Issue - meetings

To submit a report by the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer.

It was resolved –

•           To note the formal consultation meetings on the budget and the resulting feedback as outlined in Section 2 of Appendix 1 and in

Appendix 2 to the report.

•           To note the equalities impact assessment summary on the budget proposals as outlined in Section 10 of the report and in Appendix 5.

•           To agree the final details of the Council’s proposed budget including the revised funding in response to budget pressures and the proposed savings as shown in Section 8 of Appendix 1 and in Appendix 3.

•           That the proposed reduction in the delegated schools budget be allocated on the basis of the 2018/19 budget share. This would allocate the budget reduction between the three sectors as follows: £347k in the primary sector; £252k in the secondary sector; £27k in the special sector (Section 9.3 of the report).

•           To note the Section 151 Officer’s recommendation that a minimum of £6.7m general balances is maintained for 2019/20.

•           To note the comments made by the Section 151 Officer on the robustness of the estimates made as set out in Section 6 of the Appendix 1.

•           To recommend a net budget for the County Council and resulting increase in the level of Council Tax to the Full Council, noting that a formal resolution, including the North Wales Police and Community Council precepts, will be presented to the Council on the 27 February, 2019.

•           To authorise the Section 151 Officer to make such changes as may be necessary before the submission of the final proposals to the Council.

•           To agree that any unforeseen pressures on demand led budgets during the financial year will be able to draw upon funding from the general contingencies budget.

•           To request the Council to authorise the Executive to release up to £250k from general balances if the general contingencies budget is fully committed during the year.

•           To delegate to the Section 151 Officer the power to release funding from the general contingency up to £50k for any single item. Any item in excess of £50k not to be approved without the prior consent of the Executive.

•           To recommend to the Council a 9.5% increase in the level of Council Tax.

•           To approve the increase in the Council Tax Premium for second homes from 25% to 35% and the increase in the Council Tax Premium for empty homes from 25% to 100%.

•           To accept the recommendation of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee that in order to further improve the consultation process for future years, the process should reflect and/or address the following:

•           Demographic profile of respondents

•           Differentiation between service users/non-users

•           Prevention of multiple/duplicate responses by respondents

•           How different percentage increases in Council Tax are linked to service cuts/gains.

The report of the Head of Function (Resources) / Section 151 Officer incorporating the detailed revenue budget proposals for 2019/20 was presented for the Executive’s final review. The report also updated the Medium Term Financial Plan which provides a context for the work on the Council’s future budgets. The Executive was asked to make final recommendations to the County Council to enable it to adopt a budget for 2019/20.

The Portfolio Member for Finance said that the challenge of setting a balanced budget for 2019/20 has already been reported and that he had previously described the concurrence of negative factors – a reduced funding settlement from Welsh Government, general price inflation and rising costs, pay inflation and increased teachers’ pension costs - as creating a “perfect storm” of challenges leading to an initial budget gap of £7.156m (before Council Tax increase and the application of savings). Savings to the value of £3.747m were identified which included a proposed £1.76m reduction in the delegated Schools’ budget. The Portfolio Member said that it had become clear from the public consultation on the 2019/20 budget proposals that people are not happy for cuts to be made to education or if they have to be made at all, they are of the view they should be kept to a minimum. The Executive has taken heed of this and other messages from the public consultation and has responded accordingly by making adjustments to the savings proposals as outlined in section 9.1 of the report.

The Portfolio Member said that the situation remains extremely challenging not forgetting that the Council has already made savings in the region of £25m since 2013/14. It could be said that the Council is very near the end of its ability to make service savings and that it is very difficult to see where any further cuts can be made without having a serious impact. The Council was overspent on its revenue budget in 2017/18 and will most probably be overspent again in 2018/19 due to a large extent to pressure on the Children’s Services budget. There is an argument to be made that funding for Children’s Services has not kept pace with the doubling of demand over recent years with the cost of child placements in the most complex cases reaching as much as £5,000 per week. In addition, the reduction in the Council’s level of reserves makes addressing any future service overspends potentially problematic.

The Portfolio Member said that he proposed the budget as presented with a heavy heart but with the reality being that the funding which local authorities receive from Central Government via the Welsh Government is not enough having been reduced year on year over the course of several years. The Portfolio Member quoted from an article in the 16 February edition of The Guardian on the English Council Tax system which raises points that are pertinent to Wales – it highlights the pressure that has been put on the Council Tax system because of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13