Agenda item

1.         Mr Shipton introduced the report.  He said the Draft Budget would be published on 14 January and reminded the Committee that it was being asked to consider the consultation feedback and provisional Local Government finance settlement.

2.         He said the consultation had been successful, with over 3,000 responses to the online ‘2 minutes, 2 questions’ exercise and 487 responses to the online budget tool.  He said this was the best ever response to a consultation on the budget. The responses to the three elements of the market research were consistent and were also consistent with the views of staff. 

3.         Most respondents had expressed a view that the County Council should look to savings which had to be made through efficiencies and transformation rather than cutting back on existing service provision.  Over 70% of respondents also supported a small increase in Council Tax in order to offer some protection from savings on front-line services.  The more detailed budget modelling tool identified that those services for the most vulnerable and those in which people had no choice other than to receive support from Council services were the most highly valued and should be protected. 

4.         He explained that the 2014/15 settlement had been broadly as expected, with technical changes which meant some funds which had previously been allocated during the year had been rolled into the Revenue Support Grant - for example, the amount top-sliced for the New Homes Bonus had been reduced, which increased the Revenue Support Grant but reduced the amount paid as an in-year adjustment.

5.         It had been feared that the New Homes Bonus would be removed entirely and transferred into the single Local Growth Fund in 2015/16.  However, this would not now be the case and New Homes Bonus would roll out as originally planned.  The provisional settlement had also confirmed that the separate grants previously allocated to support Council Tax freezes would be rolled into the Revenue Support Grant settlement and thus would be safeguarded from being removed in future settlements.  The conclusion is that indicative settlements for 2015/16 and 2016/17 looked better than anticipated during the consultation.

6.         The Dedicated Schools Grant, announced on 18 December, had included the same allocation of funds per pupil as previously, and individual schools could not reduce their budgets by more than 1½%.  Mr Abbott added that one part of the Dedicated Schools Grant – the higher needs funding for higher and further education students – would not be known until 31 March 2014.  The impact of this on the draft budget for 2014/15 meant that the budget was slightly higher than expected, but that £81 million of savings would be needed to balance the budget.

7.         Some Members expressed disappointment at not having the opportunity to discuss the draft budget in public as a Committee and pass comments to the Cabinet Member, Mr Gough, before the Cabinet meeting on 22 January. Mr Shipton explained the dilemma that officers had faced this year and last in managing the budget consultation process around very tight preparation and publishing deadlines for the budget itself and its reports to Cabinet Committees, as the process had not been able to start until the Local Government settlement had been announced. The Chairman suggested that the convening of an all-party budget group very soon after the Cabinet Committee meeting would give Members an opportunity to consider the draft budget and make comments on it to the Cabinet Member before 22 January. This suggestion was accepted and the Democratic Services Officer undertook to arrange this.  The Democratic Services Officer clarified that the timetable for publishing reports to public committee meetings was set out in statute and was not something the County Council could change via its constitution.

8.         Responding to a question about the likely impact on the draft budget of the gains in Council Tax Freeze grant and in the New Homes Bonus, Mr Shipton said that, although the settlements were slightly better than expected (for example, the County Council was £600,000 better off in terms of the New Homes Bonus than it had expected to be), there would still be challenges in achieving a balanced budget.

9.         RESOLVED that the provisional settlement and the feedback from consultation be noted and a cross-party budget group of Members be convened to give Members an opportunity to consider the final draft budget and make comments and recommendations on it to the Leader and Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform by 22January 2014.