Agenda item

Financial Strategy 2014/15 to 2018/19

Decision:

Resolved: (i) That, having considered;

· Expenditure pressures facing the council as set out in the report.

· Impacts of savings proposals set out in Annexes 3 and 4 of the report.

· Medium term financial factors facing the council as outlined in the report.

· Projected levels of reserves as set out in the report.

· Statutory advice from the Director of Customer and Business Support Services.

It be

Recommended: (i) That Council approve the budget proposals as outlined in the report, in particular

· The net revenue expenditure requirement of £124.186m.

· A Council Tax requirement of £71.768m.

· The revenue growth proposals as outlined in the body of the report.

· The revenue savings proposals as outlined in Annexes 3 and 4.

· The fees and charges proposals as outlined in Annex 5.

· The Housing Revenue Account budget set out in Annex 6.

· The dedicated schools grant proposals outlined in Annex 7.

(ii) That Council note that the effect of approving the income and expenditure proposals included in the recommendations would result in an increase in the City of York element of the council tax of 1.9%.

Reason: To ensure a legally balanced budget is set.

Minutes:

[See also Part A minute]

Members considered a report which presented the financial strategy for 2014 to 2019, including detailed revenue budget proposals for 2014/15 and 2015/16 for Council approval. Following the issuing of the final Local Government Finance Settlement on 5 February 2014 amendments had been made to the report, a copy of which had been circulated to all Members and published online.

It was noted that the financial strategy delivered a balanced budget over a 2 year period including savings totalling £23.4m and a proposed Council Tax increase of 1.9% for 2014/15. The total council tax increase including the Parish, Police and Fire Authority precepts, would be agreed at the full Council meeting on 27 February 2014.

Members discussed some of the key issues including the proposed growth in adult social care, continued revenue funding for the York Financial Assistance scheme and the Living Wage together with support for Strategic Transport investment and budget provision for business rate discounts.

The Cabinet Member referred to the national context and to significant reductions in funding combined with a range of pressures affecting the budget. It was confirmed that with an increasing demand for council services and rising fuel costs, landfill tax and inflation driving costs up that the budget had had to be prudent whilst protect vulnerable people. The Cabinet Member although expressing sympathy with earlier speakers comments, confirmed that the authority were required to set a council tax or the decision would be taken out of the authorities hands. He referred to the budget strategy for 2015/16 which set out plans for a three strand process of council wide efficiency, prioritisation and the Rewiring of Public Services.

It was noted that an integral part of the development of the 2 year financial strategy had been as a result of feedback on budget priorities to ensure that the decisions had been informed by the views of key groups across the community. Other Members highlighted the scale of the challenges facing the Council and for the need to continue to review all areas of expenditure in addition to considering the type and level of services it provided.

Following further discussion it was