Medium Term Financial Plan 2013/14 - 2015/16
To consider a report on the Capital and Revenue Budgets and on the Council Tax Level for 2013/14.
(Presentation on evening)
Minutes:
Officers provided the Committee with a presentation detailing the anticipated financial pressures facing the authority over the coming three year period. It was demonstrated that the level of financial support from central Government was falling quite dramatically and, as a result, the Council had to deal with anticipated budget shortfalls over the next three years.
Members were informed that the current financial predictions were based upon there being no revenue bids from services over the next three years, no increase in Council Tax and anticipated reductions in Formula Grant during this period. The shortfall for the current year was anticipated to be £350,000 - £400,000.
Savings were being made through service transformation and staff were being encouraged to share any ideas they had for saving money with management. Staff had also been invited to apply for voluntary redundancy in a bid to avoid making staff compulsorily redundant.
Members expressed their disappointment at the poor grant settlement received by the Borough, given the efforts that had been made in recent years to push down costs through measures such as the sharing of services. It was recommended that the Leader write to the Department for Communities and Local Government to complain at the level of grant settlement.
RESOLVED that
1) the presentation of the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Resources on the Medium Term Financial Plan be noted and Officers be tasked to continue to try to identify savings through systems thinking and the transformation programme in order to protect front line services and balance the budget; and
RECOMMENDED
2) the Leader writes to DCLG in the strongest possible terms in response to the Finance Settlement as the Borough Council has received the worst settlement in the County and given that it had already been innovative in its approach to shared services and systems thinking.