutiny and oversight.

RESOLVED (by majority):

That Corporate Policy Committee:

1.    Notes the year-end forecast outturn position for 2023/24 (Appendix C, Section 2).

2.    Notes the summary results of the Budget Consultation and Engagement exercise undertaken by the Council, as set out in the attached (Appendix C, Annex 2a and 2b).

3.    Notes the report of the Council’s Section 151 Officer, contained within the MTFS report, regarding the robustness of estimates and level of reserves held by the Council based on these budget proposals (Appendix C, Report from the Director of Finance and Customer Services (Chief Finance Officer).

4.    Notes the Council’s Finance Procedure Rules remain unchanged and will always apply to ensure proper approval should any changes in spending requirements be identified (Appendix C, Annex 14).

5.    Recommends to full Council the items at Appendix A.