Agenda item - Financial Strategy 2018/19 to 2022/23

The Deputy Chief Executive / Director of Customer & Corporate Services to present a report which sets out the financial strategy for 2018/19 to 2022/23, including detailed revenue budget proposals for 2018/19 and asks Members to recommend the proposals to Council for approval.

Resolved: (i) That the average rent decrease of 1%, described in paragraph 158 of the report and shown in Table 14 at paragraph 159, be applied to all ‘social housing rents’ for 2018/19.

Reason: As required by legislation.

(ii) That the average rent increase of 4%, described in paragraph 60, be applied to all rents which fall outside the definition of ‘social housing rents’ for 2018/19.

Reason: To ensure the ongoing financial stability of the HRA and allow work on improving the quality of the council’s affordable housing to continue.

(iii) That the receipt of an additional £457k adult social care grant announced in the final settlement on 6 February be noted.

Reason: So that this can be taken into account in the recommendations to Council.

(iv) That Officers be requested to:

a) Provide more management data on council owned garages (there is income being lost from poor promotion of vacant garages in areas where there is demand);

b) Develop schemes to promote a system for nearby residents to combine bulk waste requests, as trialled with the Community Recycling Scheme;

c) Work with Yorwaste to reduce charges at the Household Waste Recycling Centre for inert domestic waste.

(v) That the Chief Executive and Director for Adult Social Care be requested to set up a meeting of organisations including the Clinical Commissioning Group(CCG), NHS Trust and other partners, to examine plans for the resolution of funding pressures on health services for residents, covering the ‘winter pressures’ and delayed transfer of care.

Reason: To ensure that these areas of particular concern for residents are properly addressed.

Recommended: (i) That the £46k cut to the OAP Garden Scheme (HRA4) in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) savings proposals at Annex 6 to the report be deleted, to be replaced by a balancing increase to the Housing Repairs savings (HRA1) through improved IT systems to avoid wasted appointments.

(ii) That, subject to that amendment, Council approve the budget proposals as outlined in the report; in particular:

a) The net revenue expenditure requirement of £121.877m;

b) A council tax requirement of £85.898m;

c) The revenue growth proposals outlined in the body of the report;

d) The 2018/19 revenue proposals outlined in Annex 2;

e) The fees and charges proposals outlined in Annex 4;

f) The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget set out in Annex 5 and the HRA savings proposals set out in Annex 6;

g) The dedicated schools grant proposals outlined from paragraph 162;

h) The use of £373k New Homes Bonus funding to fund one-off investment, as outlined in paragraph 54;

i) An £800k increase in the contingency budget to fund adult social care, in particular winter pressures and delayed transfers of care, subject to a further report to Executive;

j) The release of one-off funding of £450k from the transport reserve to fund ongoing expenditure;

k) The use of £38k of the £156k funding from the Leeds City Region Business Rates Pool (as per the budget report to Executive on 9 February 2017; Minute 121 of that meeting refers) to support the city’s cultural centre by progressing the development and promotion of a clearly defined Cultural Strategy with the Cultural Leaders Group, as set out in a recent Scrutiny report to Executive.

Reason: To ensure that a legally balanced budget is set.

[See also under Part B Minutes]

The Deputy Chief Executive / Director of Customer & Corporate Services presented a report which set out the council’s financial strategy for 2018/19 to 2022/23, including detailed revenue budget proposals for 2018/19. It was noted that the income and expenditure proposals, if approved, would result in a 3.49% increase in the City of York element of the council tax, of which 1.5% would relate to the social care precept.

Officers reported at the meeting that details of the final settlement from government for 2018/19 had been received on 6 February and included additional social care funding of £457k.

Members welcomed the additional funding, thanked Officers for producing a balanced budget in difficult circumstances, and noted that the proposed council tax increase was one of the lowest in the region. The Interim Deputy Leader / Executive Member for Environment outlined some additional proposals aimed at addressing pressures on the CCG budget and residents’ concerns about waste management services; these were supported, and it was