Issue - meetings

That, having considered the report, the Committee informs the Cabinet that it supports the framework for the revision of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

The Chief Executive and Corporate Finance Manager introduced the report on the revised financial forecast for 2018/19 as part of the refresh of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

A presentation was delivered covering the following areas:

·         Financial Forecast 2018/19

·         Main Pressures

·         Risks and Potential Impacts from 2017/18

·         National Position

·         National Case Making

·         Next Steps

The revised forecast showed a projected gap of £11.7m for 2017/18 prior to any modelling on increased Council Tax levels.  The forecast was based on a range of information including national, local and workforce pressures.  Whilst some issues could be predicted with certainty, others were outside the control of the Council.  The two most significant factors were the local government financial settlement for 2017/18 and Council Tax levels.

Councillor Aaron Shotton highlighted the importance of councils in Wales continuing to collectively lobby the Welsh Government (WG) for fairer funding and for Flintshire to make its case amongst those in a low funded position.  Reasonable assumptions had been made on grant funding and reference was made to the possibility of ‘hidden’ funding cuts from the UK Government which could affect Wales.

In response to a question from Councillor Richard Jones, the Chief Executive said that work would continue on developing the MTFS, however it was inevitable that the forecasted budget gap could not be met without affecting front-line services.  This had been widely acknowledged during the last budget consultation process where Overview & Scrutiny committees had considered options for their respective areas.

RESOLVED:

That, having considered the report, the Committee informs the Cabinet that it supports the framework for the revision of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.