Agenda item

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources regarding the proposed Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2018/19 to 2021/22 (MTFS).  A copy of the report, marked ‘4’, is filed with these minutes.

 

Members noted the comments received from Mr S. J. Galton CC, a copy of which is filed with these minutes. 

 

The Director of Finance reported that a small number of changes had been made to the draft MTFS for 2018/19 – 2021/22 since it was approved by the Cabinet in December 2017, and it was proposed to increase the overall Council tax rate to 5.99%. The Director added that since the Cabinet report had been published the final Local Government Finance Settlement had been announced which included an additional £1.5m allocation for Adult Social Care Support Grant in 2018/19 only.

 

Mr Rhodes CC said that the proposed increase in council tax would help address immediate funding shortfalls. He added that whilst the Council had worked hard to proactively reduce its budget deficit and had been rated the most productive upper tier Council in England by national consultancy firm iMPOWER, there remained tough times ahead as it sought to reduce the remaining £13m gap in funding by 2021/22.      

 

Mr Ould CC said that the Council would lobby Government to continue its contribution to the Supporting Leicestershire Families (SLF) programme, which would face a £2.3m per annum shortfall if current commitments were not renewed.

 

Mr Pain CC welcomed the additional £600,000 allocation within the Highways Revenue Budget which would help the Council continue to maintain its high standards in pressure areas such as pothole repairs, gully emptying and signage.

 

Mr Rushton CC thanked the Lead Member for Resources and officers for their hard work in ensuring the Authority was in a reasonable financial position and much stronger position than many other Councils. 

 

RESOLVED:

 

a)    That subject to the items below, approval be given to the Medium Term Financial Strategy which incorporates the recommended revenue budget for 2018/19 totalling £361m as set out in Appendices A, B and E of the report and includes the growth and savings for that year as set out in Appendix C;

 

b)    That approval be given to the projected provisional revenue budgets for 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22, set out in Appendix B of the report, including the growth and savings for those years as set out in Appendix C, allowing the undertaking of preliminary work, including business case development, consultation and equality impact assessments, as may be necessary towards achieving the savings specified for those years including savings under development, set out in Appendix D;

 

c)    That approval be given to the early achievement of savings that are included in the MTFS, as may be necessary, along with associated investment costs, subject to the Director of Finance agreeing to funding being available;

 

d)    That the level of earmarked funds as set out in Appendix J be noted and the use of earmarked funds be approved;

 

e)    That the amounts of the County Council's Council Tax for each band of dwelling and the precept payable by each billing authority for 2018/19 be as set out in Appendix K (including 3% for the adult social care precept);

 

f)     That the Chief Executive be authorised to issue the necessary precepts to billing authorities in accordance with the budget requirement above and the tax base notified by the District Councils, and to take any other action which may be necessary to give effect to the precepts;

 

g)    That approval be given to the 2018/19 to 2021/22 capital programme as set out in Appendix F;

 

h)   That the Director of Finance following consultation with the Lead Member for Resources be authorised to approve new capital schemes including revenue costs associated with their delivery;

 

i)     That it be noted that new capital schemes, referred to in (h), are shown as future developments in the capital programme, to be funded from funding available;

 

j)      That the financial indicators required under the Prudential Code included in Appendix L, Annex 2 be noted and that the following limits be approved:

 

 

	2018/19 £m	2019/20 £m	2020/21 £m	2021/22 £m
Operational boundary for external debt
i)   Borrowing	264.6	264.1	263.6	263.1
ii) Other long term liabilities	1.3	1.2	1.1	1.0
TOTAL	265.9	265.3	264.7	264.1
Authorised limit for external debt
i)    Borrowing	274.6	274.1	273.6	273.1
ii) Other long term liabilities	1.3	1.2	1.1	1.0
TOTAL	275.9	275.3	274.7	274.1

 

k)    That the Director of Finance be authorised to effect movement within the authorised limit for external debt between borrowing and other long term liabilities;

 

l)     That the following borrowing limits be approved for the period 2018/19 to 2021/22:

(i)       Upper limit on fixed interest exposures 100%

(ii)      Upper limit on variable rate exposures 50%

(iii)     Maturity of borrowing:-

 

	Upper Limit	Lower Limit
	%	%
Under 12 months	30	0
12 months and within 24 months	30	0
24 months and within 5 years	50	0
5 years and within 10 years	70	0
10 years and above	100	25

 

m)  That the Director of Finance be authorised to enter into such loans or undertake such arrangements as necessary to finance capital payments in 2018/19, subject to the prudential limits in Appendix L;

 

n)   That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and the Annual Investment Strategy for 2018/19, as set out in Appendix L, be approved including:

(i)           The Treasury Management Policy Statement, Appendix L; Annex 4

(ii)          The Annual Statement of the Annual Minimum Revenue Provision as set out in Appendix L, Annex 1; 

 

o)    That approval be given to the Risk Management Policy and Strategy (Appendix H);

 

p)    That the Capital Strategy (Appendix G) and Earmarked Funds Policy (Appendix I) to this report be approved;

 

q)    That it be noted that the partners of the Leicester and Leicestershire Business Rate Pool have agreed to continue with the arrangements for 2018/19;

 

r)     That the Director of Finance following consultation with the Lead Member for Resources be authorised to make changes to the MTFS required as a result changes arising between the Cabinet and County Council meetings, subject to any changes being reported to the County Council.

 

(KEY DECISION)

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

To enable the County Council to meet its statutory requirements with respect to setting a budget and Council Tax precept for 2018/19, to allow efficient financial administration during 2018/19 and to provide a basis for the planning of services over the next four years.