Issue - meetings

Report by Director of Finance (CC12).

The Revised Budget 2020/21 Report to Cabinet on 18 August 2020 sets out the financial impact of the Council’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the additional funding that has been received from central government. 

Councils have a legal duty to balance their budgets each year and act to avoid the possibility that expenditure might exceed available income in any year. This means that Oxfordshire County Council, like other councils across the country, has no option but to take significant cost-saving measures to address this unavoidable funding shortfall.  The report sets out the actions required to address the risk of overspend and reflects the additional costs incurred by the Council in the response phase.

The revised budget will provide a balanced budget for 2020/21 that includes budgets to meet the additional costs of COVID-19 to enable effective budget management. 

UndertheCouncil’sFinancialRegulations, Councilapprovalisrequiredfor any virement greater than £1m that involves a major change in policy (as assessed by the Section 151 officer) requires Council approval.  The virements required as part of the Revised Budget 2020/21 fall within this definition. However, the Revised Budget for 2020/21 does not change the calculation of the Council Tax Requirement or Basic Amount of Council Tax for 2020/21 approved by Council in February 2020 as required under the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

Council is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)           approve the savings set out in Annex 1;

(b)           approve the revised revenue budget for 2020/21 set out in Annex          2.

Recommendations agreed by 31 votes to 30.

Council had before it the Revised Budget 2020/21 which was considered by Cabinet on 18 August 2020 and sets out the financial impact of the Council’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the additional funding that had been received from central government. 

Councils had a legal duty to balance their budgets each year and act to avoid the possibility that expenditure might exceed available income in any year. This meant that Oxfordshire County Council, like other councils across the country, had no option but to take significant cost-saving measures to address this unavoidable funding shortfall.  The report set out the actions required to address the risk of overspend and reflected the additional costs incurred by the Council in the response phase.

The revised budget would provide a balanced budget for 2020/21 that included budgets to meet the additional costs of COVID-19 to enable effective budget management. 

UndertheCouncil’sFinancialRegulations, Councilapprovalwasrequiredfor any virement greater than £1m that involves a major change in policy (as assessed by the Section 151 officer) requires Council approval.  The virements required as part of the Revised Budget 2020/21 fell within this definition. However, the Revised Budget for 2020/21 did not change the calculation of the Council Tax Requirement or Basic Amount of Council Tax for 2020/21 approved by Council in February 2020 as required under the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

Councillor Hudspeth moved and Councillor Bartholomew seconded the recommendations as set out in the report and on the face of the Agenda.  In seconding the report, the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Bartholomew thanked Directorates and the Finance Team for all their hard work.

Following a lengthy debate, the motion was put to the vote and was carried by 32 votes to 30.

RESOLVED: (by 32 votes to 30) to:

(a)  approve the savings set out in Annex 1;

(b)  approve the revised revenue budget for 2020/21 set out in Annex 2.