Issue - meetings

Report number:     CAB/WS/21/005

Portfolio holder: Councillor Sarah Broughton

Lead officer: Rachael Mann

Recommended to Council, as part of the budget setting process (23 February 2021):

That the proposals as detailed in Section 2 and Table 1 at Appendix B of Report number: PAS/WS/21/003, be included in the medium-term financial plans.

The Cabinet considered this report, which was recommending to Council, the approval of proposals for inclusion in the medium-term financial plans.

In July 2020, Cabinet had agreed proposed next steps and principles for future financial planning across the medium term (Report number: CAB/WS/20/043).  The approach was designed to enable the Council to respond effectively to changing circumstances while maintaining a medium-term focus on the Council’s financial sustainability.

On 19 November 2020, the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee (PASC) supported the key budget assumptions underpinning the 2021 to 2022 and medium-term budgets for West Suffolk Council, which were subsequently approved by Cabinet and Council in December 2020.   

Report number: PAS/WS/21/003 presented to the Committee on 28 January 2021 provided an update on those key budget assumptions as a result of both the provisional settlement announced on 25 November 2020 and the detailed budget process undertaken by service areas supported by their finance business partners during November and December 2020.

The report also set out the scale of the financial challenge for West Suffolk Council for 2021 to 2022 and the medium-term, and the plans to address those financial challenges in enabling the Council to meet its statutory responsibility to set a balanced budget for the forthcoming year. 

The proposals were set out in Section 2 and Appendix B: Table 1 of Report Number: PAS/WS/21/003 (and reproduced in the Cabinet report) had been incorporated into the budget setting process, the composite report for which was to be considered by Cabinet later in the meeting under agenda item 12, for referral to Council on 23 February 2021. Should Cabinet therefore not endorse any of the proposals endorsed by PASC, or suggest alternatives, this would need to be reflected in the subsequent budget setting documentation and recommendations.

Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, drew relevant issues to the attention of Cabinet, including thanking the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee for their role in helping to shape the budget for 2021 to 2022 and beyond.

Cabinet demonstrated its support for the approach to the Council’s future financial planning previously agreed in July 2020 and considered the proposals outlined in the report pragmatically underpinned this approach and would contribute to the delivery of a sustainable medium-term budget.

Recommended to Council, as part of the budget setting process (23 February 2021):

That the proposals as detailed in Section 2 and Table 1 at Appendix B of Report number: PAS/WS/21/003, be included in the medium-term financial plans.