Agenda item

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

 The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer setting out the Executive’s provisional revenue budget for 2023/2024 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance, Corporate Business and Customer Experience reported that the initial budget has for this year has increased to £172.438m and the main factor is inflation as can be shown in Table 2 within the report.  He further said that public consultation has been undertaken as regards to the revenue budget and the feedback resulted in that a combination of increase in Council Tax, the use of reserves and to increase the premium on second homes.   Whilst the provisional settlement for Welsh Government was higher than envisaged, the authority still has a deficit of £5.396m.  In order to fund the funding deficit, it would be necessary to increase Council Tax by 12%.  In order to reduce the increase in Council Tax, it would be necessary to utilise the Council’s reserves or to implement revenue budget savings.  However, the Executive has set the minimum general balance as 5% of the net revenue budget.   It is recommended that a combination of the use of £1.78m from the general reserves, increase of 5% in Council Tax (taking the Band D charge to £1,435.86) and to increase the premium on second homes from 50% to 75%. 

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer highlighted that this is the initial draft revenue for 2023/2024 and the final budget will be submitted to the Executive on 2^nd March, 2023 and thereafter to the full Council on 9^th March, 2023.  He noted that there will be minor adjustments to the budget with the main amendment to the levy of the Fire & Rescue Authority which has decreased from 13.4% to 9.9%.  There are other external partners that the Council funds that will come to a decision on their budget in due course. He highlighted the level of risk surrounding the budget, in particular whether sufficient provision has been made for pay increases, energy inflation and the increasing demand for services. 

Councillor Robert Ll Jones, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee provided feedback from the Committee’s 19 January, 2023 meeting where the reports of the Scrutiny Manager and Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer were

received by the Committee. Members of the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee were also in attendance.  Having considered the information presented at the meeting and having regard to feedback from the Finance Scrutiny Panel, it was resolved to recommend to the Executive that the recommendations contained within the report be approved.

The Executive wished to highlight the work that has been undertaken in setting the draft revenue budget and the balance that is required so that the budget will meet the services demands on the Authority in 2023/2024 and also to protect vulnerable people within society who need the services provided by the Council. 

It was RESOLVED:-

·           To approve the initial proposed budget for 2023/24 of £172.438m.

·           To approve a proposed increase in Council Tax of 5%, taking the Band D charge to £1,435.86.

·           To formally propose an increase in the premium on second homes from 50% to 75%.

·           That £1.758m is released from the Council’s general balances in order to balance the 2023/24 budget.