Decision details

To agree and set the Council's medium term financial planning approach and recommend the 2011/12 Council Tax and Budget to the Council

On a motion from Councillor Malcolm Hanney, seconded by Councillor Francine Haeberling, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously):

To RECOMMEND to Council:

(1) That the Council approve:

(a) The General Fund net revenue budget for 2011/12 of £121.742m with no increase in Council Tax.

(b) That no Special Expenses be charged other than Town and Parish Council precepts for 2011/12.

(c) The adequacy of reserves at Appendix 1 Table 9 with a risk-assessed level of £10.5m.

(d) The individual service cash limits proposed for 2011/12.

(e) That the specific arrangements for the governance and release of corporate headroom (which includes any amounts for which the purpose has not been specified in the budget report in relation to the transfers to revenue budget contingency, the ongoing headroom allocations and the one off headroom allocations in Appendix 1) be delegated to the Council’s Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Resources and the Chief Executive together with the chair of the CPR Overview & Scrutiny Panel.

(2) That the Council include the precepts set and approved by other bodies including  the Local Precepts of Town Councils, Parish Councils and the Charter Trustees of the City of Bath, and those of the Fire and Police Authorities in its Council Tax setting.

(3) That the Council acknowledges the Section 151 officer's report on the robustness of the proposed budget and the adequacy of the Council's reserves and approves the conditions upon which the recommendations are made.

(4) That in relation to the capital budget the Council:

(a) Approves a capital programme of £34.108m for 2011/12 and notes indicative items shown in italics for 2011/12 and the programme for 2012/13 to 2015/16 including the planned sources of funding;

(b) Approves the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy;

(c) Approves the Capital Prudential Indicators.

(5) That the Council notes the O&S review of Medium Term Service and Resource Plans and 2011/12 Service Action Plans and instructs the relevant officers to finalise and publish their Medium Term Service and Resource Plans and Service Action Plans by end of March 2011, in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member and in light of feedback from the O&S reviews, and in line with the approved cash limits.

The Cabinet agreed:

(6) To AUTHORISE the Divisional Director – Finance, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Resources, to make any necessary presentational improvements to the draft budget proposal prior to submission to Council.

The rationale is contained in the supporting paper to this report.  The Council’s Section 151 Officer is the Divisional Director - Finance.  This report reflects information already presented to Overview and Scrutiny by the Director.  As Section 151 Officer his duties include ensuring a prudent and balanced budget is set on time which properly takes into account the financial constraints and risks facing the Council.

The supporting report and appendices also contain the other options considered in making the recommendations