Issue - meetings

Report of the Chief Operating Officer (Section 151 Officer)

The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Operating Officer (Section 151 Officer), which set out the proposals for the Council’s final revenue and capital budget for 2022/23.

The report followed on from the Pre-Budget Report approved by Cabinet on 14th December 2021, which had since been subject to a period of public consultation.  The proposals within the report now formed the basis of the Council's final revenue and capital budget for 2022/23 incorporating the following details:

•  Gross budgeted spend of £749m (£25m decrease from 2021/22)

•  Net budgeted spend of £237m (£6 and 3% lower than 2021/22) funded from Council Tax and Business Rates less a tariff payment of £19.3m due to Government.

•  A Council Tax Requirement of £153.4m (£7.1m and 5% higher than 2021/22); reflecting a City Council Tax increase of 4.9% detailed in the separate Council Tax Setting report on today’s agenda.

•  A number of new expenditure pressures and technical savings proposals.

•  A Capital Strategy including a Capital Programme of £145.1m including expenditure funded by Prudential Borrowing of £23.9m.

•  The updated Treasury Management Strategy, Capital Strategy and a Commercial Investments Strategy.

The financial position set out in the Budget Report is based on the Final 2022/23 Local Government Finance Settlement.  Although the core funding position broadly matched that of 2021/22, the Settlement included some significant new one-off grants that will help the Council to manage the pressures it faces, in particular in relation to social care and the wider costs of inflation.  The position after 2022/23 remains uncertain despite the Government’s medium-term spending plans being set out in the Spending Review published in October 2021.  A review of the local government financial allocation model will begin in 2022, although it is not yet certain whether this will be completed in time for 2023/24 Budget Setting.  As a result, it is not possible to provide a robust medium term financial forecast at this stage and the Council has provided some prudent planning figures for future years.  Initial assumptions indicate the likelihood that there will be a substantial gap for the period following 2022/23. The view of the Chief Operating Officer is that the Council should be planning for such a position.

The Pre-Budget Report was based on an increase in Council Tax of 2.9% and this position had been maintained for the final proposals in the report now submitted.  This incorporated an increase of 1.9%, which was within the Government’s limit of 2% above which a referendum would need to be held plus a further 1% Adult Social Care (ASC) Precept in line with Government expectations.  The Precept was trailed in the Autumn Budget Report and Spending Review 2021 and included in the Local Government Settlement as the means for councils to maintain their “core spending power”.  The precept was essential to enable councils including Coventry to manage increases in the costs of care.  In total, the rise in Council Tax bills would be the equivalent of around £1.00 a week for a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 83