To recommend a budget to Council for 2024/25.

That, subject to the inclusion of the additional government funding in the final budget report, the following be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

i.              a net budget of £12,463,511;

ii.             a Band D Council Tax of £144.36 per annum for Tewkesbury Borough Council – an increase of £5.00 per annum;

iii.            the inclusion of growth items within the budget for 2024/25 as set out at Appendix A to the report; and

iv.           the capital programme as set out at Appendix B to the report.

87.1          The report of the Associate Director: Finance, circulated at Pages No. 13-40, set out the proposed budget for 2024/25.  Members were asked to recommend to Council the approval of a net budget of £12,463,511; a Band D Council Tax of £144.36, an increase of £5.00 per annum; the inclusion of growth items within the budget for 2024/25 as proposed in Appendix A to the report; and the capital programme as proposed in Appendix B to the report.  It was noted that the net budget being proposed represented a slight increase from the net budget of £12,357,208 set out in the report recommendation.

87.2          The Executive Director: Resources explained that the government had made a further £600m funding available nationally in its final local government settlement with the lion’s share going to upper tier authorities.  All councils would see an increase in Core Spending Power from 3% to 4% and a further £15m had been made available for the Rural Services Delivery Grant.  In addition, the Secretary of State had confirmed there would be no change to Council Tax referendum principle proposals and every authority would be required to submit productivity plans in time for the summer recess.  In terms of what that meant for Tewkesbury Borough Council, there would be additional funding of £106,303 to support the 2024/25 budget; however, rather than allocating it at this point, the sum would be set aside for draw down in the new financial year to meet the requirements of the Council Plan or the High Performing Organisation (HPO) workstream.  The draw down would require a separate report and approval by the Executive Committee to enable the virement of funds.  The recommendation had been amended to include the additional funding but the report would need to be rewritten ahead of Council to include the impact of the final local government settlement.

87.3          A Member sought clarification as to what would be covered by the HPO workstream and was advised that it spanned a whole range of areas in terms of the Council’s operation and performance and how the authority could move forward with delivery of services.  The Member indicated that she was concerned about Planning as the service was currently undergoing a real transformation but she understood two posts which were being advertised currently were also being advertised by neighbouring authorities at a much higher pay grade which clearly impacted on Tewkesbury Borough Council’s ability to recruit – she did not know how effective the improvements being implemented within the service would be without additional funding.  The Chair indicated that he was sure these points were valid; however, all Members would be able to quickly think of ways to allocate the additional funding which was the reason for not rushing to make that decision today.  Another Member welcomed the additional funding and felt that it must be spent on things the Council was doing rather than what it thought it should be doing - it would be nice to be able to communicate how the money had actually improved service delivery for residents.  In response, the Chief Executive advised that the HPO work was around where the Council needed to be in terms of managing processes and improving access to services which would have a direct benefit on residents and businesses.  A lot of the things currently being monitored by the authority in terms of performance were outputs rather than outcomes so that was something which needed to be addressed.  He stressed the importance of not making the HPO work into an industry and that it must be part of the day job delivered by existing staff.  Another Member indicated that, had the Council known about the additional funding two or three weeks earlier, it could have been allocated in a considered manner; however, that was not the case so he felt what was being proposed was the right approach to give adequate time to determine how it would be best spent.

87.4          With regard to the Band D Council Tax figure of £144.36, a Member expressed the view that it should be made clear this was an annual figure and would not be the figure in the Council Tax bills which would be landing on residents’ doormats.  He also felt the authority should be clearer about the make-up of the Council Tax bill and asked for clarification as to Tewkesbury Borough Council’s proportion.  In his view the report was wrong to state there would be no impact on the customer.  The Executive Director: Resources undertook to amend the customer impact section of the report prior to Council to reflect that the proposals would result in an additional charge of £5 per annum for a Band D Council Tax property which was for Tewkesbury Borough Council services only and to include the percentage in order to make that clear to residents.

87.5          It was proposed, seconded and