Decision details

To consider the report of the Head of Finance setting out the General Fund Revenue Budget development for 2013/14 to 2015/16. 

(i)  Approve the consultation proposals and methodology set out in Paragraphs 4 to 8 and Appendix 1 of this report and that delegated authority be given to the Senior Manager – Customer and Business Improvement,following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Resources, to fine tune and implement the consultation proposals and methodology.

(ii)  Note the high level forecast for the General Fund for 2013/14 and the underlying assumptions contained in Appendix 2.

(iii)  Note the Executive’s initial savings proposals put forward for consultation in Appendix 3 which total almost £18.1M

(iv)  Note that the Executive’s initial savings set out in Appendix 3 propose the deletion of 279.34 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) posts, of which 65.66 FTE are vacant, leaving 213.68 FTE at risk of redundancy.

(v)  Approve a one off saving which will be delivered through the Capita contract of £2.8M in 2013/14.  This saving will be achieved through the pre-payment of £17.1M to Capita in 2012/13 allowing them to achieve financing savings, the benefit of which flows through to the Council in 2013/14.

(vi)  Note that the Executive’s budget proposals for consultation are based on the assumption that they will recommend a Council Tax increase of 2.0% to Full Council.

(vii)  Note the Executives proposal to review the local Council Tax discounts in place for households where all residents are persons over 65 years of age (10%) and for special constables (100%), with a view to removing them.

(viii)  Note the proposed changes to Council Tax discounts and exemptions with respect to second homes and empty properties in response to the Local Government Finance Act 2012 which recently received Royal Assent.

(ix)  Note the medium term financial forecast for 2013/14 to 2015/16 contained in Appendix 4.

(x)  Approve the updated budget setting timetable contained in Appendix 5.

(xi)  Delegate authority to the Chief Financial Officer, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Resources, to do anything necessary to give effect to the proposals contained in this report.

1. The production of a financial forecast and an outline timetable are a requirement of the Council’s Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules
2. In addition, it is good practice for the Council to consult with a range of stakeholders on its proposals for developing the budget.  The recommendations in this report have therefore been put forward to allow this process to formally begin.

The proposals presented in this report represent the Executive’s draft budget for 2013/14 that is being published for consultation.  Clearly there are a huge number of variables and alternative options that could be implemented as part of the budget.  The budget will be set by the Budget Setting Council in February 2013.