Decision details

To make recommendations to the County Council on the revenue and capital budgets for 2015/16 to 2019/20 and the level of council precept for 2015/16

That the following recommendations be made to the Full County Council on 10 February 2015:

On the revenue and capital budget:

1.         Note the Director of Finance’s statutory report on the robustness and sustainability of the budget and the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves (Annex 1 of the submitted report).

2.         Set the County Council precept for band D council tax at £1,219.68 which represents a 1.99% up-lift.

3.         Agree to maintain the council tax rate set above and delegate powers to the Leader and the Director of Finance to finalise detailed budget proposals following receipt of the Final Local Government Financial Settlement.

4.         Transfer £4.6m from the surplus on the Council Tax Collection Fund to the Economic Downturn Reserve.

5.         Approve the County Council budget for 2015/16.

6.         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;

·      make adequate provision in the revenue budget to fund the revenue costs of the capital programme; and

·      enhance provision for Local Growth Deal and flood schemes, as set out in paragraph 114 of the submitted report, including making a £0.5m pa contribution to the River Thames Scheme.

7.         Agree for Cabinet to refresh the Medium Term Financial Plan for the financial years 2015-20 (MTFP 2015?20) revenue and capital budgets in summer 2015.

8.         Require the Chief Executive and Director of Finance to continue regularly to track and monitor progress on the further development and implementation of robust plans for achieving the efficiencies across the whole MTFP period.

9.         Require Strategic Directors, Heads of Service and Senior Officers to maintain robust in year (i.e. 2015/16) budget monitoring procedures that enable Cabinet to monitor the achievement of efficiencies and 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.

10.      Require a robust business case to be prepared (and taken to the Investment Panel for review) for each revenue ‘invest to save’ proposals and capital schemes before committing expenditure.

On treasury management and borrowing:

11.      Approve the Treasury Management Strategy for 2015-20 and approve that their provisions have immediate effect. This strategy includes:

·      the investment strategy for short term cash balances;

·      increasing the number of AAA-rated money market funds from five to seven (with the individual amount to a single fund increased from £20m to £25m);

·      the treasury management policy (Appendix 8 of the submitted report);

·      the prudential indicators (Appendix 9 of the submitted report);

·      the schedule of delegation (Appendix 11 of the submitted report);

·      the minimum revenue provision policy (Appendix 14 of the submitted report).

12.      That the Medium Term Financial Plan for the financial years 2015?20 be approved, which includes:

·      approval of the Total Schools Budget of £560.7m (paragraphs 53 to 59 of the submitted report);

·      supporting the 2015/16 budget by using £4.3m from earmarked reserves as set out in paragraph 99 of the submitted report;

13.     That it be noted that the Cabinet will receive the final detailed Medium Term Financial Plan 2015?20 on 24 March 2015 for approval following scrutiny by Select Committees.

Reasons for Decisions:

The County Council will meet on 10 February 2015 to agree the summary budget and set the council tax precept for 2015/16. The Cabinet advises the County Council how best to meet the challenges it faces and these proposals will aim to ensure the Council continues to maintain its financial resilience and protect its long term financial position.