Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

Report of the Chief Operating Officer (Section 151 Officer)

The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Operating Officer (Section 151 Officer) which calculated the Council Tax level for 2022/23 and made appropriate recommendations to Council, consistent with the Budget Report 2022/23. 

The report indicated that some of the figures and information set out within the report were identified as provisional, as the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Fire and Rescue Authority precepts had not been confirmed at the time of publication.  The Cabinet were advised by the Chief Operating Officer that confirmation had now been received in relation to these precepts and that the figures within the report were all confirmed as accurate.

The report incorporated the impact of the Council’s gross expenditure and the level of income it would receive through Business Rates, grants, fees and charges.  This resulted in a Council Tax requirement, as the amount that its expenditure exceeds all other sources of income.

The report included a calculation of the Band D Council Tax that would be needed to generate this Council Tax requirement, based on the City’s approved Council Tax base.  The 2022/23 Band D Council Tax that was calculated through this process had increased by £52.06 from the 2021/22 level.

Each year the Government determined the maximum Council Tax increase that local authorities could set without triggering a referendum.  For 2022/23 the Secretary of State had published a report which proposed that the rise in Coventry City Council’s Council Tax must be below 3% in 2022/23 to avoid triggering a referendum, comprising a 1% precept for expenditure on adult social care and a maximum of 2% for other expenditure.  At the time of writing, the Secretary of State’s report was subject to parliamentary approval.  The recommendations within the Budget Report 2022/23 were based on a proposed increase in Council Tax of 2.9%, including a core Council Tax rise of 1.9% and a 1% Adult Social Care Precept.

It was noted that the recommendations followed the structure of resolutions drawn up by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, to ensure that legal requirements were fully adhered to in setting the tax.  As a consequence the wording of the proposed resolutions was necessarily complex.

RESOLVED that, the Cabinet recommend that Council:

1.  Note the following Council Tax base amounts for the year 2022/23, as approved by the Cabinet on 11^th January 2022, in accordance with Regulations made under Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (“the Act”):

(a)  84,264.3 being the amount calculated by the Council as its Council Tax base for the year for the whole Council area;

(b)  Allesley  356.9

Finham  1,524.6

Keresley  237.0

being the amounts calculated by the Council as its Council Tax base for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which one or more special items relate.

2.  That the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2022/23 in accordance with Sections 31A, 31B and 34 to 36 of the Act:

(a)  £748,832,629  being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

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.

There are no outstanding issues

There were no outstanding issues.

There were no other items of public business.