1.
In
relation to the Revenue Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy (Section 4);
RESOLVED to:
a)
approve
the Review of Charges for 2026/27 (Annex A, page 1 -58, 67) and in relation to
the Registration Service, the charges for 2027/28 (Annex A, page 59 – 62) and
2028/29 (annex A page 63 – 66);
c)
approve
the Financial Strategy for 2026/27 (Section 4.5);
d)
approve
the Earmarked Reserves and General Balances Policy Statement for
2026/27(Section 4.6), including the creation of a new Lane Rental reserve and
the renaming of the Demographic Risk
Reserve to the High Needs DSG Deficit Risk Reserve;
e)
approve
the use of retained business rates from EZ1 Science Vale Growth Accelerator and
EZ2 Didcot Growth Accelerator as set out in paragraph 169-172 and Annex B;
f)
note
that following any funding changes as a result of the final Local Government
Finance Settlement and information from the district and city councils in
relation to business rates or council tax will be managed as set out in
Paragraph 10; and
g)
delegate
to the Deputy Chief Executive (Section 151 Officer), in consultation with the
Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and
Transformation, the authority to make any appropriate changes to the proposed
budget not covered by Paragraph 10.
RESOLVED to
RECOMMEND Council:
h)
approve
a Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2026/27 to 2030/31 as set out in Section
4.1 (which incorporates changes to the existing Medium Term Financial Strategy
as set out in Section 4.2);
i)
agree
the council tax and precept calculations for 2026/27 set out in Section 4.3 and
in particular:
(i) a precept of
£567,372,274;
(ii) a council tax for band
D equivalent properties of £2,006.78.
2.
In
relation to the Capital and Investment Strategy and Capital Programme (Section
5);
RESOLVED to
recommend Council to:
j)
approve
the Capital and Investment Strategy for 2026/27 – 2036/37 (Section 4.1)
including;
(i) the Minimum Revenue
Provision Methodology Statement (Section 5.1 Annex 1);
(ii) the Prudential
Indicators (Section 5.1 Annex 2) and
k)
approve
the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy for
2026/27 (Section 5.2); and
(i) continue to delegate
the authority to withdraw or advance additional funds to/from external fund
managers to the Deputy Chief Executive (Section 151 Officer);
(ii) approve that any
further changes required to the 2026/27 Treasury Management Strategy be
delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive (Section 151 Officer) in consultation
with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and
Transformation;
(iii)
approve
the Treasury Management Prudential Indicators; and
(iv) approve the Specified
Investment and Non - Specified Investment instruments as set out in Section
5.2.
l)
approve
the changes to the capital programme and new capital proposals for inclusion in
the Capital Programme and proposed pipeline schemes (Section 5.3)
m)
approve
the capital programme (Section 5.4)