Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/117

Contact: Hannah Doney, Head of Corporate Finance Tel: 07584 174654

 

Report by Director of Finance (CA7). REPORT TO FOLLOW

 

This report is the culmination of the Budget & Business Planning process for 2021/22 to 2025/26 and sets out the Cabinet’s proposed Corporate Plan and supporting budget, medium term financial strategy, capital programme and supporting strategies.

 

The report is set out in three sections; the Corporate Plan; the revenue budget including the draft council tax precept for 2021/22 and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) to 2025/26; and the Capital & Investment Strategy and Capital Programme including the Treasury Management Strategy.  Information outstanding at the time of the Cabinet meeting will be reported to Council when it considers the budget on 9 February 2021.

 

Cabinet’s budget proposals take into consideration the latest information on the council’s financial position outlined in this report; comments from the Performance Scrutiny Committee meeting on 18 December 2020 as well as 14 January 2021; and comments from the public consultation on the budget which closes on Wednesday13 February. The report will therefore be published on Friday 15 February.

 

As final notification of some funding streams is awaited, some further changes may be made to the budget proposals ahead of full Council on 9 February 2021. 

 

Cabinet had before it a report which was the culmination of the Budget & Business Planning process for 2021/22 to 2025/26 and set out the Cabinet’s proposed Corporate Plan and supporting budget, medium term financial strategy, capital programme and supporting strategies.

 

The report was set out in three sections; the Corporate Plan; the revenue budget including the draft council tax precept for 2021/22 and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) to 2025/26; and the Capital & Investment Strategy and Capital Programme including the Treasury Management Strategy.  Information outstanding at the time of the Cabinet meeting would be reported to Council when it considered the budget on 9 February 2021.

 

Cabinet’s budget proposals took into consideration the latest information on the council’s financial position outlined in the report; comments from the Performance Scrutiny Committee meeting on 18 December 2020 as well as 14 January 2021; and comments from the public consultation on the budget which closed on Wednesday13 February.

 

As final notification of some funding streams was awaited, some further changes may be made to the budget proposals ahead of full Council on 9 February 2021. 

 

Councillor Liz Brighouse, Chairman of the Performance Scrutiny Committee read out the statement by the Performance Scrutiny Committee included in the papers at Section 4.   She added that Members of the Committee had also been concerned that local members should have been better engaged at an early stage when some of the proposals were being worked up.

 

Councillor Glynis Phillips, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance noted that Cabinet was being asked to approve a complex set of papers which should support each other in achieving financial balance in 2021/2022 and provide valued services in efficient and effective ways.

 

The Labour Group were mindful of the amount of time and effort that officers had devoted to this suite of documents. There was a tangible change to the strategic direction being taken in relation to the property and investment strategies. She further noted the renewed energy to revisit the property and investment strategies as a way of maximising assets to fund services, meet climate emergency targets and as well as considering the implications for staff and residents.

 

She expressed the importance of member involvement in discussions about changes to building use and this was a clear concern from members of the Performance Scrutiny Committee. Members not only knew about issues in their division, but also needed to be able to discuss any proposals with local residents, community groups and town and parish councils. One line in the Corporate Plan was ‘to listen to residents and improving what we do’ and this needed to be extended to listening to local councillors as well.

 

She noted that the Treasury Management Strategy and Annual Investment Strategy had been discussed at Audit & Governance as well as Performance Scrutiny and there was broad support for the decision to increase long term lending as well as seeing a reduction in cash balances to £185m by 2024/2025 to meet the Capital Programme.

 

She noted that the Capital Programme was now in balance and the gap of £18m had been addressed. There had been concern that the capital programme was drifting away from balance over the last couple of years and they welcomed the return to a better grip on this budget given the large sums involved.

 

On the Revenue Budget Strategy, they remained concerned about the reduction in staff numbers for example reduction in management by combining Early Years Teams across Education. In principle this sounded like the right approach but questioned why the implementation had resulted in lower staff numbers. Similarly, the amalgamation of management structures in Children with Disabilities Service would result in fewer people being responsible for supporting larger staff teams. There were other staffing reductions in the Commercial Development Assets and Investments Directorate, and they sought an assurance that Local Union officials were involved in those discussions which would obviously affect staff and service delivery.

