Issue - meetings

(a)       That the details of the Provisional Local Government Settlement and the impact on the budget forecast for 2018/19 be noted;

(b)       That the Stage One Budget proposals as set out in Appendix A be approved;

(c)       That the remaining stages of the budget process and timescales be noted; and

(d)       That the approach to the Provisional Settlement consultation be approved in accordance with the outline response to WG suggested in the presentation.

The Chief Executive and Corporate Finance Manager presented an update on the Council Fund Budget forecast for 2018/19 following the Provisional Welsh Local Government Settlement announced by Welsh Government (WG).  Members’ views were sought on a response to WG and to the Council’s portfolio business plan proposals which were presented for formal adoption.

Amongst the key outcomes from the announcement, it was reported that a number of specific grants were now included in the Settlement and the impact of a new responsibility for homelessness prevention was being assessed for which no additional base funding had been provided.  Further information received since the Provisional Settlement highlighted a reduction in the Education Improvement Grant and Single Environment Grant as areas of concern.  The overall effect had increased the previously forecasted £11.7m budget gap to £13.6m and could be further impacted by a projected £1.1m Council Fund overspend in 2017/18.

The portfolio business plan options with a value of £3.1m had been endorsed by Cabinet and reviewed by the respective Overview & Scrutiny committees with no objections raised.  The main topic of public interest was the proposed introduction of charges for garden waste collection which was not one of the Council’s statutory services.  Details were available in the report to the forthcoming Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting.  Resilience statements for each portfolio showed the majority of service areas at an Amber risk rating, reflecting the risk of failure prior to entering Stage 2 of the process.

Timescales for the budget process were set out to enable the Council to approve a balanced budget to meet its statutory duty.  More challenging options for Stage 2 totalling around £6m-8m would be considered by Members at an informal workshop prior to seeking approval at the next meeting, to allow for early implementation and focus on remaining options at Stage 3 in the New Year.

Whilst some informal representations had already been made to WG on the Provisional Settlement, Members were asked to agree a corporate response to make the case that both WG and UK Government should recognise their own responsibilities for better funding to meet the needs of local government in protecting services, as was the case for the Health service.  As a reminder of the representations made to WG, copies of a letter previously sent to Mark Drakeford AM were circulated, highlighting the national impact, the importance of making a collective case and the need for Flintshire to receive sufficient funding to deliver its mandatory services.

Draft response to the Provisional Settlement

The Chief Executive asked Members to support the following draft response to WG which had been informed by discussions throughout the budget process:

That:

·         the Settlement is inadequate for the Council’s needs;

·         the Council re-supports the case made on 22 August as set out in the letter to Mark Drakeford AM;

·         the Council supports the three specific asks under consideration in Stage 2 - ICF funding ringfenced for the next three years, the £100 per week domiciliary care cap and 50% of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62