Agenda item

To consider the Council’s financial position over the medium term and set a budget requirement and the level of council tax for 2023/24.

The Leader, Councillor Braun, introduced the report and highlighted the following key points:

·        The financial settlement had been agreed by parliament and was detailed in section 2.1 of the report, found on page 61 of the reports pack. The settlement for 2023/24 had been used to stabilise the financial position of the Council and provide new investment into the Council’s priorities.

·        Managing the impact of high inflation had formed an integral part of the budget setting process which was still above 10% and added to cost pressures. The increase in costs due to inflation were not covered by the financial settlement and were detailed in paragraphs 3.19 – 3.31 of the report.

·        There was a proposed increase of 2.99% for Council Tax which was detailed in Appendix I on page 183 of the report.

·        Page 65 detailed the current non-ringfenced grants which included an additional Funding Guarantee Grant to increase all Councils’ Core Spending Power by a minimum of 3%.

·        Paragraphs 3.2 – 3.18 of the report explained the changes to Budgets for 2023/24 which included the 2022/23 pay award, planning for the 2023/24 pay award and increases to the Ubico contract. 

·        There was an assumed budget gap of £3m at the end of the Medium-Term Financial Plan however the position of this, which was largely influenced by estimates of the future funding reform, were currently unknown.

·        Section 5 of the report on page 75 highlighted the additional funding that had been allocated and highlighted that allowance had been made to accommodate the replacement of the Ubico fleet.

·        Section 6 detailed the report from the Section 151 Officer to confirm that the estimates were robust and that the reserves were adequate.

The Strategic Director of Resources gave the following answers in response to questions from Members:

·        Paragraph 3.20 on page 68 of the report stated that the council must pick up 40% of any additional costs incurred for homelessness or a long term disability placement. It was confirmed that these costs would need to come from the General Fund Budget.

·        The decarbonisation of Stratford Park and the Museum in the Park was still considered viable with the current cost increases. This was detailed in the report at agenda item 9 for consideration during the meeting.

·        Paragraph 3.41 detailed the additional funding for 15 houses for households fleeing conflict in Ukraine and Afghanistan. These 15 houses would be purchased in addition to any current housing stock and would therefore not have an impact on families currently on the waiting list. They would form part of the Councils housing stock after the period of use for refugees. 

Proposed by Councillor Braun and seconded by Councillor Bennett.

Councillors Turner, Cornell, Drury-Layfield, Bennett and Braun commended the report were pleased that the Councils priorities were still being invested in despite the difficult budget.

Councillor Davies echoed the comments regarding the difficult budget and thanked Central Government for the support.

After being put to a vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

FOR: 37 Votes

Councillors

Beki Aldam

Martin Baxendale

Natalie Bennett

Catherine Braun

Doina Cornell

Kate Crews

Laurie Davies

Stephen Davies

Trina Davis

Robin Drury-Layfield

Jonathan Edmunds

Christopher Evans

Helen Fenton

Colin Fryer

Lindsey Green

Trevor Hall

Nick Hurst

Steve Hynd

George James

Julie Job

Haydn Jones

John Jones

Norman Kay

Jenny Miles

Gill Oxley

Loraine Patrick

Martin Pearcy

Steve Robinson

Mattie Ross

Mark Ryder

Lucas Schoemaker

Nigel Studdert-Kennedy

Haydn Sutton

Brian Tipper

Ken Tucker

Chloe Turner 

Rich Wilsher

AGAINST: 0 Votes

ABSTENTIONS: 0 Votes

RESOLVED To:

a)     Approve the updated Medium-Term Financial Plan as set out in Appendices A-D

b)     Increase the council tax by 2.99% to £229.17 at Band D, an increase of less than 13p per week for the services provided by Stroud District Council;

c)     Note the uncertainty around the impact of changes to future local government funding

d)     Approve the Capital Programme, as set out in Appendix E

e)     Approve the planned changes to the reserves as set out in Section 4 of the report and Appendix F

f)      Approve the fees and charges policy and list of Council fees and charges as set out in Appendices G and H

In addition to the recommendations from the Strategy and Resources

g)     To approve the Council Tax Charges for the District as set out in Appendix I.