 

She finished by thanking all the staff involved in putting together the documents and looked forward to the discussion on the final version at full Council on 9 February.

 

Councillor Bartholomew, Cabinet Member for Finance thanked Councillor Phillips for her comments.  He welcomed the fact that she had noted the reinvigoration within the property team.  They had an excellent leadership and support team in place and the property issues were now being got to grips with, it had been a very complex, inter-related matter to deal with, but he was now confident that they were moving forward and over the next 12 months they would see significant advances in 2 or 3 key areas.  He furthered endorsed the comments in relation to the Treasury Management Strategy and the increase in long term lending.

 

He welcomed the comments around the more robust nature of the Council programme and noted that there had been weaknesses in terms of programming and delivery in the past.  The new way of approaching the Council programme, looking at firm and projected definitely funded items and provisionally funded items was a big step forward. 

 

Councillor Bartholomew, in moving the recommendations of the report emphasised that the Budget before the Cabinet was the culmination of the Budget & Business Planning process for 2021/22. He thanked officers across all directorates for their hard work and in particular the Finance team for their exceptional contribution.

 

The report set out the Cabinet’s proposed Corporate Plan, the revenue budget for 2021/22, the medium-term financial strategy to 2025/26, and the ten-year capital programme and supporting strategies. In addition, Cabinet was asked to approve the Review of Charges for 2021/22 and 2022/23, and the Dedicated School Grant allocations for 2021/22.  He was pleased to present a budget for 2021/22 that provided high levels of protection and new investment in frontline services shaped by the priorities set out in the proposed Corporate Plan. This had been strengthened to reflect local priorities and the national context.

 

A total of £19.6m of savings were proposed across all services. Of these, £14.6m of savings were already planned and were centred on the transformation of services to make them more efficient while protecting the frontline. The proposed budget included investment in services that would have a positive long-term impact for local communities. More than £25m of additional funding was included of which £9.5m was newly proposed for 2021/22 to help meet additional demands, including within adult social care.

 

Proposed investments included:

• A total of £1m long term funding to expand the youth offer in Oxfordshire. (Plus, an additional £500,000 of one-off accelerator funding would also be provided for the first year.)

• An extra £4m for the adult social care budget for 2021/22, including £750,000 to

support expenditure on assessed care needs from 2021/22.

• Extending £1.2m of extra funding for the Better Care Fund to be used to support measures to help people be discharged from hospital and enable new ways of working and better outcomes for residents.

• On-going support during the period of the MTFS for the partnership managing

services for single homeless people in Oxfordshire.

• An extra £400,000 for highway maintenance focused on additional resource for vegetation and drainage clearance plus supporting the roll out of a trial currently being undertaken enabling parish councils to implement 20mph schemes in their villages.

• A £300,000 fund to support innovative community-developed projects and activities that improve people’s health and wellbeing in Oxfordshire.

• An extra £330,000 for children’s early intervention services, increasing the skill base of children’s social care workers and special

educational needs related services.

• £100,000 to address issues of digital exclusion.

• £81,000 in domestic violence services; and

• £150,000 into supporting apprenticeships.

 

This balanced budget for 2021/22 recognised that the hard hand of Covid was squeezing many residents’ household budgets, so it was based on a basic Council Tax increase of 1.99% plus a 1% Precept for investment in Adult Social Care – not the 3% Precept allowed under Government rules – making a total Council Tax rise of 2.99%. The draft Medium Term Financial Strategy included a proposal for the remaining 2% Adult Social Care Precept to be included in 2022/23 budget, if needed.

 

Ho noted that feedback from the public consultation showed general support for the proposals, including the proposed Council tax increase. The proposed Financial Strategy provided a framework for financial sustainability. The Council would continue to manage the impact of rising need through demand management approaches, more effective pathways and delivering better value for money. The Council would also respond to the medium to long term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our ways of working, our workforce, our residents and the economy.

 

The proposed ten-year Capital Programme totals £1.4bn and was fully funded. Changes included additional investment of £44.2m over the period of the programme. New investments included £16.7m in Major Infrastructure Schemes, of

which £9.7m was allocated for improvements to the Banbury Road Corridor, and an additional £5.0m investment in Supported Living Accommodation for people with Learning Disabilities. The proposed changes also closed the funding gap of £18.2m on the programme agreed in February 2020 and the funding gap of £11.1m on

Kennington Bridge replacement scheme which was identified in year. He urged the Cabinet to agree to the recommendations set out at paragraph 1 of the report.

