Agenda item

To respond to budget consultation.

The Committee considered the Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2022 to 2026 as part of the budget consultation. The consultation document included proposals to update the current MTFS that was approved by Council in February 2021.

All Committees were being asked to provide feedback in relation to their financial responsibilities as identified within the Constitution and linked to the budget alignment approved by the Finance Sub-Committee in July 2021. Responses to the consultation, including those of all service committees, would be reported to the Corporate Policy Committee at its meeting on 10^th February 2022 with a view to the Committee making recommendations to Council.

Appendix 1 to the report contained the Budget Engagement document, including the survey questions that had been used during the consultation period, which closed 4^th January 2022.

The Provisional Settlement announced on 16^th December 2021 had varied the assumptions contained in the Budget Engagement document. Appendix 2 to the report, which had been circulated to members before the meeting, set out the changes announced and the impact on the estimated funding envelope.

The Executive Director of Corporate Services informed the Committee that the budget for Corporate Services remained fairly static over the four year period of the MTFS, at £36m next year, rising to £38m largely as a result of inflation. There was some growth attributable to the revenue consequences of capital expenditure on ICT and to pay inflation and increased national insurance contributions. The Executive Director briefly discussed the proposals within the consultation document that were relevant to the responsibilities of the Committee.

Members raised the following matters in relation to the consultation document:

§  Members asked whether the mitigation to address reducing levels of Dedicated Schools Grant was as up to date as it could be. The Executive Director of Corporate Services would ensure that this was addressed in the report back to the Committee in February.

§  The question was asked whether there was sufficient flexibility to allow for a smaller increase in Council tax, for instance by utilising money currently intended for the General Reserves? Officers responded that the Government had an expectation that councils would increase Council tax to achieve financial sustainability. Members would have to consider any flexibility in Council tax rises in relation to risks such as the pressure on the Adult Social Care budget and inflation.

§  The question was asked whether the Government would be moving to a deprivation-based model of assessing the needs of local authorities from 2023. The Director of Finance and Customer Services replied that this had been a feature of the fairer funding consultation that had taken place in recent years. Whilst it was not certain when any such change would take place, the Government did appear to be moving towards a deprivation-based model.

§  Concern was expressed about the energy consumption of the cloud-based platform Atamis and the green credentials of the company providing the system. The Executive Director of Corporate Services undertook to look into the matter and write to all members of the Committee.

RESOLVED

That the Committee

1.    notes the MTFS 2022 to 2026 Consultation Document (Appendix 1) and the proposals relevant to the responsibilities of the Committee as set out in the following paragraphs and on the following pages of the Consultation Document: 

1) Improving Digital Customer Experience (page 11 of the report)

2) Pay inflation (page 11)

3) National Insurance increase at 1.25% for social care funding (page 11)

4) Improved Debt Recovery and correcting budgeted court costs income targets to reflect actual levels (page 11)

5) Transactional Service Centre additional funding (page 12)

6) Vendor Management Phase 3 (page 12)

7) Unified IT Communications (page 12)

8) IT Security and Compliance (page 12)

9) IT Procurements and Application Lifecycle Management (page 12)

10) Information Assurance and Data Management Phase 3 (page 12)

11) Removal of temporary implementation budget and investment to run the new Financial System (page 14)

12) Staff Travel and related savings (page 14)

2.    notes those proposals that are rolling forward from the MTFS 2021-25 relevant to the Committee (as part of Appendix 1 (Appendix A)):

6) Mitigation of reduction in the Dedicated Schools Grant (Corporate Services) (page 33)

7) Mitigation of the year-on-year reduction in the Dedicated Schools Grant (ICT) (page 33)

13) Efficiency savings and Restructures within Corporate Services (page 33)

15) Shared services review (page 33)

21) Review of corporate subscriptions (page 33)

34) Brighter Futures Together Programme Customer Experience   (page 34)

43) Infrastructure Investment Programme (page 34)

3.    notes the impact of the local government financial settlement as provided at Appendix 2 on the MTFS Consultation Document;

4.    notes the other elements of the MTFS Consultation Document related to the responsibilities of the Committee (including WOC Business Plans, and Reserves levels); and

5.    notes that the minutes of this meeting will form the consultation response of this Committee, and along with feedback from all the other Committees, will be considered at the Committee’s next meeting on 10^th February 2022.