The Strategic Director Corporate Services will submit a report (Document “AJ”) which sets out:
Recommended –
It is recommended that Executive, having considered the Council’s public sector equality duty as set out above:
(1) Approve for consultation as required with the public, interested parties, staff and Trade Unions the proposed detailed budget changes for 2018/19 and 2019/20 set out at Appendix E(i) and any revisions to previous decisions as set out in Appendix G(i);
(2) Approve for consultation as required with the public, interested parties, staff and Trade Unions the proposed detailed budget changes for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix F;
(3) Approve for consultation as required with the public, interested parties, staff and Trade Unions the proposed non-recurrent spending included in the financial estimates as set out in Appendix D;
(4) Note the proposed use of reserves;
(5) Approve the consultation mechanisms and processes set out in Appendix H;
(6) Approve the proposed indicative spending totals for each outcome set out in tables 1(a) and 1(b) for 2020/21 to inform future planning and engagement with stakeholders, the budget for 2020/21 to be subject to detailed formal consultation in future budget rounds;
(7) Approve that the £10m p.a. included in the existing Capital Investment Plan for strategic acquisitions can be deployed flexibly between the years of the Capital Investment Plan, so that acquisitions exceeding that figure could be considered;
(8) Authorise the Strategic Director Corporate Services, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to proceed with a pooled 100% business rate pilot if the application is approved by DCLG; and
(9) Authorise Strategic Directors to engage with stakeholders to develop draft plans and options for the reforms and changes required to deliver a balanced budget in 2020/21.
(Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee)
(Stuart McKinnon-Evans - 01274 432800)
Minutes:
The Strategic Director Corporate Services submitted a report (Document “AJ”) which set out:
The Strategic Director stated that the proposed consultation process would inform the budget meetings in February and that the report gave a current assessment of the financial envelope and implementation of the Council Plan to date, together with a financial assessment for 2018/19 up to 2020/21.
The Strategic Director explained that since 2010, the Council had approved £255.8m of budget savings, however adults and children’s social care continued to experience pressures and no new announcements had been made in the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget in relation to alleviating these pressures.
The future level of the Revenue Support Grant remained uncertain, however the assumption was that this would become zero by 2020/21.
The Strategic Director also highlighted that for the first time Council Tax will now account for in excess of 50% of the Council’s net budget due to the reductions in central government grants.
In relation to the public consultation on the budget proposals, it was stated that the formal consultation process will continue until the 28 January 2018, and that the Executive will receive a feedback on the consultation at its 6 February 2018 meeting.
In tabling the Labour Group’s update to the four-year plan, the Leader stated that since 2010, the Council has had to find cuts and savings of £256m and that by 2020 the government grant would be zero. She alluded to impacts the cuts had had to vital services the Council provides, whereas demand in the sphere of adult and children social care was rising, and despite intense lobbying no extra funding had been announced by the Chancellor in the recent Autumn Budget, nor on the issue of Local Government pay.
She added that Bradford would bear an additional burden in the context of its low Council Tax base, compounding the inequality in services depending on where you lived in the country.
The Leader stated that despite the bleak financial situation facing the Council, growth and investment were key to unlocking Bradford’s potential, and to this end it was important to harness the strengths we had as a district; one of the youngest populations in the UK, strong global links with 85% of our businesses trading internationally and therefore the right growth and investment plan was key in unlocking this potential.
The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder stated that she had grave concerns around the funding of adult and children social care and that no additional funding had been earmarked.
The Environment, Sport and Culture Portfolio holder stated that within her service area there had been a concerted effort to try and generate income from the facilities we had; the move to fortnightly bin collections had reduced costs and increased recycling rates in the district; the success of Community Asset Transfers was alluded to as well as the campaign on littering.
In the area of Neighbourhoods and Community Safety, the Portfolio holder highlighted the importance of keeping youth provision going, despite the cuts in the youth service budget.
The Regeneration, Planning and Transport Portfolio Holder stated that growth would provide the vital strands of what we were trying to do going forward, of which the increase rates of house building and the number of major developments in the city centre were key components, as well as increasing the ability of the Council to generate income with the recent acquisition of the NCP car park.
The Education, Employment and Skills Portfolio Holder stressed that Education was a cornerstone in Bradford’s future prosperity and to this end Bradford was making good progress in improving its education attainment levels. The success of the Get Bradford Working initiative was alluded to in improving social mobility and employment rates in the district.
The Leader stated that despite the cuts in local government funding, Bradford’s ambition would not be dimmed, adding that if we can harness our education and growth potential, inclusive growth could be achieved.
Resolved –
That having considered the Council’s public sector equality duty as set out in Document “AJ”, Executive:
(1) Approve for consultation as required with the public, interested parties, staff and Trade Unions the proposed detailed budget changes for 2018/19 and 2019/20 set out at Appendix E(i) and any revisions to previous decisions as set out in Appendix G(i) to Document “AJ”;
(2) Approve for consultation as required with the public, interested parties, staff and Trade Unions the proposed detailed budget changes for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix F to Document “AJ”;
(3) Approve for consultation as required with the public, interested parties, staff and Trade Unions the proposed non- recurrent spending included in the financial estimates asset as set out in Appendix D to Document “AJ”;
(4) Note the proposed use of reserves;
(5) Approve the consultation mechanisms and processes set out in Appendix H to Document “AJ”;
(6) Approve the proposed indicative spending totals for each outcome set out in tables 1(a) and 1(b) to Document “AJ” for 2020/21 to inform future planning and engagement with stakeholders, the budget for 2020/21 to be subject to detailed formal consultation in future budget rounds;
(7) Approve that the £10m p.a. included in the existing Capital Investment Plan for strategic acquisitions can be deployed flexibly between the years of the Capital Investment Plan, so that acquisitions exceeding that figure could be considered;
(8) Authorise the Strategic Director Corporate Services, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to proceed with a pooled 100% business rate pilot if the application is approved by DCLG; and
(9) Authorise Strategic Directors to engage with stakeholders to develop draft plans and options for the reforms and changes required to deliver a balanced budget in 2020/21.
ACTION: Strategic Director Corporate Services
(Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee)
Supporting documents:
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