Issue - meetings

(a)       That the recommendations of Cabinet for balancing the budget for 2024/25 be approved, based on the alternative option set out in paragraph 1.25 of the report; and

(b)       That the level of Council Tax for 2024/25 as recommended by Cabinet be approved, based on the alternative option for an overall annual increase of 9.0%.

The Chief Executive and Corporate Finance Manager gave a detailed presentation based on the report submitted to Cabinet earlier in the day, which covered the following:

·         Setting a legal and balanced budget

·         The journey so far…

·         Further changes to the additional budget requirement 2024/25

·         Additional Budget Requirement 2024/25

·         Budget Solutions

o   Aggregate External Finance (AEF)

o   Portfolio Cost Reductions

o   Schools - Cost Reductions

o   Other Cost Reductions

o   Council Tax

o   Final Proposed Solutions

o   Other Budget Option (submitted by the Independent Group)

·         Council Tax 2024/25

·         Schools and Social Care Budgets

·         Open Risks in 2024/25

·         Reserves

·         Professional Opinions and Concluding Remarks

·         Looking Forward

·         Next Steps and Timelines

The presentation detailed changes since the position reported in January which had taken into account the financial impact of the Welsh Local Government Provisional Settlement (LGPS).  Following two Member briefings and additional cost reduction proposals being considered by Overview & Scrutiny committees, work had continued to review the overall position in conjunction with a recent announcement from Welsh Government (WG) on an expected consequential from UK Government.  The outcome of that work was detailed in the Cabinet report with final proposed solutions to set out how the Council could achieve a legal and balanced budget for 2024/25.  The proposed budget included an overall annual 8% increase on Council Tax for Council services and 1.1% for additional contributions to North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and the Regional Coroners Service.  This equated to an overall uplift of 9.1% which provided overall additional net yield of £9.072m in 2024/25.  Analysis of this proposal and an option submitted by the Independent Group - which required the utilisation of the additional WG AEF with an overall Council Tax increase of 9.0% - was explained in the presentation.

A number of significant open risks were highlighted for 2024/25 together with an update on reserves including a reminder of the importance of building and maintaining reserves to safeguard against open risks and for the medium term in view of the reduced settlements expected for 2025/26 and 2026/27.

The Chief Executive concluded the presentation by reflecting on the increased risks and challenges arising from the poor settlement by WG and the need for increased fiscal control in 2024/25 to respond to anticipated future reduced financial settlements, with greater emphasis on service transformation and cost reduction.

As Leader of the Council, Councillor Ian Roberts thanked everyone for their input on the challenging budget situation and echoed officers’ concerns about the future financial position of local government.  Following the Cabinet meeting and discussions with the Independent Group earlier in the day, he moved the alternative budget set out in paragraph 1.25 of the report which included an annual overall 9.0% increase in Council Tax.

The proposal was seconded by Councillor Richard Jones who thanked officers, particularly those in the Finance team, for working with the Independent Group on the alternative budget.  He recognised the administration for supporting the proposal and referred to the impact of the funding formula which was in urgent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81