Issue - meetings

Budget & Capital Programme 2021/2022

Meeting: 28/01/2021 - Executive (Item 65)

65 Budget & Capital Programme 2021/2022

Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Finance and Governance.

Supporting documents:

Decision:

RECOMMENDED to Council:

 

1.            The latest Medium-Term Financial Plan forecast at Annex 1

 

2.            A Revenue budget requirement of £17.395 million for 2021/22, as set out in the report and at Annex 2 of the report, which reflects:

a.    Service budget growth of £0.695 million (net); plus

b.    Central budget savings of (£1.554) million (net)

 

3.            An increase in Reigate & Banstead’s Band D Council Tax of £5.00 (2.15%) and a final taxbase of 60,720 Band D equivalents;

 

4.            The forecast for Revenue Reserves (Annex 3) and the recommended use of £0.477 million from Reserves in 2021/22 comprising:

a.    Drawing £0.104 million from the Government Funding Risks Reserve to fund reduced housing benefit subsidy; and

b.    Drawing £0.138 million from the Commercial Risks Reserve to fund reduced income from rents and trading activities; and

c.    Drawing £0.235 million from the General Fund Balance to support the 2020/21 Revenue Budget;

 

5.            A Capital Programme of £81.555 million for 2021/22 to 2025/26 as set out in this report and at Annexes 4.1 and 4.2, including Capital Programme Growth Proposals of £1.326 million.

 

6.            The Chief Finance Officer’s report on the robustness of the Budget estimates and adequacy of Reserves.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

7.            The Chief Finance Officer be authorised to make any necessary final technical adjustments to the Budget and Council Tax arising from final budget refinements or changes to Government funding.

Minutes:

The Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Finance and Governance, Councillor Schofield, introduced the final revenue and capital budget proposals for 2021/22, which included a Council Tax increase of £5 for the average Band D property, for recommendation to Council; this being an increase of less than 10 pence per week for the average household.

 

The proposals were based on a full and robust assessment of the work of the Council and how services were funded. The assessment had been carried out by Executive members supported by the Management Team. The proposals had been reviewed by Members of the Budget Scrutiny Panel and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

Councillor Schofield highlighted that:

·       The Council had not received a revenue support grant from the Government for several years. This continued to present a short-term shortfall in income until regeneration and income generation projects become operational. Ring-fenced reserves had been established in recent years to respond to this challenge.

·       Following significant budget growth for services in 2020/21 and the challenges of the global pandemic, 2021/22 would be a year of consolidation. Budget growth was modest and there was a reduction on the net budget requirement due to changes in how the Council managed Central expenses. This had put the Council in a strong position as it continued to plan for further challenges over the medium term.

·       The Council held a healthy level of Reserves which would be available to help manage future budget risks and opportunities.

·       The Council’s capital investment plans demonstrated the breadth of activity to improve and enhance the Council’s asset base. The capital growth proposals were modest but there had been significant investment in the Capital Programme last year.

 

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Harrison, explained that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had met on 21 January to scrutinise the proposals. It was recognised that the current pressures would continue into 2021/22. The Committee were satisfied with the proposals and had no further comments to offer to the Executive.

 

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Brunt, thanked Councillor Schofield and officers for their work on the proposals, and Councillor Harrison and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for their observations.

 

RECOMMENDED to Council:

 

1.               The latest Medium-Term Financial Plan forecast at Annex 1

 

2.               A Revenue budget requirement of £17.395 million for 2021/22, as set out in the report and at Annex 2 of the report, which reflects:

a.     Service budget growth of £0.695 million (net); plus

b.    Central budget savings of (£1.554) million (net)

 

3.               An increase in Reigate & Banstead’s Band D Council Tax of £5.00 (2.15%) and a final taxbase of 60,720 Band D equivalents;

 

4.               The forecast for Revenue Reserves (Annex 3) and the recommended use of £0.477 million from Reserves in 2021/22 comprising:

a.     Drawing £0.104 million from the Government Funding Risks Reserve to fund reduced housing benefit subsidy; and

b.    Drawing £0.138 million from the Commercial Risks Reserve to fund reduced income from rents and trading activities; and

c.     Drawing £0.235  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65


Meeting: 21/01/2021 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 63)

63 Recovery Scrutiny Panel Update

To consider the Panel’s feedback and a further update from officers and make any recommendations.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Members considered the Recovery Scrutiny Panel report and recommendations to the Committee.

