Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendations.

The Chief Executive introduced the report and explained that the full reports on the previous stages of the budget setting process for 2021/22 were appended to the report.

            In January Cabinet had set an upper minimum budget additional requirement for 2021/22 of £16.750m and a lower minimum budget requirement of £13.873m.  The upper figure included provision for national pay awards at 2% across the board, and the lower figure made no provision for pay.  The lower figure was being used for the purposes of balancing the budget as there was no provision within the UK Government budget statement for any public sector annual pay awards with the exception of pay awards for employees with salaries of under £24k per annum.  As a consequence of that, Welsh Government (WG) had received no uplift in funding to support any annual pay awards for local government employees and teachers.

            Cabinet in January also considered the issues which remained to be closed as part of the budget-setting process.  This report recommended solutions to all of those issues and set out recommendations for the Council to be able to reach a legal and balanced budget.

            The formal response of the Council to the WG consultation on the Provisional Local Government Settlement 2021/22 was appended to the report.  The response fully took into account the views expressed by Cabinet as a collective and those of the body of elected Members.

            The report also set out the Council Tax resolution for setting taxation levels for 2021/22.  A formal resolution was proposed for Council later that day as notification of the precepts of the Police and Crime Commissioner and all Town and Community Councils within Flintshire had been received. Council had set a clear direction to keep the increase of Council Tax to below 5%.  The budget proposals included an overall increase of 3.95% to meet the budget requirement, which comprised 3.45% for Council budgets and 0.5% as regional contributions to the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority, North Wales Economic Ambition Board and the Coroners Service. This equated to a weekly increase of £1.32.

            The report included tables, and commentary, on the following:

·         Table 1: Revised Minimum Additional Budget Requirement 2021/22;

·         Table 2: Proposed Budget Solutions 2021/22;

·         Table 3: Proposed Budget 2021/22; and

·         Table 4: Medium Term Forecast 2022/23 – 2023/24

Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee had received the report on 11^th February 2021 where it was unanimously supported.

A presentation was delivered by the Chief Executive and the Corporate Finance Manager which supported the report.  A key slide showed a summary of proposed solutions which showed the revised budget requirement and how this could be brought down to £0.000m based on the following:

·         Provisional Settlement Uplift;

·         Corporate Efficiencies;

·         Social Care Workforce Grant;

·         Council Tax; and

·         Reduction to Contribution to Reserves.

Flintshire’s Band D charge was proposed at 3.95%, which was a difference of -0.20% on the Wales average, and -1.04 of English Council average.

The Corporate Finance Manager provided details of the open risks  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91