Agenda item

The report sets out the Revenue and Capital Budgets for 2020/21 for both the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account.

The Cabinet

            RESOLVED – That

(1)  The Group Head of Corporate Support, in consultation with the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, has approved a Council Tax base of 62,244 for 2020/21; and

(2)  The Budget report in Appendices A, 1, 2 and 3 be noted.

The Cabinet also

RECOMMEND TO THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2020 – That

(1)  The General Fund Revenue Budget as set out in Appendix 1 be approved;

(2)  Arun’s Band D Council Tax for 2020/21, based on a Band D Council Tax of £186.57, is set at £11,612,863 plus Parish precepts as demanded, to be transferred to the General Fund in accordance with statutory requirements;

(3)  The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget as set out in Appendix 2 is approved;

(4)  The HRA rents are increased by 5% to give a standard charge of £12.31 per week (excluding VAT) and heating and water/sewerage charges increased on a scheme by scheme basis, with a view to balancing costs with income; and

(5)  The Capital Budget as set out in Appendix 3 is approved.

In introducing the report, the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Corporate Support stated that the Budget for 2020/21 was proposing an increase in Council Tax of £4.95 or 2.73% for a Band D property.  This equated to just 10p per week.   

            It was highlighted that this report set out the Capital, Housing Revenue and General Fund Revenue Budget for 2020/21 which Cabinet would review making recommendations to the Special Meeting of the Council to be held on 19 February 2020.

The Group Head of Corporate Support was then invited to provide an overview of the Council’s Budget for 2020/21 highlighting what was felt were the significant areas that Members should be made aware of. 

In presenting the Budget it was explained that the Budget was a positive one, but the risks and main strategic issues were as follows:

·                     The draft Budget had been presented to the meeting of the Overview Select Committee held on 28 January 2020 and had received general support.  An extract from the minutes of that meeting had been presented to Cabinet to consider.

·                      The draft settlement had finally been issued on 21 December 2019 and set out the Government’s approach to the 2020/21 settlement.  The Council was expecting significant reductions due to several issues, but this had now been rolled forward to 2020/21.

·                     The Council stopped receiving Revenue Support Grant (RSG) in 2018/19 and the negative payment of £430k proposed for 2019/20 had been cancelled and also for 2020/21.

·                     Looking at Government funding, it was outlined that for New Homes Bonus (NHB) the budget included a one-off windfall and then it would only be legacy payments received from 2021/22.  The Council was not anticipating any NHB from 2023/24 from a high of receiving £4m in 2016/17.

·                     The Business Rate Retention Scheme, which would result in a reset of the growth in business rates was now anticipated for 2021/22.  It was expected that this would have a very negative impact on the Council as the accumulated growth would be wiped out when the baseline was reset, though there would be a transition period in which Officers would be able to monitor the situation – this had been set out at Paragraph 2.10.

·                      Looking at the General Fund Budget, the main highlights were a planned reduction in the General Fund Balance of £671k reducing the Council’s balances to around £6m by the end of 2020/21.  The Council was required to keep higher levels of balances given the threats to government funding forecasted for the future.  The major budget variations were highlighted. These were recently approved supplementary estimates to support the cost of homelessness nightly paid accommodation and the contingency budget increase for housing related activities; the loss of £1m of recycling credits from West Sussex County Council over two years; the invest to save scheme of £250k and the Council’s strategic targets.

·                     Looking at the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) the stock development programme had increased to what had been set out in the report – an additional £9m had been made available to allow for the necessary amount of flexibility in terms of planning for this enhanced programme.

·                     For 2020/21 rents would be increased by 2.7% after 4 years of rent reductions.

·                     Looking at the Capital Programme Budget it could be seen that the Council was investing quite heavily in infrastructure projects such as the Littlehampton Public Realm and essential IT infrastructure

The Chairman thanked the Group Head of Corporate Support for his detailed presentation and congratulated him and his team, he then invited questions from Members.

            An explanation was required as there had been confusion expressed at the Overview Select Committee on the performance of recycling and whether this had been affected by the reduction in recycling credits from WSCC.  It was explained that this had been purely a cost saving measure from WSCC and been levied onto all Local authorities in the Council, this had not affected the Council’s performance at all.

The Chairman stated that he was pleased with this first budget of the new administration as it made provision for new services in the capital programme which began to address some of the long-standing backlog of failed maintenance on some of the Council’s assets and all within the Government’s suggested maximum Council Tax increase.  This was a well-balanced budget in very tight economic times.

The Cabinet

                        RESOLVED – That

(1)          It be noted that the Group Head of Corporate Support, in consultation with the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, had approved a Council Tax base of 62,244 for 2020/21; and

(2)      The Budget report in Appendix A, 1, 2 and 3 be noted.

The Cabinet then

            RECOMMEND TO THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY – That

                         (1)   The General Fund Revenue Budget as set out in Appendix 1 is approved;

                         (2)  The Council’s Band D Council Tax for 2020/21 is set at £186.57, an increase of 2.73%;

                         (3)  The Council’s Council Tax Requirement for 2020/21, based on a Band D Council Tax of £186.57, is set at £11,612,863 plus parish precepts as demanded, to be transferred to the General Fund in accordance with statutory requirements;    

                         (4)  The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget as set out in Appendix 2 is approved;

                         (5)  The HRA rents for 2020/21 are increased by 2.7% (CPI plus 1%) in accordance with the provisions of the rent standard;

                         (6)  HRA garage rents are increased by 5% to give a standard charge of £12.31 per week (excluding VAT), and heating and water/sewerage charges increased on a scheme by scheme basis, with a view to balancing costs with income; and 

                         (7)  The Capital Budget as set out in Appendix 3 is approved.

The Cabinet confirmed its decision as per Decision Notice C/036/100220, a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of the Minutes.