Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) presenting a first view of the General Fund revenue budget for 2017/18. 

Report of the Executive Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) presenting a first view of the General Fund revenue budget for 2017/18. 

The outcome of the transfer of the pension fund of the Community Housing Trust and the revised triennial pension fund valuation for this combined fund was expected to be brought forward.

The Borough’s provisional financial settlement for 2017/18 was announced on 15 December 2016 as part of an agreed multi-year settlement and was a significant reduction compared to the current year.  Revenue Support Grant would fall by 57% and reflected the Government’s intention for this funding to reduce to zero by the end of the Parliament.  The Business Rates baseline would be increased by just 2% which meant that the Council’s overall funding settlement would be a reduction of 18% on the current year.

Fortunately the Council would start 2017/18 in a good financial position with healthy balances and the business rates base had grown since the introduction of the Business Rates Retention Scheme.  This meant it was estimated that more rates income would be retained than the baseline in the funding settlement.  This would go some way to offset the reduction in the funding settlement, although year on year the net reduction was still 13%, or £516,000.

The budget included a number of savings and growth proposals most notably of course the introduction of a charge for the collection of green waste.  The Council continued to strive to identify efficiencies and income opportunities which had the least detrimental impact on residents and the proposals this year again reflected this key principle of budget planning.  However, with year on year funding reductions, options and decisions inevitably got harder.

Even with the efficiencies and additional income generation it was necessary this year to propose a Council Tax rate increase of £5 in the average Band D tax, after a freeze in the rate for the last seven years.  This would help to offset some of the Government’s funding reductions and as a result of this and all the budget proposals a budget could be presented in 2017/18 with a modest drawdown of reserves of £139,000.