 

Councillor Heathcoat noted that front line services were being protected and that investment in services would support and ensure positive, long term impact for the communities.  This had been recognised by the good interaction and response by the public during the consultation.  The budget had sought to protect the fire service as a blue light Service.  The proposals would not compromise the safety of either the dedicated fire fighters or that of the general public.  In general, the new proposals were around the provisioning of new skills and equipment for whole time fire fighters to complete a wider range of prevention and protection work, which would reduce the need in demand met by specialist teams.  By reviewing the ways of working and the way the fire service was supported and by re-designing the front door activities, they would be able to take forward plans for a new business support structure.

 

Within trading standards, they would increase income from chargeable services and recover costs from consultant type work provided to businesses.  With a range of efficiency savings to reflect changing working practices and an increase agile working profile, together with new working techniques, taking advantage of improved IT service delivery for the general public.

 

Her portfolio also covered the regulatory services which sat within Human resources.  They would be looking at a redesigning of staffing structures, whilst the new ways of working were studied and evaluated.  Covid 19 had given a distortion to work delivery and this would allow for a detailed examination to take place.

 

She noted that the Corporate Plan was being refreshed and not reviewed. She believed that the aims and objectives of the plan supported the budget proposals and that the priorities would be met.  She thanked Lorna Baxter and her team and commended the reports before the Cabinet.

 

The Leader added his thanks to the Director for Finance for preparing the report in such a challenging year.

 

Councillor Corkin expressed the importance of the partnerships in the County, especially in the last year.  He thanked the NHS, Police, Probation Service, Business Partners and the Voluntary sector for their contributions which had been crucial in the response to the Pandemic.  The innovation with CDC had achieved £1 million pounds in Savings, with joint management teams and IT teams.  The Digital position within the County had been achieved by the close working with the Districts Councils, enabling 98% access to superfast Broadband which had unpinned everything achieved over the last 12 months.  He commended the work undertaken by the paid service.

 

Councillor Constance endorsed the remarks from Councillor Corkin.  She welcomed and commended the review of charges by third parties undertaken, for the first time this year.  This had been a significant piece of work which would contribute significantly to revenue next year.

 

Councillor Gray expressed his delight with the extension to the Youth offer for the young people of the County.  He further welcomed the money going into Community based projects, which was a fantastic innovation to give residents control over their local areas and a sense of belonging.  He endorsed and added his thanks to the comments made by Councillor Corkin on the work of the Voluntary Sector.

 

Councillor Reeves endorsed the comments by Councillor Corkin and Councillor Constance on the success of partnership working.  He commended the work that had been undertaken remotely, whilst protecting frontline services.  He further paid tribute to Councillor Walker on his work to secure an extra £400,000 towards vegetation clearance and Highways work.

 

RESOLVED: (nem con)

 

In relation to the Corporate Plan (Section 2);

 

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to RECOMMEND Council to:

 

(a)           approve the Corporate Plan (Section 2.1).

 

In relation to the Revenue Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy (Section 4);

 

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

 

(b)           approve the Review of Charges for 2021/22 and in relation to the Registration Service, charges also for 2022/23 (Annex A);

(c)           approve the final funding formula for schools for 2021/22 subject to the decision by the Secretary of State for Education (Annex B);

(d)           approve the Financial Strategy for 2021/22 (Section 4.5);

(e)           approve the Earmarked Reserves and General Balances Policy Statement 2020/21 (Section 4.6), including the creation of a new COVID-19 Reserve; and

(f)            to note that the Leader of the Council will, following consultation with the Director of Finance and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Property, make any appropriate changes to the proposed budget.

 

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to RECOMMEND Council to:

 

(g)           a Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2021/22 to 2025/26 as set out in Section 4.1 (which incorporates changes to the existing Medium Term Financial Strategy as set out in Section 4.2);

(h)           the council tax and precept calculations for 2021/22 set out in Section 4.3 and in particular:

(i)             a precept of £407,954,239;

(ii)           a council tax for band D equivalent properties of £1,573.11.

(iii)         approve a budget for 2021/22 as set out in Section 4.4