ITEM CC8 Supplementary
COUNCIL – 12 february 2008
SERVICE AND RESOURCE PLANNING 2008/09 – 2012/13
Supplementary Report by Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer
Introduction
1. Further information relevant to the revenue budget and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2008/09 to 2012/13 has become available since the report to Cabinet on 15 January 2008. This paper sets out those changes, which include, final Tax base and collection fund figures plus the outcome of the Final Local Government Finance Settlement.
Tax Base
2. Formal confirmation has now been received from all five District Councils in relation to their agreed taxbases for 2008/09. The final tax base figure is 240,004, the same as estimated in the supplementary report to Cabinet on 15 January 2008. This represents a 0.42% increase from 2007/08 compared to the 1.1% increase set out in the MTFP. The effect of this as set out in the January supplementary report is to reduce the amount of precept to be paid to the County Council. Compared to the MTFP, there is an overall shortfall of £1.783m.
Collection Fund
3. The report to Cabinet on 15 January 2008 stated that the County Council’s share of income from collection fund surpluses and shortfalls could be around nil and to reflect this the amount of £1.250m assumed in the MTFP was removed and the one-off sum available to allocate was reduced. The County Council’s final share of the collection fund surplus is £0.801m. The reason for the difference is mainly due to a smaller deficit than expected from Oxford City Council and a higher surplus than expected from Cherwell District Council. The result of this surplus means that there is £0.801m more one-off funding available to allocate taking the total one-off sum to £7.817m.
Final Local Government Finance Settlement
4. The Minister of State for Local Government confirmed the final Local Government Finance Settlement for the three-year period up to 2010/11 on 24 January 2008. This provided final formula grant figures for 2008/09 of £103.201m. This is £0.276m higher than the provisional settlement and reflects a further function change. The function change is for Public Law Family Fees to reflect the policy change by Her Majesty’s Court Service to full cost recovery for proceedings under the Children’s Act. It is anticipated that the additional sum will be sufficient to cover these costs in Oxfordshire.
Capital Programme
5. The last report in January included an updated Capital Programme setting out an unallocated surplus of £10.940m, of which £8.285m related to non-schools and non-transport. The surplus of £8.285m reflected resources available over the next three years to 2010/11, however as the Capital Programme now covers a five-year period, in line with the other Service & Resource Planning items, the figure has been revised.
6. Assuming that capital allocations for Fire and Personal Social Services, plus capital grants for Adult and Mental Health announced for the three years up to 2010/11 continue beyond this period, a further £6.398m of resources will be available. Taking these changes into account and setting aside the allocations for Mental Health of £0.885m, which will be spent on that service, this gives a revised surplus for non-schools and non-transport over the period of the programme of £13.798m.
Flood Defence Levy
7. On 24 January 2008, the Thames Regional Flood Defence Committee (RFDC) agreed the levy on local authorities for 2008/09. An increase of 11.11% from 2007/08 will apply taking Oxfordshire’s levy to £0.483m in 2008/09. When added to the levies from other RFDC’s, for which Oxfordshire is required to contribute, a total cost of £0.487m is expected, an increase (after an allowance for inflation) of £0.043m from 2007/08. This replaces the estimated additional cost of £0.3m set out in Annex 3 to the Service & Resource Planning Report in January 2008.
Conclusion
8. This report reflects a number of changes since the last report to Cabinet on 18 January 2008 and provides the final funding position for both revenue and capital. The Medium Term Financial Plan and the Capital Programme, which form Annex 1 and Annex 8 respectively of the Cabinet, opposition and other groups’ budget proposals, reflect all of the changes described in this report.
SUE SCANE Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer Corporate Core
Background Papers: Nil
Contact Officer: Lorna Baxter, Strategic Financial Planning Manager Tel. 01865 816087 31 January 2008
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