To consider the draft Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2024-2029, draft 2024-2025 budget and Capital Programme for 2024-2029.
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Transformation presented the draft budget for 2024-2025, the draft Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2024-2029 and draft Capital Programme for 2024-2029.
The Medium-Term Financial Strategy captured the financial, regulatory and policy drivers affecting the Council and identified the Council’s service and resource priorities for the next five financial years. It delivered a balanced budget for 2024/25, and indicative budgets for the following 4 years to March 2029. The MTFS had ten clear principles which would drive the Council’s budget and spending decisions over 2024-29.
The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Transformation noted that the Council in its current form was not sustainable for the longer term. “Sustainable Powys” would review what services the Council provided and how they were provided to deliver stronger, fairer and greener services whilst reducing costs.
The proposed net budget for 2024-25 was £340.7 million, including the Delegated Schools’ Budget. The proposed budget included inflationary pressures and additional services cost pressures of £18.2 million and proposals to remove £10.7 million detailed in Appendix C of the report. Over £5 million of the savings were related to transformation. Increases in fees and charges were set out in Appendix E of the report. Balancing the budget was dependent on a proposed Council Tax of 7.5%. The proposal for the budget included the recommendation from the Cabinet on 13th February to pass any additionalrevenue funding received from Welsh Government as a result of the £14.4 million consequential and included in the final settlement in full to the schools delegated budget.
The Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees presented their committees’ recommendations on the budget. There was a request that the Council look at increasing the number of members on the Scrutiny committees to share the workload, particularly as there were vacancies on some of the committees.
In response to the points made by the Chair of the Health and Scrutiny Committee, the Cabinet Member for Future Generations accepted the point made by the Committee that there needed to be clarity on what was on offer to carers. The Committee had also questioned how the cost efficiency on day centres had been calculated as the options were not known. The Cabinet Member for a Caring Powys Day explained that the savings on day centres would be achieved by more collaborative working with the Health Board and third sector and innovative use of direct payments. Many of the savings put forward by the service were from transformative changes to the way services would be delivered.
The Chair of the Learning and Skills Scrutiny Committee welcomed the Cabinet’s recommendation to pass any additional revenue fund from Welsh Government in full to schools but noted that there would still be a budget gap of around £2 million in schools’ budgets meaning that Governors would be left to take some very difficult decisions. The Committee also questioned what the implications of the leisure service reduction and closure of a Pupil Referral Unit would be. The Cabinet Member for a More Prosperous Powys advised that the review of leisure services was underway but that he was confident that all primary schools would have access to swimming and that no changes would be required to arrangements for secondary schools. The Cabinet Member for a Learning Powys said that on the PRU looking to replicate the successful virtual school model adopted for Children Looked After. The Learning and Skills Committee had sought a figure on projected savings from school transformation. The Cabinet Member advised that savings were difficult to predict with rising costs and the risk of predetermination. The Strategic Outline Programme for Sustainable Communities for Learning would be coming to Cabinet shortly which would set out the nine year programme. He also confirmed that a reply had been sent to Headteachers in response to their letter.
The Chair of the Finance Panel asked for the budget process to start earlier in the autumn so that members could get involved. The Panel had also called for more pace to be injected into transformation so that services were sustainable. The Chair of the Finance Panel also expressed concern at the level of school reserves. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Transformation accepted that there would be significant pressures on school budgets as there would be on all services.
Council debated the budget proposals and Cabinet members responded to points raised by members. Members from opposition groups challenged the Cabinet on proposals to charge for blue badges and on the results of the public consultation exercise.
Council adjourned at 12.45 and resumed at 14.00 continuing the debate on the budget.
A proposal to remove the £50,000 saving by allowing bulk residual waste at the North Powys bulking facility at Abermule was not allowed by the Chair as it did not balance the budget.
Members from opposition groups expressed concern at cuts to the HTR budget and asked whether the target figure for capital receipts was targeted at the County Farms Estate. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Transformation noted that the Council had assets of £938 million and that there was no reason to believe that capital receipts would all come from the County Farms Estate.
The recommendations in the report were moved by County Councillor David Thomas and seconded by County Councillor James Gibson-Watt. By 34 votes to 32 it was
RESOLVED
1. To approve the Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2024-2029 as set out in Appendix A to the report.
2. To approve Revenue Budget for 2024-25 with the inclusion of a 7.5% increase in Council Tax in 2024-25 shown in the Financial Resource Model in Appendix B and Table 4 and Table 5 of the report.
3. That any additional funding received following publication of the Local Government Final Settlement will be applied in the budget as set out in the budget amendment set out in section 3.18.
4. To approve the Fees and Charges Register in Appendices D and E of the report.
5. To approve the Capital Strategy and Capital Programme for 2024-29 shown in Appendix H of the report.
6. To approve the Minimum Revenue Provision Statement as set out on Appendix H.
7. To approve theTreasury Management Strategy and the Annual Investment Strategy in Appendix H.
8. To approve the Authorised borrowing limit for 2024-25 as required under section 3(1) of the Local Government Act 2003 is set at £514 million and the Operational Boundary is set at £499 million as set out in section 3.83 of the report.
9. To approve the Prudential Indicators for 2024-25 as set out in section 3.79 to 3.86 of the report and Appendix H.
County Councillor Gwynfor Thomas left the meeting at 15.06.
Supporting documents: