*O&S 37
The
Leader of the Council introduced the Draft Budget
Proposals.
In
so doing, particular reference was made to:
1.
A one-off services grant in addition to the New
Homes Bonus Grant being rolled forward and the continuation with a
lower tier services grant which was previously introduced. It
remained a requirement for any council tax increases to be limited
to the higher of 1.99% or £5 per year.
2.
The report made provisions for a balanced budget for
2022/23 subject to the financial pressures. Contributions to
ear-marked reserves of £209,350, the proposed use of
£75,000 from business rates retention ear-marked reserves and
use of £150,000 of new homes bonus funding were also
recommended as part of the proposals.
3.
Rough sleeping outreach post proposed to be made
permanent and an increase in IT support costs.
4.
The business rates retention reserve of
£1,260,000 could be partly used for smoothing out the
volatility in income over the next three years.
5.
The annual staff pay award had not been resolved but
a budget provision of 2% was contained within the cost
pressures.
6.
Funding of £122,000 had been set aside to
deliver some of the actions contained within a Plan for West Devon.
£172,084 of new homes bonus grant was proposed to be included
in an affordable housing reserve.
7.
Revenue on car parking income was expected to be
£69,000 down on budget however this would be partly offset by
planning income being anticipated is expected to be about
£30,000 over budget.
In
response to Member questions the Leader confirmed that the
Council’s property investment portfolio was performing well.
Clarification was given on the staff pay award. The employers offer
to the Union was 1.75% and the Council
had budgeted for a 2% increase. The pay award was still going
through negotiations.
It was then
RESOLVED:
That
the views of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were sought on the
content of the Revenue Budget Proposals report for
2022/23.
Committee support was expressed for:
i) The proposed increase
in Council Tax for 2022/23 of £5 (Band D of £246.63 for
2022/23 – an increase of 10 pence per week or £5 per
year – equates to a 2.07% increase);
ii) The financial pressures shown in Appendix A
of £689,000;
iii) The net contributions to
Earmarked Reserves of £209,350 as shown in Appendix A,
including the proposed use of £75,000 from the Business Rates
Retention Earmarked Reserve as set out in 3.21 of the
report;
iv) That the Council transfers
£162,850 into a Financial Stability Earmarked Reserve in
2022/23, to be available for any future financial pressures from
future local government funding reforms and any other budget
pressures;
v) To
use £150,000 of New Homes Bonus funding in 2022/23 to fund
the Revenue Base Budget as set out in 3.30 of the report
vi) That £172,084 of the New
Homes Bonus grant allocation for 2022/23 is allocated to an
Affordable Housing Earmarked Reserve as a one-of contribution for
2022/23 as ...
view the full minutes text for item *O&S 37