Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer)

Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer), which would also be considered by Council at its meeting on 20^th February 2024, that calculated the Council Tax level for 2024/25 and made appropriate recommendations to Council, consistent with the Budget Report 2024/25. The report recommended a 4.9% increase in the City’s Council Tax. Some figures and information, shaded grey in the report, were provisional due to precepts not having been confirmed at the time of publication. These figures were confirmed as final at the meeting and 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, and fees and charges. This resulted in a Council Tax requirement, as the amount that its expenditure exceeded 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 2024/25 Band D Council Tax that was calculated through this process had increased by £94.44 from the 2022/23 level.

Each year the Government determined the maximum Council Tax increases that local authorities could set without triggering a referendum. For 2024/25 the Secretary of State had published a report which proposed that the rise in Coventry City Council’s Council Tax must be below 5% in 2024/25 to avoid triggering a referendum, comprising a 2% precept for expenditure on adult social care and a maximum of 3% 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 2024/25 were based on a proposed increase in Council Tax of 4.9%, incorporating a core Council Tax rise of 2.9% and a 2% Adult Social Care Precept.

Members 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)   Notes the following Council Tax base amounts for the year 2024/25, as approved by Cabinet on 9 January 2024, in accordance with Regulations made under Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 ("the Act"):

a) 87,734.0 being the amount calculated by the Council as its Council Tax base for the year for the whole Council area;

b) Allesley  403.7

   Finham  1,564.8

  Keresley  561.8

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 2024/25 in accordance with Sections 31A, 31B and 34 to 36 of the Act:

(a) £867,820,927  being the aggregate of the amounts that the Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer)

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer), which would also be considered by Council at its meeting on 20th February 2024, that followed on from the Pre-Budget Report approved by Cabinet on 12th December 2023 (minute 50/23 referred) which had since been subject to a period of public consultation. The proposals within the report would now form the basis of the Council's final revenue and capital budget for 2024/25 incorporating the following details:

•  Gross budgeted spend of £867.8m (£55.8m or 7% higher than 2023/24).

•  Net budgeted spend of £277.5m (£17.0m or 7% higher than 2023/24) funded from Council Tax and Business Rates less a tariff payment of £22.2m due to the Government.

•  A Council Tax Requirement of £175.9m (£11.5m or 7% higher than 2023/24), 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, policy proposals and technical savings proposals.

•  A Capital Strategy including a Capital Programme of £157.5m including expenditure funded by Prudential Borrowing of £41m.

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

The financial position in this Budget Report was based on the Final 2024/25 Local Government Finance Settlement published on 5th February 2024. Whilst the Government had provided an additional £3.2m of social care grant for 2024/25, the Settlement represented an ongoing net reduction in resources compared to the Pre-Budget report of c£2.1m per annum. The position after 2024/25 remained uncertain as the Government’s spending plans were effectively the second year of a 2-year settlement, and the final year of the 5-year Comprehensive Spending Review. This therefore provided no certainty or stability for local government finances beyond 2024/25. Reviews in relation to the local government financial allocation model and Business Rates retention would not now happen in this parliament and would therefore need to be a focus of attention for the new government, following the general election expected later in 2024. As a result, it was impossible to provide a robust medium term financial forecast at this stage and the Council had instead made some planning estimates for future years. Initial assumptions indicated a strong likelihood that there would be a substantial gap for the periods following 2024/25. The view of the Director of Finance and Resources (Section 151 Officer) was that the Council should be planning for such a position.

The Pre-Budget Report was based on an increase in Council Tax of 4.9% and this position had been maintained for the final proposals in the report. This incorporated an increase of 2.9%, which was within the Government’s limit of 3% above which a referendum would need to be held plus a further 2% Adult Social Care (ASC) Precept in line with Government expectations. 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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

There are no outstanding issues

There were no outstanding issues.

There were no other items of public business.