To consider a report from the Executive Member for Finance, Change, and Governance and the Director of Finance and Systems.

a)    That the 2024/27 proposed budget strategy, including the 2024/25 draft revenue budget and the 2025/27 MTFS be approved and the income and savings proposals be included for the purposes of consultation only (where necessary) and these proposals will also be referred to the Scrutiny Committee for their consideration;

b)    That the proposal to increase Council Tax by 4.99% in 2024/25 (comprising 2.0% adult social care precept and 2.99% general increase) and by 2.99% for the remaining years of the MTFS 2025/27 be noted;

c)    That the assumptions made in setting the MTFS in Section 4 and the degree of uncertainty be noted;

d)    That the remaining budget gap for the years 2025/26 to 2026/27 be noted;

e)    That the commentary of the Director of Finance and Systems, the Council’s statutory S151 officer, regarding the financial sustainability of the Council in Section 1 be noted. 

f)     It was noted that the draft proposals are subject to various consultation exercises, further analysis of reserves, savings and income including impact assessments, potential future movements in core funding and specific grants, revised costings and robustness assessments.

g)    It was note that the review of the Capital Programme which is ongoing and the prioritisation process to be undertaken to compile an affordable capital programme 2024/25 to 2026/27.

h)    That the continued use of flexible use of capital receipts to support in part the cost of the Modernisation Team in developing the Council’s Finance and Change Programme for 2023/24 and 2024/25 be noted.

The Executive Member for Finance, Change, and Governance gave an in-depth introduction to the report covering the details of the information and proposals contained within the report and providing a broader context to the proposals and the budgetary challenges the Council faced. The Committee were asked to note the national context with the rise in Local Authorities publishing section 114 notices and the local context with Trafford receiving the lowest funding within Greater Manchester.

The Executive Member for Finance, Change, and Governance drew the Committee’s attention to elements of the report including; the proposed raise of Council Tax, the Council’s duties listed in section 1.1 of the report, the rise in demand for Council Services, the projected overspend for the year, the Council’s lobbying efforts for more funding, the loss of the dividend from Manchester Airport, the Council’s level of reserves, and the key budgetary risks the Council faced.

The Executive Member for Finance, Change, and Governance noted the difficulties of digesting and understanding the information provided within the report given the technical nature and level of detail provided. However, the Executive Member stated that setting the budget was one of the key jobs that local Councillor had to do and urged all Councillors to invest their time and efforts in taking part in the budget process and welcomed all Councillors input into the process.

The Executive Member for Finance, Change, and Governance thanked the officers who had prepared the report for their hard work and dedication both in managing the budget and in communicating their work to the Committee.  The Executive Member for Finance, Change, and Governance concluded the introduction by welcoming the levelling up funding that the Council were to receive and stating that the Council would be able to level up further if they received a fairer level of funding in general.

Following the introduction, the Executive Member for Leisure, Arts, Culture, and Heritage, the Executive Member for Children and Young People, The Executive Member for Highways, Environmental, and Traded Services, The Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration, The Executive Member for Health and Care, and the Executive Member for Climate Change all thanked the Executive Member for Finance, Change, and Governance and finance Officers for all the hard work they had done in preparing the budget proposals and the report for the Committee. The Executive Members raised a number of points around the financial challenges the Council faced including the need to meet the Councils duties to support children and adults, the impact of inflation upon the school cleaning service, how Trafford received the lowest funding per capita out all 150 local authorities in England, that Trafford was a very low spending Council, and that the removal of all discretionary services provided by the Council would not be adequate to resolve the budget gap the Council faced.

The Leader thanked the Executive Members for their contributions and expressed that Trafford had a unique story to tell around the boroughs finances and the challenges it faced. The Leader informed the Committee that unique story would be utilised in the Council’s lobbying efforts to secure fairer funding for the area. The Leader informed the Committee that if Trafford received funding in line with other GM authorities the Council would have an additional £35M per year.

The Leader then opened the floor for comments and questions from all Councillors in attendance.

Councillor Evans, as Leader of the Opposition, asked a series of questions relating to the likelihood of issuing a 114 notice, CQC inspections, the education budget, the opening hours of Trafford Town Hall, and potential loses of bus franchising in Trafford. The Executive Member for Finance, Change, and Governance thanked Councillor Evans for his questions before referring to the Corporate Director of Place, the Corporate Director of Children’s Services, the Corporate Director of Adults Services, and the Director of Finance and Systems to provide responses.

The Director of Finance and Systems provided assurance around the Council’s continued efforts to meet the budget gap and pointed to the Council’s strong record of delivering savings. The Corporate Director of Children’s Services and the Corporate Director of Adults Services both stated with confidence that the Council were well position for CQC, other external inspections, and the financial pressures their services faced due to work undertaken. The Corporate Director of Place provided assurance around the plans for School buildings and details of the plans for Trafford Town Hall. The Leader added that while potential losses were a concern regarding the bus franchise it had had a good impact so far.

Councillors Ennis, Welton, and Frass commented upon the report and asked questions relating to communications around the budget, the Greater Manchester Social Care Pledge, subsidies the Council provided, the opening of Regent Road car park, and the Council’s lobbying efforts. The Executive Member for Finance, Change, and Governance thanked the Councillors for their questions, agreed with the points relating to the importance of communicating the work on the Council’s budget effectively and informed the Committee of some of the work that was being undertaken. The Corporate Director of Children’s Services provided a brief update on progress around the Greater Manchester Social Care Pledge. The Director of Finance and Systems gave examples of subsidies the Council provided and stated that work was ongoing to ensure they were minimised. The Corporate Director of Place stated that a date had not yet been set for opening Regent Road carpark and that discussions were ongoing. After the responses had been given the Leader reiterated his point about the value of capturing Trafford Council’s story for use as part of the lobbying efforts to obtain fairer funding for the borough in light of the budget challenges the authority would face in the next two years. 

Following the conclusion of the discussions the Leader moved the recommendations of the report and they were approved.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the report be noted.

b)    That the 2024/27 proposed budget strategy, including the 2024/25 draft revenue budget and the 2025/27 MTFS be approved and the income and savings proposals be included for the purposes of consultation only (where necessary) and these proposals will also be referred to the Scrutiny Committee for their consideration;

c)    That the proposal to increase Council Tax by 4.99% in 2024/25 (comprising 2.0% adult social care precept and 2.99% general increase) and by 2.99% for the remaining years of the MTFS 2025/27 be noted.

d)    That the assumptions made in setting the MTFS in Section 4 and the degree of uncertainty be noted.

e)    That the remaining budget gap for the years 2025/26 to 2026/27 be noted.

f)      That the commentary of the Director of Finance and Systems, the Council’s statutory S151 officer, regarding the financial sustainability of the Council in Section 1 be noted. 

g)    It was noted that the draft proposals are subject to various consultation exercises, further analysis of reserves, savings and income including impact assessments, potential future movements in core funding and specific grants, revised costings and robustness assessments.

h)    It was note that the review of the Capital Programme which is ongoing and the prioritisation process to be undertaken to compile an affordable capital programme 2024/25 to 2026/27.

i)      That the continued use of flexible use of capital receipts to support in part the cost of the Modernisation Team in developing the Council’s Finance and Change Programme for 2023/24 and 2024/25 be noted.