To receive a report from the Deputy Chief Executive (S151) considering the initial draft 2020/21 budget and options available in order for the Council to set a balanced budget and agree a future strategy for further budget reductions for 2021/22 onwards.
Minutes:
The Group had before it, and NOTED, a report * from the Group Manager for Financial Services considering the initial draft 2020/2021 budget and the options available in order for the Council to set a balanced budget and agree a future strategy for further budget reductions for 2021/2022 onwards.
The contents of the report were outlined with particular reference to the following:
· The council was still waiting with some trepidation for the outcome of the Fair Funding Review and the Business Rate reset whilst Parliament had been suspended pending the result of the general election. The Review and Base Rates Reset will not now be announced until 2021/21. The Government had regrettably confirmed that they would issue a one year settlement in the meantime which had a significant negative impact on the council being able to forecast for future years.
· The initial aggregation of all pressures and savings currently indicated a General Fund budget gap of £346k.
· There were still a few key issues that had not been resolved or were still to be evaluated which might either improve or worsen the budgetary position for next year.
· The ‘easy’ efficiencies savings had already been taken across all service areas of the council.
A more up to date report would be brought to the Policy Development Groups in January showing a much clearer position. The Group would be asked to consider the savings necessary to bring the budget into a balanced position by the February full Council meeting.
Note: * Report previously circulated; copy attached to the signed minutes.
Supporting documents: