Issue - meetings
Draft Medium Term Financial Strategy 2021-26
Meeting: 18/01/2021 - Executive (Item 67)
67 Draft Medium Term Financial Strategy 2021-26 
PDF 549 KB
Additional documents:
- Medium Term Financial Strategy Appendix A, item 67
PDF 1 MB
- Corporate, item 67
PDF 283 KB
- Environment, item 67
PDF 258 KB
- Housing, item 67
PDF 207 KB
- Leisure, item 67
PDF 244 KB
- Parking, item 67
PDF 239 KB
- Planning, item 67
PDF 217 KB
- Regen, item 67
PDF 225 KB
- Social, item 67
PDF 176 KB
- Medium Term Financial Strategy Appendix B, item 67
PDF 461 KB
Minutes:
Purpose of Report
To recommend the draft Medium Term Financial Strategy for the period 2021-26 and the draft budget and Council Tax proposal for 2021/22, for consultation and scrutiny.
Decision
(1) That the Executive agree, for consultation and scrutiny, the Draft Medium Term Financial Strategy 2021-2026 and the Draft Capital Strategy 2021-2026, including the following specific elements:
- a proposed council tax increase of 1.9% for 2021/22;
- a proposed housing rent increase of 1.5% for 2021/22;
- the Council is member of the Lincolnshire Business Rates Pool in 2021/22;
- the Draft General Fund Revenue Forecast 2021/22-2025/26 as shown in Appendix 1 and paragraph 4 of the report and the main basis on which this budget has been calculated;
- the Draft General Investment Programme 2021/22-2025/26 as shown in Appendix 2 and paragraph 6 of the report and the main basis on which the programme has been calculated;
- the Draft Housing Revenue Account Forecast 2021/22-2025/26 as shown in Appendix 3 and paragraph 5 of the report and the main basis on which this budget has been calculated;
- the Draft Housing Investment Programme 2021/22-2025/26 as shown in Appendix 4 and paragraph 7 of the report and the main basis on which the programme has been calculated.
(2) That the Executive agree to delegate to the Chief Finance Officer approval of the final Business Rates Base for the financial year commencing 1April 2021 and ending 31 March 2022 and submission of the base (via the NNDR1 return) to the Department for Communities and Local Government by 31January 2021.
(3) That all changes to the base estimated in the Draft Medium Term Financial Strategy 2021/26 be reported to the Executive as part of the Final Medium Term Financial Strategy 2021-26 on 22February 2021.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected
None.
Reason for Decision
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The financial landscape for local government presented an unprecedented challenge to the Council. The Covid-19 pandemic was having immediate effects on the Council’s budgets as a result of increases in spending on local services and plummeting income from sales, fees and charges and commercial activities. Beyond the immediate impact, the crisis would cast a longer term shadow on the Council’s finances. The Government had pumped billions of pounds into the economy to support the response phase of the pandemic and to protect jobs and services. In the medium-term the levels of additional national borrowing and the United Kingdom’s budget deficit would need to be managed down at the same time as meeting ongoing needs to invest in recovery to achieve the growth required to repay the national deficit. The Government’s strategy to address this challenge was not yet known, nor what it would mean for local government funding more generally. Furthermore, there remained potential longstanding impacts on the Council’s local income sources if behaviour, working practices and spending patterns in the city continued to change.
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The Council’s reliance on local income streams had increased significantly in recent years as Government funding had reduced through ... view the full minutes text for item 67 |