That it be recommended to Council that it :-

a)    Approves the 2020/21 net Revenue Budget of £175.20m.

b)    Approves the 2021/22 to 2022/23 Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) including the income and savings proposals.

c)    Approves the calculation of the Council Tax Requirement as summarised in Section 9.1 and set out in the Formal Council Tax Resolution in Annex K (any update for changes in Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner or Mayoral General (incl. Fire Services) Precepts, if any, will be tabled at the Council Meeting);

d)    Approves the proposal to increase Council Tax by 3.99% in 2020/21:

o   1.99% general increase in the ‘relevant basic amount’ in 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23, and

o   2% for the ‘Adult Social Care’ precept in 2020/21.

e)    Approves the planned application of earmarked reserves as detailed in Section 6, Para 6.4.2

f)     Approves the Fees and Charges for 2020/21 and those relating to Registration of Births, Death & Marriages also shown for 2021/22, as set out in the Fees & Charges booklet.

g)    Delegates authority jointly to each Corporate Director in consultation with the Corporate Director of Finance and Systems to amend fees and charges during 2020/21 in the event of any change in VAT rate, as appropriate.

h)    Delegates authority jointly to each Corporate Director in consultation with the Corporate Director of Finance and Systems to amend fees and charges during 2020/21 where the economics of the charge levels have changed (e.g. costs have risen unexpectedly), or for commercial reasons.

i)      Approves the proposal to maintain the minimum level of General Reserve for 2020/21 at £7.0m, the same level as in 2019/20 (Section 6.6).

j)      Approves the Capital Strategy, Prudential and Local Indicators and overall level of the Capital Programme and Asset Investment Fund of £368.72m (as detailed in the Capital Strategy, Capital Programme & Prudential Indicators 2020/23) of which £262.11m relates to 2020/21; including the proposal in relation to £106.92 million of new prudential borrowing.

k)    Approves the Treasury Management Strategy 2020/21 to 2022/23, including the debt strategy (Section 3), the Treasury Investment Strategy (Section 5) and the Prudential Indicators, including the Authorised Limit (as required by Section 3(1) of the Local Government Act 2003, Operational Boundary, Minimum Revenue Provision and investment criteria as set out in Appendix 3 of the report.

l)      Approves the proposed distribution of Dedicated Schools Grant as recommended by the School Funding Forum and Executive as summarised in Section 8 and detailed in Annex J.

m)  Due to the late publication of the Final Local Government Finance Settlement, Council delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Finance and Systems in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance and Investment to vary the level of Budget Support Reserve needed to balance the 2020/21 revenue budget in the event of any change at final settlement.

and confirmed that in recommending approval of the above, it has taken into consideration :

n)    The objective assessment by the Corporate Director of Finance and Systems of the robustness of budget estimates  ...  view the full decision text for item 96

The Executive Member for Finance and Investment and the Corporate Director of Finance and Systems submitted a report which set out the Executive’s updated 3 year budget strategy proposals and detailed revenue budget proposals for 2020/21 and Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for the period 2021/22-2022/23. Members were advised of an additional precautionary recommendation included since the report’s publication, now set out as resolution m) below.

            RESOLVED - That it be recommended to Council that it :-

a)    Approves the 2020/21 net Revenue Budget of £175.20m.

b)    Approves the 2021/22 to 2022/23 Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) including the income and savings proposals.

c)    Approves the calculation of the Council Tax Requirement as summarised in Section 9.1 and set out in the Formal Council Tax Resolution in Annex K (any update for changes in Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner or Mayoral General (incl. Fire Services) Precepts, if any, will be tabled at the Council Meeting);

d)    Approves the proposal to increase Council Tax by 3.99% in 2020/21:

o   1.99% general increase in the ‘relevant basic amount’ in 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23, and

o   2% for the ‘Adult Social Care’ precept in 2020/21.

e)    Approves the planned application of earmarked reserves as detailed in Section 6, Para 6.4.2

f)     Approves the Fees and Charges for 2020/21 and those relating to Registration of Births, Death & Marriages also shown for 2021/22, as set out in the Fees & Charges booklet.

g)    Delegates authority jointly to each Corporate Director in consultation with the Corporate Director of Finance and Systems to amend fees and charges during 2020/21 in the event of any change in VAT rate, as appropriate.

h)   Delegates authority jointly to each Corporate Director in consultation with the Corporate Director of Finance and Systems to amend fees and charges during 2020/21 where the economics of the charge levels have changed (e.g. costs have risen unexpectedly), or for commercial reasons.

i)     Approves the proposal to maintain the minimum level of General Reserve for 2020/21 at £7.0m, the same level as in 2019/20 (Section 6.6).

j)      Approves the Capital Strategy, Prudential and Local Indicators and overall level of the Capital Programme and Asset Investment Fund of £368.72m (as detailed in the Capital Strategy, Capital Programme & Prudential Indicators 2020/23) of which £262.11m relates to 2020/21; including the proposal in relation to £106.92 million of new prudential borrowing.

k)    Approves the Treasury Management Strategy 2020/21 to 2022/23, including the debt strategy (Section 3), the Treasury Investment Strategy (Section 5) and the Prudential Indicators, including the Authorised Limit (as required by Section 3(1) of the Local Government Act 2003, Operational Boundary, Minimum Revenue Provision and investment criteria as set out in Appendix 3 of the report.

l)     Approves the proposed distribution of Dedicated Schools Grant as recommended by the School Funding Forum and Executive as summarised in Section 8 and detailed in Annex J.

m)  Due to the late publication of the Final Local Government Finance Settlement, delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Finance and Systems in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 96