 

Chair of the Panel, Councillor N. Harrison, introduced the item. The Panel had met on 15 July and 14 October 2020, and 14 January 2021 and reported after each meeting to the Committee and the Panel had completed its work. The recovery work that the Panel had scrutinised would continue with regular updates to the Committee.  the Panel had sought assurance that the work will continue to ensure that the Council’s communications strategy to residents is effective, especially in relation to messaging on COVID-19 issues.

 

Members noted that the Recovery Scrutiny Panel had been set up following the first lockdown in 2020, resulting from the global pandemic, and the Council’s emergency response to it. As the pandemic lingered into 2021, the Panel also reviewed the second wave response of the Council in tandem with the ongoing recovery work. The second wave response included support to the most vulnerable residents.

 

Councillor R. Ashford, Portfolio Holder for Community Partnerships, underlined that the welfare response was now targeted towards those with the most complex needs, assisting with shopping, prescriptions and emergency calls but society had changed and many families and elderly and vulnerable people now had improved support networks or the Council could call on volunteers to assist. There was increased need due to isolation, depression and mental health issues.

 

It was noted that social media and email communications were important in communicating the Council’s messages, but a proportion of residents did not have access to email addresses or virtual meeting applications such as Zoom, particularly elderly people. Telephone contact was also important. Social media such as What’s App and online neighbourhood groups were now vital communication streams. Members stressed that being proactive in these areas to disseminate factually accurate and clear messages was important.

Members continued to be updated with fortnightly briefings from the Leader of the Council, Councillor M. Brunt.

 

Mari Roberts-Wood, Interim Head of Paid Service, confirmed that the Council used its email database, in accordance with data protection rules, as a way of reaching residents with regular updates. The Council was very aware of digital exclusion among residents; the communications strategy could be shared more widely in the future with Members.

 

Councillor T. Schofield, Deputy Leader and Executive Member reporting to the Panel, recognised that when the first lockdown was called it had been a very challenging time for the borough as an unprecedented event in all our lifetimes. He was proud of the Council’s response and the way it had been handled showed the strength of the officer teams in the borough, working closely with Members, to serve the residents in a time of need. Any lessons learned would be incorporated into what had been achieved. He thanked the Head of Corporate Policy, Cath Rose, for the support she had given to the recovery programme and Recovery Scrutiny Panel.

 

RESOLVED - that the Committee (i) Notes the observations of the Recovery Scrutiny Panel in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63


Meeting: 21/01/2021 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 62)

62 Budget & Capital Programme 2021/2022

To consider the updated elements of the Budget 2021/22 and Capital Programme 2021 to 2026 proposals.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Members considered the updated elements of the Service and Financial Planning 2021/22 reports following the Budget Scrutiny Panel report and recommendations to the Committee at its 17 December 2020 meeting.

Councillor T. Schofield, Portfolio Member for Finance, introduced the summary update. This highlighted ?improved information on government grants, particularly for COVID-19 costs and income losses, an update on council tax and business rates collections, and the central budgets. The Treasury management budget had been significantly lowered. The bottom line of all adjustments was a £235k budget call on the general reserve, lower than the £530k forecast in the preliminary budget reviewed in December, although some funding would also be drawn from specific risk reserves.

Councillor N. Harrison, Committee Chair, welcomed the report and update to the Committee. It showed that the Council had a well-planned and effective budget in the coming year particularly given the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Members commented that good progress had been made which was set out in the summary update report. Members noted the proposed full and final pay offer of 1.3 percent to staff and unions and asked to be kept updated.

Members thanked Councillor Schofield, the Interim Head of Finance, Pat Main, and the Finance team for their work.

RESOLVED – that the updated elements of the Budget and Capital Programme 2021/22 and the observations of the Committee be noted at the Executive on 28 January 2020.