Decision details

(i)  To approve the rebasing amendments to the MTFS and set out in Appendix 1.

(ii)  To agree the revised medium term financial forecast after the quarter 1 review and rebasing exercise for the period 2024/25 to 2028/29 and MTFS update commentary as set put in Appendix 1.

(iii)  To agree in year savings that are transformation related and recurrent in nature, a budget adjustment will be completed to remove the budget once there is evidence of achievement. This will be completed on a quarterly basis and used to offset the Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) requirement.

(iv)  To agree the next steps to developing the MTFS and creating a balanced budget including further developing the business planning framework to deliver savings going forward.

This report details a rebasing the MTFS to set the base year to 2024/25. Cabinet is being asked to approve the amendments to the MTFS from this exercise and to note the commentary provided.

Not reviewing previously agreed budget adjustments included in the MTFS is not considered appropriate because this may result in the double counting of transformation savings with existing budget reductions or retention of budget increases that will not be required in the light of remodelled services. It would also result in a lack of clarity for members and budget holders over what is contained within the budget going forward.