To consider the report of the Executive Director (S.151 Officer) (enclosed).

The Chairman welcomed Members and Officers to the meeting and invited

the Executive Director (Section 151 Officer) to present her report.

Key elements of the Statement that impact on the budget position for 2024/25 are:

·         Confirmation of settlement figures for 2024/25, which were expected to align with those suggested in the 2023/24 Settlement

·         Continuation of New Homes Bonus

·         Council Tax increase thresholds

·         Any changes to Business Rate Baseline

·         Information relating to additional funding streams.

Alongside the Settlement the government also published a technical consultation paper on the provisional local government finance settlement 2024/25.

As such the funding position for 2024/25 is a one year settlement only.

There is still substantial uncertainty surrounding how changes to Business Rate  Retention and the Fair Funding Review will impact on Blaby in future years.

Members will recall that these changes were originally proposed to be put in place for 2020/21. It is now expected that these changes will not be brought in until 2026/27.  These changes will not therefore directly impact on the budget for 2024/25 but the MTFS at Appendix E of the report illustrates the impact this may have on the Council’s finances in future years. It is with the future funding gaps that may arise from these changes that the Council needs to consider as we work towards the Council continuing to be financially sustainable into the future.

Throughout this document reference is made to the Settlement Statement within the relevant section to provide information to Members.

Total Budget Requirement

The proposed General Fund Revenue Account Net Budget Requirement for 2024/25 is £15.767M. The comparable Net Budget Requirement for 2023/24 that was approved in February 2023 was £14.665M. It should be noted that since that time the Council has experienced considerable increased costs but also some increases in income (investment income specifically) and the current budget requirement for the 2023/24 financial year is expected to require a contribution from reserves of £154k, which is similar to the £166k included in the original budget.

Budget Gap 2024/25

The Settlement continues the series of increases in Core Spending Power for Local Government that started in 2020/21. Much of the increase continues to be directed towards the Upper Tier Authorities to fund social care.

Blaby has continued to benefit from the Funding Guarantee Grant which ensures that every authority has an increase in core spending power of at least 3%. It is this grant that has compensated for the forecast loss of New Homes Bonus funding, lost over a number of years, and has contributed significantly (£2.136m) to minimise the funding gap for 2024/25.

When taking into account the Settlement the funding gap for 2024/25 is £981k.

Funding the Budget

The S.151 officer presented sources of funding, and the table in the report

illustrated that the Council’s funding has increased by £120k.

This is detailed as follows:

·         Redistributed NNDR has been forecast at the moment to remain static. This may change as we are in the process of assessing the NNDR income which has  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

a)    To consider the proposed 2024-25 budget and spending plans for each Portfolio area.

b)    Prepare lines of questioning for a written response from Portfolio Holders in advance of the next Scrutiny Budget meeting on Wednesday 17 January 2024.

Preliminary lines of questioning were identified for submission to Portfolio  Holders prior to the next Scrutiny Budget meeting on Wednesday 17 January

2024 for their response.

·         Wednesday 17 January 2024

·         17 January 2024