Agenda item

Report No: PAS/WS/19/015

The Committee received Report No: PAS/WS/19/015, which informed Members on the approach and timescales for the 2020-2021 budget setting process and medium term plans to 2024. The report included information on the background and context; future budget pressure and challenges; key assumptions; proposed approach for securing a balanced budget 2020-2024; timescales and next steps.

The 2020-2021 budget and medium term financial plans and approach would continue to follow the current West Suffolk Council Strategic Framework (three priorities – Growth, Housing and Families and Communities) and Medium Term Financial Strategy (six themes) below, until such time as a new set of priorities and themes emerge.

1.     aligning resources to both West Suffolk councils’ strategic plan and essential services;

2.     continuation of the shared service agenda and transformation of service delivery;

3.     behaving more commercially;

4.     considering new funding models (e.g. acting as an investor);

5.     encouraging the use of digital forms for customer access; and

6.     taking advantage of new forms of local government finance (e.g. business rate retention).

The 2020-2021 budget and medium term financial plans assumed the seven year (now six year) council tax harmonisation plan as set out in the Budget and Council Tax setting report to Shadow Council in February 2019. As was the case each year, the formal setting of council tax would be subject to the annual democratic process through to February Council in 2020.

There were limitations on the degree to which West Suffolk could identify all of the potential changes within its medium term financial projections. It was also important to remember that these financial models had been produced within a financial environment that was constantly changing and would be subject to significant change over time.

The starting position in the councils budget approach was from the existing approved medium term financial plan which at February 2019 was balanced for 2020/2021 followed by a budget gap of £2.7m in 2021/2022 and £3.9m (cumulative from 2021/2022) in 2022/2023. This had enabled the methodology for revising this outlook to be focussed on three areas:

1       Challenging the pre-existing assumptions and updating these to reflect new knowledge and information.

2       Collating new items or making changes to existing plans to reflect the outcome of the development of the West Suffolk 2020-2024 Strategic Framework and MTFS.

3    Reflect any changes in the wider macro environment which require a change in approach.

Members considered the report in detail, the approach and timescales for the 2020-2021 budget setting process and the medium term financial strategy.  Members asked a number of questions to which comprehensive responses were provided. 

In particular, discussions were held on the Treasury Management Strategy and the priority of securing money in a safe place –v- maximising our yield; future investments in solar farms and the potential for being the land owner; investing in commercial properties within West Suffolk and the social and economic value; the emerging Asset Management Strategy; and how the Council monitored its extensive range of assets held, to which comprehensive responses were provided. 

In response to a question raised on how the council monitored investments, officers explained the council had around 700 properties in its portfolio and new investments were monitored in a number of ways, such as through the Annual Report, the balance sheet in the Annual Statement of Accounts and the Financial Resilience Sub-Committee, which was a Sub-Committee of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee.

There being no decision required at this stage, the Committee noted the contents of the report.