Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets (copy enclosed) setting out the implications of the Local Government Settlement 2022/23 and proposals to finalise the budget for 2022/23.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       notes the impact of the Draft Local Government Settlement 2022/23;

(b)       supports the proposals outlined in Appendix 1 to the report, and detailed in Section 4 of the report, and recommends them to the full Council in order to finalise the budget for 2022/23;

(c)        recommends to Council the average Council Tax rise of 2.95% proposed;

(d)       recommends to Council that authority is delegated to the Head of Finance and Property in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance to adjust the use of cash included in the budget proposals by up to £500k if there is movement between the draft and final settlement figures in order to allow the setting of Council Tax in a timely manner, and

(e)       confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 4 to the report).

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill presented the report setting out the implications of the draft Local Government Settlement 2022/23 and proposals to finalise the budget for 2022/23, including the level of Council Tax.

Councillor Thompson-Hill provided an overview of the budget process and latest budget position and elaborated on the proposals for consideration and recommendation to full Council in order to set the budget for 2022/23.  The draft settlement had resulted in a positive settlement of 9.2% (compared to the Welsh average of 9.4%) with a final settlement expected on 1 March 2022.  Within that figure Welsh Government had advised of some new responsibilities, not all of which had clear funding consequentials in the data, which had been set out in the report.  Pressures amounting to £17.628m had been detailed and the +9.2% settlement generated £15.005m leaving a funding gap of £2.623m with proposals to bridge that gap identified in the report and further explained at the meeting.  A Council Tax rise of 2.95% had been proposed to generate £1.869m additional revenue.  Due to the lateness of the final settlement it was recommended that authority be delegated to enable cash adjustments included in the budget proposals of up to £500k.  It was noted that the draft settlement had also included indicative average settlement increases of 3.5% for 2023/24 and 2.4% for 2024/45.  Finally reference was made to the extensive consultation on the budget process and involvement of all political groups in that regard including the submission of pressures/savings put forward.

The Head of Finance added that, whilst it was an unusually high settlement, it had included extra responsibilities and he reported on the funding assessments of those new elements and work with the Welsh Local Government Association and S.151 Officers in that regard and subsequent funding assumptions.  In terms of Council Tax increases current indications across Wales ranged from 2.95% – 4.95%.

Cabinet discussed the budget proposals and debate focused on the following –

·        at the request of Councillor Brian Jones for the benefit of residents, the Lead Member detailed the consultation carried out on the budget process and explained the acronyms used, demonstrating the involvement of all senior officers and elected members in that process together with schools and trade unions.  All elected members had been given the opportunity to input into the process and additional meetings with Political Group Leaders seeking the submission of pressures/savings had also been carried out.  Pressures/savings put forward by the political groups had been addressed at the council budget workshop in December to which all elected members had been invited

·        Councillor Bobby Feeley was pleased to note that both the Council’s social care and the private sector social care sector would be paid the Real Living Wage which she felt was an important first step.  However, despite the increase there was still some way to go to ensure social care workers were paid a decent and deserving wage for the work undertaken and there was an acute recruitment crisis in social care services which put additional pressure on existing staff

·        in response to a question from Councillor Mark Young regarding implementation of the Real Living Wage payments to social care staff, the Corporate Director: Communities acknowledged the complexities involved in that work and advised that meetings would commence shortly with colleagues and partners to determine how best to progress that work going forward.  Assurances were provided that the Council had been involved from the outset and was well placed to progress that work, particularly given that Denbighshire hosted the Regional Collaborative Team and work on the national workforce programme was led by the Social Services Director at Conwy County Borough Council.

The Leader thanked the Lead Member and Head of Finance for the informative and clear report.  He also welcomed the inclusion of an indicative settlement for 2023/24 and 2024/25 which would aid future budget planning.  However, it was clear that there would be pressure on future budgets in light of the indicative settlements and he believed that raising the Council Tax level as proposed at this stage would provide a stronger base for future budget setting going forward.

The Lead Member and Head of Finance responded to further questions from non-Cabinet members as follows –

·        the difference in Council Tax raised by increasing the proposal from 2.95% to 3.00% would be £29k per annum, 72p per week on a Band D property

·        the terminology ‘Fire Service Charge’ was correct as legally it was a levy; the Fire Service set its budget and local authorities had to pay their element of that

·        there was a mixed picture in terms of future grants and some uncertainties in that regard, particularly in terms of education and capital grants, but the situation would become clearer leading up to the new financial year and new Council

·        the issue of future savings had been considered during the last round of service challenge meetings in order to identify large projects to generate savings; the potential disposal of assets would form part of the new ways of working programme and market conditions would also need to be taken into account

·        examples were provided as to how the amount to be spend on new responsibilities could be calculated with at least £5.5m to be allocated to those elements from the 9.2% positive settlement

·        the reasoning behind the absence of future years figures in the proposed budget relating to waste services was explained with the inclusion of the previous year’s figures as a specific strategic pressure which had since been addressed; future years figures would be updated taking into account the indicative settlement over the coming months and taken through the usual democratic processes.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       notes the impact of the Draft Local Government Settlement 2022/23;

(b)       supports the proposals outlined in Appendix 1 to the report, and detailed in Section 4 of the report, and recommends them to the full Council in order to finalise the budget for 2022/23;

(c)        recommends to Council the average Council Tax rise of 2.95% proposed;

(d)       recommends to Council that authority is delegated to the Head of Finance and Property in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance to adjust the use of cash included in the budget proposals by up to £500k if there is movement between the draft and final settlement figures in order to allow the setting of Council Tax in a timely manner, and

(e)       confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 4 to the report).