Agenda item

Recommendation 1: To set the strategic intention to raise council tax by the maximum allowed in any given year, without triggering a council tax referendum, to enable the continued delivery of services. The actual council tax for any given year will be decided by Council in the preceding February.

Recommendation 2: To respond to any Government announcement/consultation on Business Rates Reform

Recommendation 3: To continue to actively lobby and engage with the Government, Devon MPs and other sector bodies such as the District Councils Network and the Rural Services Network, for a realistic business rates baseline to be set for the Council for 2020 onwards and for when the business rates reform is introduced for 2021-22.

Recommendation 4: That SHDC continues to lobby in support of the Government eliminating Negative Revenue Support Grant in 2020/21 (and thereafter) and continues to lobby for Rural Services Delivery Grant allocations which adequately reflect the cost of rural service provision.

Recommendation 5: To use £500,000 of New Homes Bonus funding for 2020-21 (or any alternative scheme) to fund the revenue base budget and then reduce to £350,000 by 2021-22 and £250,000 by 2022-23 for modelling purposes;

Recommendation 6: That the Council maintains a policy of a minimum level of Unearmarked Reserves of £1.5 million and that the annual level of contributions to Earmarked Reserves (£684,300 as per Appendix E) and the adequacy of the existing level of Unearmarked Reserves (£1.9 million) and Earmarked Reserves (£13.3 million) is reviewed by Members as part of the budget setting process. This will assess the adequacy of Reserves levels, in light of future plans and pressures.

Recommendation 7 - That the Council continues dialogue with the actuaries of the Devon Pension Fund and DCC on the options for the Council’s Pension position, with the aim of reducing the current contributions,  increasing affordability, whilst best managing the pension deficit. One option the Council could consider is paying off some or all of the Deficit in a lump sum. This will be modelled, with a report being presented to Members by January 2020 on this option with both the costs and the benefits, once the results of the Triennial Pension Revaluation are known.

Recommendation 8 – That the Council maintains an Upper Limit on External Borrowing (for all Council services) as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy of £75 million.