Agenda item

That the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2018-2022 as set out in the report be approved.

The Director of Finance & Resources introduced a report on the current position on the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for the period to 2021/22.

The MTFS set out the framework for the Council’s future financial planning and the projections and assumptions had been updated since the strategy had been approved by Council in February 2018.  Approving the revised figures and assumptions would assist the budget planning process leading towards the 2019/20 revenue budget.  Further updates would be brought to Cabinet in October and December 2018.

The Council’s financial strategy over recent years had sought to make the authority less dependent on Government funding to provide the necessary resilience at a time of substantial funding reductions.  The Council was taking a more commercial approach, for example through Slough Urban Renewal (SUR) and James Elliman Homes, and these innovations were proving to be successful.  The revised principles proposed in the MTFS included reducing the reliance on revenue receipts from SUR to fund the revenue budget and the Council would seek to increase reserves (excluding schools) towards £30m over the next four years to reflect the risks of exposure to higher borrowing arising from the recent increase in the capital programme.

The Council would continue to face significant budget pressures necessitating the need to make further savings.  The MTFS model currently showed a revenue funding gap of £2.8m for 2019/20 and service areas would be bringing forward savings proposals that would be subject to internal scrutiny and challenge before being presented to Members for approval.

The Cabinet discussed the proposed budget strategy and discussed a number of specific issues such as the risk analysis, savings profile and the funding of adult social care services in view of the delay to the Government’s Green Paper and lack of clarity on the future of the Council Tax precept.  The Cabinet welcomed the positive impact that the SUR income had had in supporting the Council’s revenue position in the past two years.  The principle to ensure the Council did not become overly reliant on such revenue was agreed.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Cabinet approved the principles and approach set out in the updated MTFS and agreed to receive further reports throughout the year as part of the process of developing the budget for 2019/20 and beyond.

Resolved –  That the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2018-2022 as set out in the report be approved.