Agenda item

(a)  That the revised Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) is approved, as the basis for considering 2020/21 budget options;

(b)  That the 2020/21 budget is modelled on the basis of a Council Tax increase of 3.99% for 2020/21 (which includes the Government’s 2.00% adult social care precept), for resource planning purposes; the 3.99% is for modelling purposes only at this time.  The decision on the Council Tax to be set for 2020/21 will be made by members in February and may not be at the maximum figure included in the MTFS once the budget work has been finalised.

(c)  That the ongoing uncertainty is noted, regarding the extent to which the Authority may retain a share of business rates growth and the way that central government assesses the Authority’s need to spend in the future. This makes medium term financial planning more difficult than usual;

(d)  That the timing of the provisional local government finance settlement is noted, as it will be announced later than normal (due to the General Election), so the time for scrutinising budget proposals will be less than usual;

(e)  That the initial savings proposals (and additional income generation proposals) are noted, as they are designed primarily to fund some of the additional 2020/21 spending pressures from Slough Children’s Services Trust (SCST).

The Service Lead Finance introduced a report that updated on the Council’s latest medium term financial strategy (MTFS) forecasts for the years 2020/21 to 2022/23.  The report set out how resources would be targeted to meet the Council’s priorities and included areas of growth and savings proposals to balance the budget.  If agreed, the assumptions and proposals would be included in the budget being prepared for Cabinet and Council consideration in February 2020.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer had announced a one year spending review for 2020/21 which included some additional funding for adult social care, homelessness and high street regeneration.  The implications for Slough were not yet known.  The Government had also announced that local authorities could raise Council Tax by up to 2% plus an additional 2% adult social care ‘precept’ before a referendum had to take place.  The MTFS assumed these provisions would be fully utilised but these decisions would be taken by Members in due course.

The Lead Member for Health & Wellbeing commented that the modest additional funding made available nationally for adult social care would not be sufficient to address the short term funding shortfall and there was an urgent need to prioritise the longer term reforms that it was widely agreed were required.  Members discussed a number of other issues including the impact of the Slough Children’s Services Trust financial position and the work undertaken to develop achievable and realistic savings targets necessary to balance the budget. Councillor Strutton spoke under Rule 30 and asked a question about the public health grant and the ring fencing of the revenue generated from the adult social care precept.  The allocation for Slough’s public health grant was explained, and it was noted that the borough received a relatively low sum per resident.  The adult social care precept was ring-fenced and the Council was required to demonstrate that it had been spent on adult social care.

At the conclusion of the discussion the recommendations were agreed.

Resolved –

(a)  That the revised Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) is approved, as the basis for considering 2020/21 budget options;

(b)  That the 2020/21 budget is modelled on the basis of a Council Tax increase of 3.99% for 2020/21 (which includes the Government’s 2.00% adult social care precept), for resource planning purposes; the 3.99% is for modelling purposes only at this time.  The decision on the Council Tax to be set for 2020/21 will be made by members in February and may not be at the maximum figure included in the MTFS once the budget work has been finalised.

(c)  That the ongoing uncertainty is noted, regarding the extent to which the Authority may retain a share of business rates growth and the way that central government assesses the Authority’s need to spend in the future. This makes medium term financial planning more difficult than usual;

(d)  That the timing of the provisional local government finance settlement is noted, as it will be announced later than normal (due to the General Election), so the time for scrutinising budget proposals will be less than usual;

(e)  That the initial savings proposals (and additional income generation proposals) are noted, as they are designed primarily to fund some of the additional 2020/21 spending pressures from Slough Children’s Services Trust (SCST).