Agenda item

The agenda item number mentioned in the heading of the individual extract refers to the agenda of the relevant Executive meeting. All Members have received the agenda papers and are commended to review them prior to the Council meeting. 

(1)      EXE 87 Treasury Management Strategy 2022/23 (Agenda Item 15)

(draft minute extract and report attached)

(2)      EXE 88 Capital Strategy 2022-26 and Capital Budget 2022-23 (Agenda Item 16) (draft minute extract and report attached)

(3)      EXE 89 Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and Revenue Budget Update 2022/23 (Agenda Item 17) (draft minute extract and report attached)

Note: The published Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) that underpin the 2022/23 budget savings plans can be found at Appendix 4 to the Executive report. Councillors are asked to familiarise themselves with the EIAs in advance of the meeting.

Note for Councillors:

Council is requested to consider item 15 (3) above together with the following report (item 16) which contains the Council Tax charges for the Council and the precepting authorities for 2022/23.

If changes are approved to the recommendations from the Executive, alterations to the recommended Council Tax resolution as contained within the following report might be required.  In this case Council will be requested to adjourn to enable the figures in the Council Tax resolution report to be recalculated and re-circulated.

With the agreement of the Chairman, Councillor Cartman presented the Executive finance references and the council tax setting report en bloc, that is: Treasury Management Strategy 2022/23; Capital Strategy 2022-2026 and Capital Budget 2022/23; Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and Revenue Budget Update 2022/23; Revenue Budget Update and Council Tax Setting 2022/23 .  It was noted that a named vote would be required on the budget decision.

In presenting the Executive references and the report, Councillor Cartman outlined the council’s financial strategy for the year ahead which sought to protect vital services whilst also investing an extra £40m in long-term local projects to improve services for children, green initiatives and local facilities.  He highlighted some of the initiatives as set out in the report which focussed on the key priorities of supporting children and young people, delivering better basic services, investing in communities, and tackling the climate emergency.  He stated most of the council’s money went on providing key basic services such as social care, children’s services, recycling & waste and road maintenance, and confirmed residents would continue to receive good council services. As well as protecting key services the budget also sought to keep increases in fees and charges to a minimum.  He stated the proposal to increase Council tax by 2.99 % was the same increase as the vast majority of other councils in the country and was largely driven by social care pressures, including 1% specifically for adult social care services.  However, he stressed adult social care continued to be underfunded by central government and the Council Tax increase would not solve ongoing pressures.  In increasing Council Tax, he was aware of the other cost-of-living pressures facing local residents but stressed the council was subject to similar cost pressures and was working hard to mitigate impacts on services and household budgets. He noted the ongoing budget risks due to uncertainties around inflation, service demand and future income levels, and referred to the challenge of future budget shortfalls which would need to be addressed.  He thanked the Director of Corporate Services, the finance team and all staff for their work in putting together the finance reports and also thanked the Executive and all councillors for the collective effort in presenting a robust and balanced budget. 

At the invitation of the Chairman, the Director of Corporate Services confirmed her assessment as Section 151 Officer that the proposed revenue budget for 2022/23 was robust, and that the council’s reserves were adequate to address the level of risk.  She referred to further challenges ahead which the council would need to plan for in future years.  With reference to the Council Tax setting report she confirmed the information relating to the Avon Fire Authority precept and the final Environment Agency levy had now been received, reporting that the indicative figures contained within the report were the confirmed final figures and no further update was required. 

In discussing the Executive references and the Council report, members expressed support for the finance strategy and welcomed the investment proposals for improved services for children, green initiatives and local facilities.  Questions were raised around the level of reserves and whether adequate contingencies had been made given the risks around increasing costs, demand pressures in home to school transport, challenges in budgeting for placements for looked after children, increasing costs resulting from delays to Portishead Rail and appeal costs associated with the Bristol Airport inquiry.  Councillor Cartman confirmed these significant risk factors were recognised but he was satisfied that suitable contingencies had been built into the budget to address these risk areas, together with an appropriate level of reserves.  In response to further concerns raised regarding the impact on particular user groups of closing the Gateway at the Town Hall and Castlewood, Councillor Cartman recognised the need for some limited face to face provision for those who couldn’t otherwise access services, but stressed the need to achieve the required budget savings.  He referred to the Customer Service Strategy due to come to Executive in April, currently being scrutinised by the PCOM Panel and out for consultation, and encouraged Councillor Willis to feed her comments into that scrutiny review. 

Motion: Moved by Councillor Cartman, seconded by Councillor Solomon it was

Resolved:

(1) that the Treasury Management Strategy for 2022/23, as described throughout the Executive report and shown in Appendix 1 of the report, be approved;

(2) that the Prudential Indicators for 2022/23, as shown in Appendix 2 of the Executive report, be approved; and

(3) that the Minimum Revenue Provision Statement for 2022/23, as shown in Section 3.5 of the Executive report, be approved.