At its meeting on 8 January 2020 the Executive Committee considered the Medium Term Financial Strategy and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2020/21-2024/25 be ADOPTED.  

61.7           At its meeting on 8 January 2020, the Executive Committee had considered the Medium Term Financial Strategy and recommended to Council that it be adopted. 

61.8           The report which was considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 49-71.

61.9           The Chair of the Executive Committee proposed the recommendation which was seconded by the Vice-Chair. The Chair advised that this was the latest version of the Medium Term Financial Strategy which the Council was required to have to protect it for the next five years. Currently, the document was a best guess as there were many areas of the Council’s finances which were out of its control and the next 12-months would be a critical period.

61.10         Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED          That the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2020/21-2024/25 be ADOPTED.

To recommend to Council the adoption of the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2020/21 – 2024/25.

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2020/21-2024/25 be ADOPTED.  

68.1           The report of the Head of Finance and Asset Management, circulated at Pages No. 116-138, attached the Medium Term Financial Strategy which Members were asked to recommend to Council for adoption.   

68.2           Members were advised that the Strategy provided the financial plan for the Council for the period 2020/21-2024/25 and set out the Council’s estimates of its commitment expenditure, identified the spending pressures faced and the budget savings needed to achieve the recommended Council Tax levels for each of the three years of the plan. It was regrettable that the estimates had been completed on limited information from the government about future funding which made it exceptionally difficult for any meaningful financial planning for future years.

68.3           Attention was drawn to the key sections of the strategy. Section four set out the local government finance settlement – this was a one year settlement so the following four years was based on the most likely projection. There was no conclusion as yet to the fair funding review so, again, there was no allowance for that in the figures. Overall, for the next five years a reasonably flat provision was expected. Section five referred to New Homes Bonus funding – this was likely to be withdrawn over the next few years – although there had been no confirmation of this intention as yet – ‘table 3’ showed the most likely way the funding would be withdrawn. Section six set out information about retained business rates – the move to 75% exemption for business rates had been delayed for a further year with a new implementation date of April 2021; whilst many questions remained unanswered it looked likely that a re-set, partial or full, of the current system would take place in 2021 and this assumption had been built into the forecast of potential business rate retention over the Medium Term Financial Strategy period. Section seven related to growth pressures – the internal growth was easier to understand and included items such as a 2% pay award, an allowance for contract growth, e.g. Ubico, and other depot related services e.g. recycling credits. There was also a general acknowledgement that growth would be needed across all service areas as a result of new Council priorities such as tackling climate change; general growth of the Borough resulting in increasing demand on all services such as the Revenues section; and tackling emerging risks such as cyber security. Section 10 set out the Medium Term Financial Projection – which included the impact of all known capital and revenue commitments between 2020/21 and 2024/25 and showed an overall cumulative deficit of £5,059,000 by 2024/25. Section 11 referred to Council Tax – table 9 highlighted the potential Council Tax strategy and what the percentage increases would look like. Section 12 showed the deficit reduction programme – some of the items were already progressing and some needed to be progressed; treasury management generated £230,000 which meant the Council did not have to rely on bank deposits; pension reductions showed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68