Issue - meetings

That the recommendations be carried.

The Chief Executive introduced the report on the Council Fund Budget 2019/20 to receive the recommendations from Cabinet to Council to close the annual budget for 2019/20 following the Council debate on 29 January, and the further review work on corporate finance options and risks undertaken in the interim.  The Council report of 29 January 2019 which included the Cabinet report of 22 January 2019 was appended to the report.

The Chief Executive provided background information and referred to the Senedd delegation which took place on 5 February, to seek improvement to the local government Settlement for 2019/20, and the request made by Members at the Council meeting held on 29 January, for officers to review specific areas of corporate finance and come back with further technical advice and professional opinion.  He said the specific areas were:

• the Minimum Revenue Policy (MRP) commitments and the scope for reducing the annual revenue contribution by using capital receipts to reduce total financeable debt;
• the detailed rationale for recommending the retention of the reserves as listed in the table in the report and in the presentation slides; and
• the justification for retaining the earmarked reserves that are forecast to remain at a static level over the next year.

Further explanation was also requested on the scope for debt rescheduling under the Treasury Management Strategy.

The Chief Executive referred to the all-Member budget briefing workshop which was held on 14 January, to address corporate finance in detail.  He said that additional technical advice and professional opinion was also being provided in a series of detailed advice notes which were listed as background papers to the report and were available on request.

The Chief Executive, Chief Officer (Governance), Corporate Finance Manager, and Revenues Manager, delivered a presentation which covered the following key areas:

• setting a legal and balanced budget
• summary budget position for 2019/20
• professional (technical) advice
• Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) – use of capital receipts
• prudent level of reserves
• un-earmarked reserves
• earmarked reserves
• debt rescheduling and cash flow management
• professional opinions
• budget scenarios
• next steps and timelines

The Chief Officer (Governance) advised that it was the collective duty of Council to set a legal and balanced budget.  He commented on the importance of adhering to deadlines and explained that residents who paid their Council Tax by direct debit  had to be given two weeks notice in advance of an increase in payment, and, therefore the Council budget would need to be approved before end of February for this payment facility to be offered in good time.  He referred to the budget setting process and the technical and professional advice provided to guide Members.

Councillor Aaron Shotton advised that Cabinet, at a meeting held immediately prior to County Council, had recommended a resolution to County Council and asked that the details of the resolution be distributed to Members for consideration at the meeting.   Councillor Shotton thanked the Chief Executive and Officers for responding to the specific requests which were raised by Members at the previous  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9