Decision:
“(a) That subject to the items below, and
following changes arising from the final Local Government Finance Settlement
and receipt of final Business Rates information from Leicestershire district
councils, approval be given to the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) which
incorporates the recommended net revenue budget for 2025/26 totalling £615.2m
as set out in the revised Appendices A, B and E of this report and includes the
growth and savings for that year as set out in the revised Appendix C;
(b)
That the revised Appendices A, B, C and E be
approved to reflect the changes in Business Rates, grant income and a reduction
in the growth contingency, which taken together have no impact on the use of
reserves;
(c)
That approval be given to the projected
provisional revenue budgets for 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29, set out in the
revised Appendix B to the report, including the growth and savings for those
years as set out in the revised Appendix C, allowing the undertaking of
preliminary work, including business case development, engagement and equality
and human rights impact assessments, as may be necessary to achieve the savings
specified for those years including savings under development, set out in
Appendix D;
(d)
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 Corporate Resources
agreeing to funding being available;
(e)
That the level of the general fund and earmarked
reserves as set out in Appendix K be noted and the planned use of those
earmarked reserves as indicated in that appendix be approved;
(f)
That the amounts of the County Council's Council
Tax for each band of dwelling and the precept payable by each billing authority
for 2025/26 be as set out in Appendix M;
(g)
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;
(h)
That approval be given to the 2025/26 to 2028/29
capital programme, totalling £439m, as set out in Appendix F;
(i)
That the Director of Corporate Resources
following consultation with the Lead Member for Resources be authorised to
approve new capital schemes, including revenue costs associated with their
delivery, 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 N, Annex 2 be noted and that the following
limits be approved:
(k)
That the Director of Corporate Resources 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 2025/26 to 2028/29:
(i) 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 |
(ii) An
upper limit for principal sums invested for periods longer than 364 days is 20% of the portfolio.
(m)
That the Director of Corporate Resources be
authorised to enter into such loans or undertake such arrangements as necessary
to finance the capital programme, subject to the prudential limits in Appendix
N;
(n)
That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement
and the Annual Investment Strategy for 2025/26, as set out in Appendix N, be
approved including:
(i)
The Treasury Management Policy Statement,
Appendix N; Annex 4;
(ii)
The Annual Statement of the Annual Minimum
Revenue Provision as set out in Appendix N, Annex 1;
(o)
That the Capital Strategy (Appendix G),
Investing in Leicestershire Programme Strategy (Appendix H), Risk Management
Policy and Strategy (Appendix I), Earmarked Reserves Policy (Appendix J) and
Insurance Policy (Appendix L) be approved;
(p)
That it be noted that the Leicester and
Leicestershire Business Rate Pool will continue for 2025/26;
(q)
That School funding is subject to a 0.5%
transfer of funding to the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant;
(r)
That the Leicestershire School Funding Formula
is subject to capping at 0.28% per pupil and continues to reflect the National
Funding Formula for 2025/26;
(s) That delegated authority be given to the Director of Children and Family Services, following consultation with the Lead Member for Children and Family Services, to agree the funding rates for early years providers.”
Supporting documents: