ITEM CC8 - LIBERAL DEMOCRAT
COUNTY COUNCIL – 12 FEBRUARY 2008
SERVICE AND RESOURCE PLANNING
2008/09 TO 2012/13
Liberal Democrat Group Budget
The Liberal Democrat Group proposed budget replaces the Cabinet budget with a strong and viable alternative. The following annexes and attachments will be referred to – the number corresponds to that used in the Cabinet report. The annexes which set out the Liberal Democrat Group’s proposals are attached to this report; annexes common to the both Cabinet and Liberal Democrat Group budgets (shown shaded in the list below) are not reproduced with this report – for these please refer to the Cabinet’s report (CC8).
Annex 1 Medium Term Financial Plan 2008/09 – 2012/13 (download as .xls file) Annex 2a Investment Proposals (One-off) (Annex 2 - download as .xls file) Annex 2b Investment Proposals (On-going) Annex 2c Proposed Funded Pressures Annex 2d Proposed Funded Savings Annex 2e Proposed Additional Savings Annex 3 Pressures and Priorities met by Efficiencies, Savings and Service Reprioritisations (download as .xls file) Annex 4 Detailed Revenue Budget 2008/09 (download as .xls file) Annex 5 Council Tax and Precepts 2008/09 (download as .doc file) Annex 6 Proposed Virement Rules 2008/09 Annex 7 Proposed Capital Priorities 2008/09 – 2012/13 (download as .xls file) Annex 8 Updated Capital Programme 2007/08 – 2012/13 (download as .xls file) Annex 9 Proposed Capital Strategy 2008/09-2012/13 Annex 10 Proposed Asset Management Plan 2008/09-2012/13 Annex 11 Prudential Indicators (download as .doc file) Annex 12 Treasury Management Strategy Annex 13 Proposed Use of Dedicated Schools Grant 2008/09
The Liberal Democrat the Medium Term Plan includes:
· £3.4m extra for adult social care. This includes a significant element in the first and increasing in subsequent years to deal with demographic change, particularly in elderly and learning disability services. It also includes substantial investment in new preventive services. · £1.5m extra for children, young people and families, including extra investment in both more youth workers and youth centres (including some money for centres not owned directly by the County Council but where improvements are needed) · Over £4m extra for Environment and Economy, including £1.5m for maintaining roads, pavements and cyclepaths, plus extra for flood alleviation measures, bus subsidies, and small community safety schemes. · Investment in other council services, buildings and projects, such as ICT, and including a new recycling centre for North Oxford and a new library for Grove.
We will help fund this from extra savings from measures that we want to introduce in their own right and from an additional small Council Tax increase:
· We would not appoint a third Assistant Chief Executive – his or her workload would be redesignated · We would increase the charges for skips and scaffolding placed on the highway in order to encourage builders to remove obstacles to traffic quickly · We would reintroduce charges for evening and Sunday parking in Oxford, reducing traffic and encouraging use of off-street parking (both Park and Ride and City centre) · We would increase the penalties for breaches of parking regulations so that it is no longer cheaper to breach the regulations than to stay all day in the Multi-storey carpark. · The Council Tax rise we propose will be 4.25% in 2008/9 and 4.5% in the two subsequent years, before reducing again to 4.25%. We consider this Council Tax level necessary due to the very ungenerous settlement for the next three years from central Government. It will cost Band D householders £3.93 a year more than the Cabinet’s Council Tax proposals, or 7.5p per week. For this very small amount, we have been able to fund services far more generously than the Cabinet’s proposals – more than double their proposals on highways, and spending more on adult social services, children and community services. This Council Tax also allows us to start 2009/10 in a far more secure financial position, and considerably reduces any possibility of cuts in services in that year. In 2009/10 and subsequent years we will be investing double the amount in Social and Community Services, thereby relieving the demographic pressures that currently place such a burden on social care.
It is therefore proposed, on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group, that the Council AGREES:
(a) (in respect of Revenue) to approve:
(1) a budget for 2008/09 as set out in (Liberal Democrat) Annex 4 and Medium Term Financial Plan for 2008/09 to 2012/13 as set out in (Liberal Democrat) Annex 1;
(2) a budget requirement for 2008/09 of £366.491m;
(3) the Council Tax and Precept calculations for 2008/09 set out in Annex 5 to the Cabinet report and in particular:
(i) a precept of £262.489m; and (ii) a Council Tax for Band D equivalent properties of £1,093.68;
(4) virement arrangements for 2008/09 as set out in Annex 6 to the Cabinet report;
(5) the disposition of Dedicated Schools Grant as set out in Annex 13 to the Cabinet report;
(b) (in respect of Capital) to approve:
(1) a Capital Programme for 2008/09 to 2012/13 as set out in the capital programme at (Liberal Democrat) Annex 8;
(2) the prudential indicators set out in (Liberal Democrat) Annex 11 in respect of:
(i) Estimates of Capital Expenditure; (ii) Estimates of the Ratio of Financing Costs to the Net Revenue Stream; (iii) Estimates of the Capital Financing Requirement; (iv) Authorised Limit for External Debt; (v) Operational Limit for External Debt; (vi) Estimates of the Incremental Impact of Capital Investment Decisions.
ZOÉ PATRICK Leader, Liberal Democrat Group
February 2008
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