(If a Councillor intends to move a Motion or Amendment in relation to the Council’s annual budget, the text of the proposed Motion or Amendment must be submitted in writing to the Executive Director: Resources by 9.00am on the working day preceding the day of the Council meeting).

At its meeting on 7 February 2024, the Executive Committee considered the 2024/25 budget and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

1.   That a net budget of £12,463,511 be APPROVED.

2.   That a Band D Council Tax for Tewkesbury Borough Council services of £144.36 per annum, an increase of £5.00 per annum, be APPROVED.

3.   That the growth items for 2024/25, as proposed in Appendix A, be included within the budget.

4.   That the capital programme, as proposed in Appendix B, be APPROVED.

An amended report is attached for consideration.

95.1          At its meeting on 7 February 2024, the Executive Committee considered the 2024/25 budget and made a recommendation to Council.

95.2          The report which was considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 23-50.

95.3          The recommendation of the Executive Committee was proposed by the Chair of the Executive Committee and seconded by the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management.  The Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management advised that much work had been undertaken in recent weeks to develop a workable budget for the new Council year.  The process for developing the budget, and the details of the finances, had been discussed at various meetings including Transform Working Group, Executive Committee and a well-attended Member Briefing last week.  He thanked Members for their contributions, challenges and ideas which had helped colleagues to develop this final budget for the year ahead.   The detail of the budget was set out at Paragraph 6 of the report which outlined the variances from the current year; it was worth noting that areas within the Council were being challenged to bring in additional income from their activities and also that some prudent changes had been made to the ways in which the Council was managing its treasury and investments.  In terms of the process, the Provisional Local Government Settlement was received on 18December 2023 which had kick-started a brief period of consultation for the government to receive feedback from the sector.  In recent months, a number of local authorities had raised the Section 114 flag and concerns had been expressed by MPs and in the media regarding the state of finances within local government; these had perhaps been ‘heard’ as the Final Settlement had seen an increase in funding which was somewhat unusual.  The majority of the additional funding had been ring-fenced for social services but there had been a 1% rise in the funding guarantee threshold and additional funding linked to the Rural Service Delivery Grant which had resulted in Tewkesbury Borough Council’s provisional settlement offer being increased by £106,000 for the new financial year.  This announcement had only been made in recent weeks, as such, although the extra income had been included in the report, it had not been linked to any area of spending or service delivery; instead, it was to be held in reserves until Members agreed on a viable plan that could make good use of the funding.  In accordance with the Local Government Act 2003, the Council’s Chief Finance Officer must make a statement on the robustness of the estimates and the adequacy of the Council’s reserves and that statement was set out at Paragraph 11 of the report with the Chief Finance Officer deeming the position as ‘adequate’ for the year ahead.  The Lead Member thanked the Officer team for their detailed yet fast-paced work in pulling together this balanced budget and the associated documentation and hoped it would be approved in accordance with the recommendation so that plans could be made for associated timely implementation across the Council.

95.4          A Member drew attention to Page No. 31, Paragraph 6.1 of the report which set out the base estimates for 2024/25 including proposed growth and sought clarification as to why it appeared that planning spend was increasing by 24.23%.  In respect of Page No. 39, Paragraph 11.8 of the report, the Member noted that the Council was being asked to increase the amount of spend for the Business Transformation team but it was unclear what the outcomes were likely to be as a result of that spend and asked that clear targets be included in the new Council Plan which was due to be considered by the Council in April.  In terms of Page No. 43, Appendix A of the report, the Member noted there were a number of items in Section D which appeared to be ‘spend to save’ and he sought assurance these would be taken seriously and potentially brought forward if they would genuinely produce savings which would help with the medium term financial forecast.  The Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management agreed it would be beneficial to see the outcomes from the additional spend on Business Transformation but he pointed out they may not all be financial.  The Leader of the Council confirmed that outcomes would be part of the Council Plan; Members would be aware of the fantastic work that had been done by the team in the past and it was only right that should continue.  The Executive Director: Resources explained that the figures at Page No. 31, Paragraph 6.1 of the report showed the net expenditure for the planning service.  The main factor was the increase in planning fees which had come into effect on 6 December 2023 and had resulted in an increased budget forecast of £230,000.

95.5          In accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, voting on the proposal was recorded as follows:

95.6          Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED          1. That a net budget of £12,463,511 be APPROVED.

2. That a Band D Council Tax for Tewkesbury Borough Council services of £144.36 per annum, an increase of £5.00 per annum, be APPROVED.

3.That the growth items for 2024/25, as proposed in Appendix A, be included within the budget.

4.That the capital programme, as proposed in Appendix B, be APPROVED.