Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 This report presents the Council Executive's draft budget for the 2003/04 financial year with options for Council tax levels for 2003/04.

2 RECOMENDATION

That the Council Executive:

2.1 Recommend the attached draft Budget Proposal to the Resources & Customer Service Overview & Scrutiny Panel for its comment, and to Council for its approval.

2.2 Consider whether it wishes to make a recommendation to Council regarding the determination of unallocated sums within the Revenue and Capital Budgets

2.3 Authorise the Executive Member (Resources Planning & Support Services) to make presentational improvements to the draft Budget Proposal prior to submission to Council

3 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

3.1 The Executive has led the financial plan review and budget process this year, including consultation. It is now in a position to present to Council a budget proposal for the coming year.

3.2 It is important that all members of Council are aware that, under the new decision-making arrangements, the budget decision-making process is different to previous years. The Council has available to it at the budget setting meeting two options. It can object to specific parts of the proposals and if it does so must require the Executive to reconsider its proposals. The Council is required to give the Executive the reason(s) why it considers those proposal(s) should be changed and it is then for the Executive to consider those proposed changes and the reasons put forward. Alternatively it is, of course, open to the Council to accept the budget in its proposed form at the meeting, in which case no further action is necessary.

3.3 When the Executive has considered the objections, it is required to put its proposals (which may or may not be revised) back to the Council Meeting. If the Executive does not agree with Council's views on a proposed change, it is required to state why and the Council can then take those reasons into account, along with its original thoughts as to why the change was desirable.

3.4 In the final budget setting meeting the Council will be required to approve a full budget resolution including the Police and Parish precepts and the proposed Council budget for 2003/04. That budget will include within it the overall proposed Council cash limits for 2003/04 including the provision for inflation, the proposed use of balances in the 2003/04 budget and the resulting budget requirement and Council Tax for Bath and North East Somerset, the borrowing limits for 2003/04 and the proposed capital budgets for 2003/04.

3.5 Legally, members must set a balanced budget for the forthcoming year and determine the Council Tax. If a budget is not set by the date of the reserve budget-setting meeting (27^th February), this will lead to a delay in billing and a loss in Council Tax cash flow. It is highly likely that this will also translate into a higher level of un-collectable debt and debt collection costs and in addition this will significantly impact on Council tax performance indicators.

3 THE BUDGET PROPOSAL

3.1 The Council Executive proposal for the revenue and capital budgets for the coming year is analysed in the attached document.

3.2 The final council tax set will encompass all parish and the police precepts (that is the money we collect on behalf of the parishes and police and pay to them).

5. CONSULTATION