Agenda item

1.      Mr Oakford introduced the report highlighting that it was published before the government’s Autumn Budget and therefore did not include anything contained within that.  He said the provisional Local Government Financial Settlement would not be received until December and therefore assumptions had been made regarding the grants the Council would receive. Mr Oakford explained that the draft budget and MTFP was not yet completely balanced, principally due to undelivered savings in adult social care, and £19.8million of policy savings also needed to be found. He said the increase in the living wage would have a substantial impact on the Council and its commissioned services. Mr Oakford said he believed, based on the recent Autumn Budget, that the Council should receive an extra £13million for adult social care but, whilst this was welcomed, it was not enough to have a sufficient impact on the Council’s budget.

2.      Mr Murphy explained, in relation to the Economic Development portfolio, there was a spend of £3.8million against which there was an income in excess of £500,000 through No Use Empty and the East Kent Opportunities Scheme. He said savings of £85,000 had been included and highlighted this amount, although seemingly small, should be considered against the overall spend of £3.8million.

3.      Mrs Bell said the overall budget for Community and Regulatory Services was approximately £25million, against which there was an underspend of just over £800,000 principally through additional income generated by Trading Standards, the Registration Service, and staff vacancies in the Coroners Service. Savings for 2025/26 reflected the overall size of the budget and work in previous years to make policy and efficiency savings. Mrs Bell highlighted a saving target in the Libraries, Registrations and Archives service of £300,000 was likely to be achieved through additional income from the service.  

4.      Further to questions and comments from Members, it was noted that:

·         The new layout of the report was welcomed.

·         Cyclopark was a discretionary spend and Mr Murphy would be meeting with partners later in the year to discuss future plans.

·         The ambition was for Locate in Kent, Visit Kent and Produced in Kent to work together as one entity.

5.      RESOLVED to note the administration’s draft revenue budgets including responses to consultation.