Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies received.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest, registerable interest or other interest.

There were no interests declared.

To receive questions from members of the public under rule no.10 of the Council Procedure Rules. The procedure rule provides that members of the public may ask any question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the District, provided that three clear days’ notice in writing has been given to the Head of Legal and Support Services.

There were no questions received.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2024

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2024.

It was moved by Councillor M Ball, seconded by Councillor M Blair-Park, and

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2024 be approved as an accurate record of proceedings.

The report of the Strategic Director of Resources

The Strategic Director of Resources presented the first two of four reports for consideration, these being the Draft 2025/26 Robustness of Budget Estimates and Draft Capital Strategy, Treasury Management Strategy and Prudential Indicators. Additionally, he referred to the associated Cabinet reports being published in a single document as an additional paper to make all documents easily accessible. 

The Chair requested clarity about the management of risk regarding the General Fund overspend in 2024/25.

The Strategic Director of Resources advised that a key contributor had been the pay award, which had consequently been more cautiously budgeted for in the 2025/26 budget. The use of agency staff had also contributed. It was intended that these issues would be accounted for in the 2025/26 General Fund Budget.

Some Members suggested that reserves should be invested to improve service delivery and that the use of capital expenditure to certain posts could reduce use of agency staff and consultants, which would thus lead to a net saving for the General Fund budget.

The Strategic Director of Resources advised that sensitivity analysis and scenario planning would be undertaken in Spring 2025 to assist the Medium-Term Financial Plan. Though the projected Business Rates Reserve would be approximately £30 million by 2029/30, significant amounts of this would be invested. Furthermore, it was prudent to retain healthy reserves due to medium and long-term financial uncertainty, a situation facing all local authorities. The Chair accepted this but suggested it should be clarified in future budgets that a portion of the Business Rates Reserve would be invested.

The Chair requested clarification on the expected Business Rates reset. The Strategic Director of Resources advised that 2026/27 was the year when the changes were expected, but there would be a transitionary period. The expectation was that the Council would see a reduction in business rates funding, and the Finance Team were working with external consultants to model this.

The Strategic Director of Resources presented the final two reports, these being the Draft 2025/26 General Fund Budget and Council Tax and Draft 2025/26 Housing Revenue Account and Rent Setting.

In response to a Member, the Strategic Director of Resources clarified that the £500,000 allocated for salaries within the General Fund Capital Reserve was a budgeting procedure which other local authorities also utilised, and which went through a robust process to demonstrate these could be capitalised within accounting conventions.

A discussion was had about the plans to partner with a registered provider to mitigate issues regarding homelessness, within the HRA budget. The Strategic Director of Communities advised on the factors leading to an increase in homelessness within the district and nationally. He agreed to provide the Committee with an update on the status of the registered provider project. The Committee were updated on the grant received from government for next year.

The Chair noted that the General Fund Revenue Account had only been balanced this year by drawing from reserves to support one-off expenditure. He also noted that the planned increases in staffing focused on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

To consider any items to be included in the work programme. The plan of forthcoming Cabinet decisions and the current work programme are attached for information.

Consideration was given to any items on the future work programme.