Issue - meetings

To consider the attached report (C-018-2019-20).

1.            The Cabinet noted the assumptions being used in formulating the core budget for 2020/21 as indicated, with detailed budgets being formulated for Cabinet consideration on the 06^th January 2020.

2.            The Cabinet noted that only 2% inflation would be added to operational budgets (other than waste and leisure contracts). They noted that having raised income and charges by 3% in line with the Office of National Statistics estimate of inflation, that the Authority would hold around 1% for specific in-year inflation and economic pressures.

3.            The Cabinet commented on the proposed list of developments as shown in Section 3 of the report and further detailed in the appendices, noting that this list included revenue, capital and loan items.

4.            The Cabinet considered whether any additional or substitute development proposals needed to be considered, particularly those that would address economic uncertainty or issues of economic and social exclusion.

5.            The Cabinet noted that the companies set up and wholly owned by the Authority were due to generate income and to repay loans from 2020/21 and the significant financial benefit that resulted from this. They noted that from 2021/22 the options available to the Cabinet in terms of their development and fiscal (taxation) policies would significantly increase.

6.            The Cabinet noted and commented on the intent to further review existing District Development Fund and Capital commitments for final verification of these items by the Cabinet on the 06^th January 2020.

7.            The Cabinet commented on the intent, to stimulate continuous service improvement and the release of funds for developments, that an efficiency savings target of between 0.25% and 0.5% should be set. The figure was comparatively low (compared to other Authorities) and a full list of schemes would be put before Cabinet on 06^th January 2020.

8.            Having taken account of views on the developments and how these could be funded, the Cabinet commented on the overall preferences to forming a final budget with or without a council tax increase as summarised in Section 5 of the report.

9.            The Cabinet noted the outline workplan and issues outlined in Section 6 of the report.

10.          The Cabinet noted and approved the opportunity that existed to drive forward with several schemes and incur expenditure this year, covering this expenditure by the use of District Development Funds. These projects were:

·         The North Weald Masterplan £140,000 (proposal 42);

·         Customer Service Notification System £25,000 (proposal 17);

·         Planning Approval backlog £40,000 (proposal 28); and

·         Additional working Capital for Devco with a maximum value of £975,650.

The Business Support Services Portfolio Holder introduced the report on the Budget and medium term financial strategy. She emphasised that this was not a decision paper and was the second paper to assist in administration in informing the budget for 2020/21, and to understand the opportunities and risks in forming the budget. This paper sought a further Cabinet steer on the general assumptions that drive the budget and development proposals set out in the paper.

The paper had been put together illustrating two broad budget options that either require a 2.5% increase in council tax or a 0.00% increase in council tax.

The following points were made to assist the Cabinet in their deliberations, noting that the budget was built on strong foundations:

·         At the end of September the authority was £3million underspent;

·         The Capital was underspent and further progress on social housing construction was needed;

·         The budget process continues to be developed;

·         In October attention was focused on building the underlying budget and putting forward a list of proposed developments;

·         Discussions have been held with directors and their manager which has been an inclusive process;

·         Inflation to costs and income was assumed to rise by up to 3% in-line with Office of National Statistics estimates of inflation next year;

·         Individual cost budgets have been increased by 2% with 1% assumed spent but is held as a contingency to address issues such as market forces increases (for some) above inflation;

·         Income, fees and rentals also have a default increase of 3%, although rents are governed by central guidance and therefore an increase of 2.7% was currently being modelled;

·         In November this report will be further refined; and

·         A list of themes was set out in the report to reflect the inter connectivity between proposals.

Members were asked to note, comment and in some cases approve the recommendations.

Councillor Jon Whitehouse said that it did not contain a forward look over the next 4/5 years, would that be here for the next Cabinet. He was told that is was still a work in progress.

Councillor Chris Pond asked about a development in Waltham Abbey and the potential development of a Cultural Hub. The Chief Finance officer said that this was proposal being worked up by Essex County Council and a bid to the National Lottery. Councillor Pond continued saying that Waltham Abbey had lost a great deal over the years, although the Town Council had done their best to reverse this. He thought that the removal of the current Library in Sun Street and its re-provision in the museum in a smaller space was a retrogressive step, and he would be surprised if it attracted much support from the Lottery Heritage fund. He thought that this was not a viable proposal. The Leader suggested that officers came back to Councillor Pond with more details on this proposal. Councillor Pond added that the museum was one of the jewels in the district and he would not want to see it impaired in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52