Agenda item

It was noted that an application had been made to the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Board to exempt the MTFS and Budget Update matter from the requisition procedure in accordance with the rules of the Constitution, Paragraph 18, of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules. 

This application was granted and therefore this decision is exempt from the Call-in process.

Cabinet:

1.               Noted the financial context.

2.               Agreed the proposed consultation process and associated timetable as set out in section 7.

3.               Considered the proposal to revise the Council Tax Support Scheme and agree that the statutory consultation be undertaken on the basis set out in Section 5, Section 7, Appendix D and Appendix E.

4.               Gave approval to commence consultation on the proposal to increase the Council Tax empty homes premium to 100% for properties that have been empty for more than two years. 

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Damian White, presented the report to Cabinet.

It was noted at the outset that an application had been made to the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Board to exempt the MTFS and Budget Update matter from the requisition procedure in accordance with the rules of the Constitution, Paragraph 18, of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules. 

This application was granted and therefore this decision is exempt from the Call-in process as set out in the supplementary Agenda.

The report detailed the current position on the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy which outlines the pressures and funding changes the Council is expecting over the next four years.  In addition, the report explains the complex range of factors affecting local authority forecast funding streams and expenditure and the Council’s position in relation to these matters.

These factors are all detailed at length in the report and there had been a recent All Member Briefing for Councillors.

Central Government Funding to Havering has reduced by over £29m since 2014/15 with a further reduction to come for 2019/20.  There continues to be significant uncertainty for the future.

The Fair Funding Review Consultation is now complete and implementation is due in April 2020.

The review is about a fairer distribution system and every Authority will get a new baseline calculated after revised needs formulae have been agreed.

20/21 will be a transition year and the effect of any significant distribution changes will be damped by this.

The Council currently receives a number of unringfenced grants from Central Government. Better Care Fund (BCF) / Improved Better Care Fund (iBCF) and the New Homes Bonus are examples of these. For the majority of these there are no guarantees for their future and services will experience significant pressures.

Havering has entered into the London Business Rates Pool Pilot which is voluntary but includes all London authorities.

All member councils will receive some share of any net benefits arising from the pilot pool this recognises that growing London’s economy is a collective endeavour in which all boroughs make some contribution to the success of the whole.

The Secretary of State has recently announced that the Green Paper on Adult Social Care will be published in the autumn to align with the NHS Plan.  The funding for Adult Social Care will be determined as part of the 2019 Spending Review.

In 5 years since 2014/15 the Council has achieved over £77m in savings and increased income. The Budget Report to Council in February, 2018 balanced the budget and identified a remaining gap to be closed of £30.025 million over the next four years.  Since that meeting there has been a lot of work to update and refresh the MTFS these changes and the proposals to close the gap are addressed and set out in detail in the report appendices.

The work falls into two themes:

·       The first theme includes a range of service reductions and income generation proposals which have been identified for consideration. These are set out in Appendix A of this report. The proposals are service changes that can be implemented swiftly to meet the significant financial challenges that the Council faces in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

·       The second theme takes a more transformational approach and includes programmes and projects that will modernise and improve services while delivering key efficiencies to help balance the budget. The proposals are set out in summary in Appendix Bi ‘Transformation – Doing things differently’ and in the form of individual concept cases in Appendix Bii. The nature of these programmes and projects means they will take longer to develop and implement. They are typically cross-departmental and require collaboration and cultural change across the Council, making them riskier to implement. They require corporate overview and programme management, and will only begin to provide a low level of savings in 2019/20.

Consultation on proposals is planned to take place during August and September to enable the findings to inform the November Budget report.

Jane West, s151 Officer indicated to Members that she would be able to address any concerns.  The consultation process will commence and it is hoped that members of the public will engage with the Council and pick up within the consultation process areas that are of particular interest to them.  There is a desire to make this as clear as possible so the wording of the consultation will be looked at again to ensure matters are as clear as possible. 

There will be a series of public events to maximise responses from the public as far as possible.

Cabinet:

1.               Noted the financial context.

2.               Agreed the proposed consultation process and associated timetable as set out in section 7.

3.               Considered the proposal to revise the Council Tax Support Scheme and agree that the statutory consultation be undertaken on the basis set out in Section 5, Section 7, Appendix D and Appendix E.

4.               Gave approval to commence consultation on the proposal to increase the Council Tax empty homes premium to 100% for properties that have been empty for more than two years.