Contact: Lisa Richards
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Apologies To receive apologies for absence. |
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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To receive the minutes of the last meeting. Minutes: Documents: · Minutes of 26 November 2021
Outcome: · The minutes were accepted |
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To consider the report of the Portfolio Holder for Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes: Documents: · Draft Medium Term Financial Strategy, draft budget 2022/23 and draft capital programme 2022/27 · Finance Resource Model · Cost Reductions 2020/21 · Register of Fees and Charges · Capital Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy · Reserves Policy · Budget Survey December 2021 · Council Wide Impact Assessment
Discussion: · The Chair reported that scrutiny committees would be considering the budgets for their respective services and would report back to the next Finance Panel. Group Leaders were also considering the budget but that would be from a political perspective and not for consideration by the Panel. However, all comments would be considered to enable the Panel to have assurance that risks were being managed and that the budget was deliverable. The Panel would also consider overarching issues such as council tax, covid recovery, the capital programme and reserves. · The Head of Finance summarised the papers which have been considered by Cabinet. She briefly outlined the settlement and other funding arrangements and highlighted new responsibilities and the data driving the funding. · The impact of the pandemic remained key as the level of risk would continue. The Hardship Fund which had met costs of the pandemic, would cease from 31 March 2022 with the Council meeting any continuing costs. Additional funding within the settlement has been provided to manage some of those costs. · Over a five year period, the budget gap could increase to £14M. The proposed budget for 2022/23 is balanced and once agreed, work will commence in addressing the shortfall in the succeeding years. · The documents detail specific proposals for each service and highlights the main pressures and cost reductions. Costs will include inflation, demand pressures and commitment to the living wage, not only for directly employed staff but for external providers of services too. · The Capital Receipts Directive will also cease at the end of March 2022 and Transformation has been incorporated within the revenue budget · The budget is supported by the Capital Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy. Prudential Indicators demonstrate the affordability of the capital programme. · Reserves are key to managing risk within the budget · The Section 151 Officer has also provided assurance regarding the robustness of the proposals · The Portfolio Holder welcomed the indicative three year settlement as a basis for future work. The settlement had been good but was set against a backdrop of pressures arising from the pandemic · The Chair noted that statistics showed that free school meals and unemployment claimants had increased and asked if that was the reason the settlement had increased. The Head of Finance indicated that the settlement had increased primarily due to additional funding from the Welsh Government. The formula used to distribute the settlement is particularly complex. This year due to the overall increase in funding the formula allocation tended to favour those authorities with a higher council tax base. The chair suggested that the Authority needed to understand the reason why there had been significant increases in claimants for unemployment benefits and free school meals. The Portfolio Holder suggested that this may be due to improved ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |