Decision details

To make recommendations to the County Council on the revenue and capital budgets for 2013/14 to 2017/18 and the level of council precept for 2013/14

1.         The following recommendations be made to the meeting of the County Council on 12 February 2013:

On the revenue and capital budget:

                         i.    Note the Chief Finance Officer’s statutory report on the robustness and sustainability of the estimates and the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves (Annex 2).

                        ii.    Note that dispensation has been sought for all county councillors to ensure their eligibility to vote on the recommendations in this report without any risk of non-compliance with the Localism Act 2011.

                      iii.    Set the County Council precept for band D council tax at £1,172.52, which represents a 1.99% increase.

                      iv.    Agree to maintain the Council Tax rate set above and delegate powers to the Leader and the Chief Finance Officer to finalise detailed budget proposals following receipt of the Final Financial Settlement.

                       v.    Approve the County Council budget for 2013/14.

                      vi.    Agree the capital programme proposals specifically to:

·     fund essential schemes over the five year period, schools and non-schools, to the value of £695m including ring-fenced grants;

·     seek to secure capital receipts over the five year period to 2017/18 of £50m; and

·     make adequate provision in the revenue budget to fund the capital programme.

                     vii.    Require Strategic Directors and Senior Officers to maintain robust budget monitoring procedures that enable Cabinet to monitor the achievement of efficiencies & service reductions through the monthly budget monitoring Cabinet reports, the quarterly Cabinet Member accountability meetings and the monthly scrutiny at the Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

                   viii.    Require an approved business case for all revenue invest to save proposals and capital schemes before committing expenditure.

On treasury management and borrowing:

                      ix.    Approve the Treasury Management Strategy for 2013/14 and approve that their provisions have immediate effect. This strategy includes:

a.   the investment strategy for short term cash balances;

b.   the prudential indicators (Annex 1, section B, Appendix B1);

c.   the treasury management policy (Annex 1, section B, Appendix B8);

d.   the minimum revenue provision policy (Annex 1, section B, Appendix B7).

2.         The medium term financial plan (MTFP) for the financial years 2013-18 be approved, including the following:

·     the total Schools Budget of £621.5m be approved(Annex 1, section A, paragraphs A32 to A34).

·     the revenue risk contingency be set at £13m to mitigate against the risk of non-delivery of service reductions & efficiencies.

·     earmarked reserves (as in Annex 1, section A, Appendix A7) be amended and £12m of general balances be applied to support the 2013/14 budget.

·     £11m of the approved carry forward revenue budget from 2012/13 be applied to support the 2013/14 revenue budget.

3.         The process of reviewing the revenue budget and capital programme set out in the MTFP (2013-18) begin immediately after the first quarter of 2013/14.

4.         It be noted that the final detailed MTFP (2013-18) will be presented to Cabinet on 27 March 2013 for approval following scrutiny by Select Committees.

5.         That the recommendations of the Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted and the Chief Finance Officer be requested to provide a response to the points made, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, prior to the Budget Council meeting. 

Reasons for Decisions

To advise the County Council how best to meet the challenges the Council faces when it meets on 12 February 2013 to agree the summary budget and set the council tax increase for 2013/14. The reasons underpinning the recommendations include:

·        to ensure the Council maintains its financial resilience and protects its long term financial position;

·        to enable the Council to meet the expectations of Surrey’s residents as confirmed in their responses to the in depth consultation exercise;

·        to provide adequate finances for key services such as school places, highways, adults social care and protecting vulnerable people.

[The decisions on this item, with the exception of resolution 1, can be called in by the Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee]