Agenda item

The Director of Finance submits a draft report on the departmental Draft Revenue Budget and Capital Programme.

The Head of Finance presented a report and provided an overview of the Draft Revenue Budget. It was noted that:

·         The main issues affecting the budget were the decade of austerity, two year stop gap to get through the Covid-19 Pandemic and the recent rise in inflation.

·         The potential of a new period of austerity.

·         above inflationary cost pressures in Adult Social Care as a consequence of growth of those in need although additional recycled funding for Adult Social Care after delaying promised reforms was suggested in the Autumn Statement

·         Due to the rise in inflation, £10 million of budget was being set aside for energy costs.

·         A significant factor was staff pay, in 2022/23 saw 6.4% added to the pay bill. This was £7.2 million above what had been budgeted.

It was further noted that the final report to go to Budget Council would have the latest figures. Using the manged reserves strategy had shielded the authority from whilst other authorities were contemplating bankruptcy.

As part of the discussions with Members, it was noted that:

·         There were a number of ways to bridge the gap and managing savings to continue to help build the reserves were some of the proposals in place. Additionally, sourcing government grants and departments setting savings targets to reduce the extent of which the service cost

·         The estimates provided were broadly anticipated to be the final figures and there were no significant differences

·         Departmental savings would be made through cashless payment systems and deleting vacant post in Planning and Transportation.

·         Most work in Economic Development was delivered through grant funding

·         The Adult Education service was budgeted to contribute £870k to the council’s overall budget.

The Director for Planning, Development and Transportation noted that the transition to cashless systems would be a journey cognisant of all groups in society and migrate away from cash in an orderly fashion as society becomes more familiar with the technology available.

Following the concerns raised by Chair with various projections of health inequalities, the Head of Finance noted that, public health is also expected to continue within its budget as all other departments.

Capital Programme

The Head of Finance provided an overview of the Capital Programme. It was noted that:

·         The Capital Budget was a limited programme on a one-year budget.

·         £2.5 million was proposed for investment into multiuse games areas (MUGA) program across the city.

As part of the discussion Members were impressed with the delivery of projects. The Deputy City Mayor for Transport and Climate Emergency noted that co-ordinated work, helped have a real impact across the city.

It was also noted that individual capital scheme information could be provided to Members outside of the meeting on request and Members had the opportunity to suggest schemes for the local environment works list for consideration.

In further discussions, Members queried the infrastructure to support the Electric Vehicles (EV’s). It was noted that:

·         The report outlined the budget for the council’s fleet change

·         All Park and Ride busses were EV’s, including the Hospital Hopper and the city centre loop bus which was to be introduced

·         Zebra funding would support 96 EV busses to be introduced to the commercial bus fleet which would make 1/3 of all commercial busses electric, and make the city leaders nationally outside of London

·         The introduction of charging points would follow in the near future

·         Some residential areas had charging points tested and the process for selecting suitable sites was underway

·         The development of the EV Strategy was in progress, this would come before the Commission for consideration.

AGREED:

1)    That the comments raised by the Commission be considered

2)    That the Commission note the context of the report, and

3)    That the Commission await the decision at Budget Council in February 2023.