Issue - meetings

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,  ...  view the full decision text for item 6

The Cabinet considered proposals for the draft budget to be recommended to the meeting of the County Council on 12 February 2013. This included the draft revenue and capital budget for the five years 2013-18 and the level of the council tax precept for 2013/14. Cabinet Members also considered the revised treasury management strategy, including the borrowing and operation limits (prudential indicators) for 2013-18, the policy for the provision of the repayment of debt (minimum revenue provision (MRP)) and the treasury management policy.

The Chairman noted that drawing up the budget proposals had involved difficult decisions under the current economic climate. The administration had listened to what residents had been telling them was important. This included schools, investment in roads, care for the vulnerable, elderly and children and young adults’ concerns about how they would get a job in Surrey. Now was the time to make decisions. Now was the time to invest.

Surrey remains one of the councils which receive the lowest level of funding from central government. The Government offer of a one off grant to freeze council tax for a year would have had long term implications for Surrey. Accepting this offer would cripple the Council’s finances and create a £50m black hole within five years. Whilst it might be seen as an easy option to park the problem until after the election, this would be morally indefensible. The Chairman noted that people had given their trust and the issue had to be faced. It was for this reason that a council tax increase of 1.99% would be recommended to Council.

The budget being recommended to Council would enable:

·       £10 million to be invested in raising education standards over 5 years and £45 million for additional school places. This would bring investment to a further £261 million and help provide the extra 12,000 places needed.

·       An extra £25 million to be invested in the county’s roads. The five year plan would mean that residents could have confidence in knowing that their road will be improved.

·       An additional £11million to be invested in adult social care. Surrey has the highest number of people aged over 80 and 85 in the country. The social care budget had increased by 25% over 3.5 years and further investment would address important concerns such as enabling people to be cared for in their own homes.

·       A £750,000 investment in young people, the economy and local businesses, creating further apprenticeships as part of what would be one of the largest apprenticeship programmes in the country.

·       An increase in the Community Improvement Fund to £1 million to continue investment in local projects, making a huge difference to community and voluntary groups.

·       £5 million as a risk contingency fund to ensure that the efficiency agenda was not compromised.

·       The use of £18m of reserves and carry forwards in 2013/4.

It was noted that the final detail on the budget settlement was expected before the Budget Council meeting. An update would be provided to Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6