The report of the Director of Finance (Document “AU”) provides Members with details of the Council’s Revenue Estimates for 2023/24.

Recommended –

Executive is asked to approve the following recommendations to

Council:

(a)      That the Base Revenue Forecast of £453.159m for 2023/24 be approved as set out in the report.

(b)      That the Existing pressures of £62.0m in 2023/24 as set out in Appendix B beapproved.

(c)      That the Investments previously approved of £0.5m in 2023/24 as set out in Appendix C benoted.

(d)      That the Recurring investment proposals of £1.098m in 2023/24 as set out in Appendix D beapproved.

(e)      That the prior agreed savings in Appendix E be noted.

(f)        That New savings of £13.580m in 2023/24 as set out in Appendix F be approved.

(g)      That the Capital Financing and Central budget adjustments of £22.390m in 2023/24 as set out in Appendix G be approved.

(h)      That it be noted that within the revenue budget there is a net use of £44.299m in revenue reserves in 2023/24 to balance the budget as outlined in Appendix A.

(i)        That it is noted that £4.250m of pre-approved reserve use is required for City of Culture and a Regeneration opportunity.

(j)        That £6m of reserves are earmarked to the Energy Price Volatility reserve.

(k)      That £3.163m is earmarked to the General Fund Reserve balance so that it remains at 5% of the net revenue budget in line with recommended practice.

That the comments of the Director of Finance set out in the Section 151 Officer’s Assessment of the proposed budgets on the robustness of the estimates and the adequacy of reserves taking account of the recommendations made at (a) to (k) above be noted.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee:  Corporate 

                                                                      (Andrew Cross – 07870 386523)

The report of the Director of Finance (Document “AU”) provided Members with details of the Council’s Revenue Estimates for 2023/24.

It was reported that the balanced 2023/24 revenue budget was predicated on the total available general resources (Council Tax income, Business Rates income, Top up Grant, Revenue Support Grant and use of reserves) of £453.270m in 2023/24; the use of £48m from reserves in order to balance the budget could not be sustained; the Local Government Settlement was also published on the 7 February 2023 which resulted in some small scale changes to the final settlement the Council would receive; the closure of the Keighley Household Waste and Recycling Centre would no longer happen.

The opposition spokesperson commented on the Children’s Trust budget and financial challenges facing the Council in future years.

In response the Leader emphasised that the extreme financial challenges were being faced by Councils across the Country which was a national issue and that negotiations with the Bradford Children’s and Families Trust were continuing.

The Opposition Leader spoke on the financial challenges relating to Children’s Social Care and highlighted some aspects of the Ofsted Inspection Report and the cost of using agency staff in Children’s Social Care. She welcomed the decision that the Keighley Household Waste Site which was a valuable service to the residents of Keighley was no longer closing.

In response the Leader emphasised that the years of cuts to public services had not helped and that other Councils across the Country were also having to use agency staff; the leadership were sorry that Children’s Services was not as good as it should be but the direction of travel would now ensure improvements were being made at a faster pace.

The Lead Petitioner attended the meeting and spoke on how vital the Keighley Household and Waste Recycling Centre was to the people of Keighley and emphasised the high number of residents that were in support of the petition.

A Ward Councillor spoke about the work that had been undertaken in listening to the resident’s concerns relating to the Keighley Household and Waste Recycling Centre. She reported that it was a challenging time for Councils in terms of balancing their budgets due to years of austerity.

The Leader thanked the Ward Councillor for the work undertaken on behalf of the residents of Keighley.

Resolved –

Executive is asked to approve the following recommendations to

Council:

(a)      That the Base Revenue Forecast of £453.159m for 2023/24 be approved as set out in Document “AU”.

(b)      That the Existing pressures of £62.0m in 2023/24 as set out in Appendix B to Document “AU” beapproved.

(c)      That the Investments previously approved of £0.5m in 2023/24 as set out in Appendix C to Document “AU” benoted.

(d)      That the Recurring investment proposals of £1.098m in 2023/24 as set out in Appendix D to Document “AU” beapproved.

(e)      That the prior agreed savings in Appendix E to Document “AU” be noted.

(f)        That New savings of £13.580m in 2023/24 as set out in Appendix F to Document “AU” be approved.

(g)      That the Capital Financing and Central budget adjustments of £22.390m in 2023/24 as set out in Appendix G to Document “AU” be approved.

(h)      That it be noted that within the revenue budget there is a net use of £44.299m in revenue reserves in 2023/24 to balance the budget as outlined in Appendix A to Document “AU”.

(i)        That it is noted that £4.250m of pre-approved reserve use is required for City of Culture and a Regeneration opportunity.

(j)        That £6m of reserves are earmarked to the Energy Price Volatility reserve.

(k)      That £3.163m is earmarked to the General Fund Reserve balance so that it remains at 5% of the net revenue budget in line with recommended practice.

That the comments of the Director of Finance set out in the Section 151 Officer’s Assessment of the proposed budgets on the robustness of the estimates and the adequacy of reserves taking account of the recommendations made at (a) to (k) of Document “AU” above be noted.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee:  Corporate 

Action:  Director of Finance