Agenda item

HC68          

Members were presented with a report that set out the Revenue Budget proposals for 2019/20, in line with the Medium Term Financial Strategy approved by Council on 25 September 2018.  The Council was currently forecasting a £504,242 budget gap by 2020/21 and the report set out proposals for the Council to achieve a balanced budget in 2019/20, as shown in Appendix B.

The Leader introduced the report.  He advised Members that there were two updates since the publication of the report, being a proposal to increase the establishment by one Level 5 Planning Officer and secondly, that Devon County Council (DCC) had confirmed that the Communities Together Fund (a Grant Fund whereby DCC allocated £1 per resident and WDBC allocated 10p per resident) would cease.  The result was a budget pressure for the WDBC allocation of the Planning Officer post and a saving of approximately £5,000 from the Communities Together Fund, as the previous papers had included this allocation. 

In light of the loss of the Communities Together Fund, and the difficulties Members faced in reducing grants to community groups and partnerships, Members discussed the possibility of creating a moderate fund (eg. £500 per Member) for each Member to be able to allocate to a specific purpose within their ward.  The rules of the fund could enable pooling to create a larger grant.  It was agreed that such a scheme should be proposed for consideration within the report to be presented to Council on 12 February 2019 setting out revenue budget proposals.

A number of Members thanked the Group Manager for Strategic Finance and her team for the work undertaken in producing the budget, and one Member quoted the positive comments in the recent Peer Review report.  The work of the Financial Stability Review Group and the Invest to Earn Group was also recognised.

The Leader concluded by thanking Members for their comments, and by stating that whilst it looked possible for the Council to balance it’s 2019/20 Budget, there were still difficult decisions to take and hard work to do in the future.

It was then RESOLVED that Council be RECOMMENDED to approve:

i)          The increase in Council Tax for 2019/20 of 2.99% (Band D of £231.63 for 2019/20 – an increase of 13 pence per week or £6.72 per year).

ii)         The financial pressures shown in Appendix A of £420,000*

iii)        The contributions to Earmarked Reserves of £120,000 and transferring the one-off 2019-20 budget surplus of £73,135 into the Future Financial Stability Earmarked Reserve to assist in meeting the predicted budget gap of £504,242* in 2020/21.

iv)        The savings of £684,700* as shown in Appendix A

v)         The use of £375,000 of New Homes Bonus funding to fund the 2019/20 Revenue Budget as set out in 4.6 of the report

vi)        The recommendations of the Financial Stability Review Group on Earmarked Reserves (set out in 10.2 and 10.3) and to agree for these to be recommended in the final Budget Proposals report for 2019/20 presented to Council on 12^th February 2019.

(vii)     To delegate authority to the S151 Officer, in consultation with the  Leader and Deputy Leader to agree the final amount of New Homes Bonus funding for the Dartmoor National Park Sustainable Community Fund for 19/20

(viii)   The utilisation of a collection fund surplus of £84,000 in 2019/20

(viii)    the Total Net Expenditure of the Council is £7,049,096* for 2019-20.

(ix)      the Council Tax Support Grant paid to Town and Parish Councils being reduced by 8.6% for 2019/20 as per Appendix A.

(xi)    the fees and charges set out in Appendix D (Planning) and E    (Environmental Health) for 2019/20.

(xii)    the recommendation of the Waste Working Group to commence the garden waste subscription period from the 1^st April 2019 instead of the current October renewal date. (Current subscriptions will be extended until the 1^st April 2020 without additional charge.) Any shortfall income from 2019/20 and 2020/21 whilst service growth is achieved should be covered from reserves (the Strategic Waste Earmarked Reserve) and paid back through increased income generated in future years. (This is set out in 4.21 to 4.25 of the report).

(xiii)  That the level of reserves as set out within this report and the assessment of their adequacy and the robustness of budget estimates be noted. This is a requirement of Part 2 of the Local Government Act 2003.

(NB.  * It was noted that the figures marked with an asterisk would be changed for the budget report being presented to the February Council meeting, to take account of the Level 5 planning specialist post, the cessation of the Communities Together Fund and the proposal for a moderate fund (e.g. £500 per Member) for each Member to be able to allocate to a specific purpose within their ward.)