Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Cabinet considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place), which outlined, as a basis for consultation, a set of new revenue budget proposals for 2019/20 to 2021/22 and an overall Council Tax increase for 2019/20 of c2.9% as allowed for within Government guidelines. The final Budget proposals and the Council Tax increase would be subject to Council approval in February 2019.

The report indicated that the Council remained committed to seeking to protect its most vulnerable citizens and to delivering a range of core services to everyone in the city at a time of recent large reductions in Government funding. In last year’s budget setting process, the Council approved proposals that indicated a balanced two year position to 2019/20 with a Budget gap in 2020/21. This was despite a number of service pressures affecting the Council and was achieved through a combination of increased tax revenues, new commercial income streams and a number of technical measures.

Moving forward into a new 3 year planning period incorporating financial year 2021/22, an updated position was included within this report reflecting revised estimates and new expenditure pressures. The Council continued to be faced with financial challenges stemming from uncertainty around the Local Government finance environment, greater external pressures in some of its demand led services and continued challenges in driving through a small number of remaining savings targets within its own budgets. The Council had also reassessed the financial position with regard to its anticipated tax revenues and a number of corporately controlled budgets with a view to mitigating this position. As a result the projected financial gap over the next three years had grown to £5m in 2019/20 rising to £30m.

As a result, the Council had been required to identify a number of new savings proposals within service departments to be included, within the report submitted, as a basis for consultation. It was anticipated that the vast majority of these could be achieved without significant negative impact upon Coventry citizens. Taking all these proposals into account, the Budget gap would reduce to £0.6m in 2019/20 rising to £25m by 2021/22.

The financial proposals were based on the funding set out in the Local Government Finance Settlement announced in February 2016 – an equivalent 2019/20 Settlement Funding Assessment reduction for the Council of £7m. This was the final year of the Government’s current 4 year settlement and the figures indicated were not expected to alter significantly in forthcoming Government announcements in December 2018 and February 2019. 

Further work would be undertaken to address the 2019/20 gap between now and the final Budget Report in February 2019. This would include consideration of the additional resources announced for social care as part of the Chancellor’s Budget announced on 29^th October 2018.

Details on individual spending and savings were provided in Section 2 and on a line by line basis in Appendix 1 of the report.

Indicative sums were included within the report for the Council’s prospective Capital Programme for 2019/20 based on current knowledge. This would be updated in the February 2019 Budget Report, reflecting the most up to programme information available.

It was proposed to undertake a public consultation process through 2019 relating to the Council’s grant support to external organisations.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet:

1.  Approves the revenue spending and savings options in Section 2 and Appendix 1 and the broad Capital Programme proposals in section 2.6 of the report, as the basis for the Council’s statutory budget consultation process. 

2.  Approves the proposed approach on Council Tax in Section 2.7 of the report.

3.  Approves officers making preparations for a public consultation exercise in relation to the Council’s grant payments to external organisations.