Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2021/047

Contact: Kathy Wilcox, Head of Financial Strategy Tel: 07788 302163

Report by Director of Finance (CA8).

This report is the first in the series on the budget and business planning process for the forthcoming year and forms context and background information ahead of and part of the process which will culminate in Council setting a budget for 2022/23; a medium-term financial strategy to 2025/26 and capital programme to 2031/32 in February 2022.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)                  Endorse the report;

b)                 Approve the budget and business planning process for 2022/23; and

c)                  Approve a four-year period for the medium-term financial strategy to 2025/26 and ten-year period for the capital programme to 2031/32.

Recommendations agreed

Cabinet considered the first in the series of reports on the budget and business planning process for the forthcoming year which provided context and background information ahead of Council setting a budget for 2022/23; a medium term financial strategy to 2025/26 and capital programme to 2031/32 in February 2022.

Councillor David Bartholomew, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, commented that he believed that the inflation figures mentioned in Paragraph 10 were now out of date given the impact of the pandemic.  He again suggested that it might be possible to avoid the proposed 2% increase in the Adult Social Care precept next year, given the amount earmarked in reserves.  He expressed concern that the plans for consultation on the budget might amount to over-consultation and questioned whether the benefits would merit the costs.

Councillor Calum Miller, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, described the report as setting out the framework for the first budget by the new administration as well as their Corporate Plan.  He disagreed with Councillor Bartholomew’s suggestion that increases in inflation were due primarily to the pandemic.  He believed that the disruption to supply chains as a result of the policies of the current government had a large impact as well.

Councillor Miller agreed that the increased pressures on councils outlined in paragraph 23 as a result of new policies announced for Adult Social Care on 7 September were very significant and unless the government provided more financial support the Council would have to think hard about how to meet the costs.

Councillor Miller also noted that there would be a deep review of the capital programme inherited from the previous administration and the capital budgets will be set out as part of the Medium Term Financial Framework.  He moved the recommendations.

RESOLVED to:

a)              endorse the report;

b)             approve the budget and business planning process for 2022/23; and

c)              approve a four-year period for the medium-term financial strategy to 2025/26 and ten-year period for the capital programme to 2031/32.