Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning & Governance.

The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Devolution (Councillor Elise Wilson) submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing an update the Council’s 2020/21 to 2022/23 Medium Term Financial Plan forecasts and assumptions taking account of local and national changes.

RESOLVED - That the Medium Term Financial Plan forecasts for the Council’s finances for the period 2020/21 to 2022/23 be noted.

To consider a report of the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning & Governance.

The purpose of the report is to update the Council’s 2020/21 to 2022/23 Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) forecasts and assumptions.

Updates to the MTFP have been presented to Cabinet throughout the year reflecting the uncertainty, complexity and volatility of the financial landscape. These updates have considered the announcements and events nationally that have taken place during the year which have impacted on Local Government funding. In addition, work has continued locally as part of the Council’s MTFP Strategy to support the setting of a balanced budget in 2020/21, and to ensure the forecasts and assumptions underpinning the Council’s MTFP remain robust. This report builds on those updates considering any further national and local changes impacting on the 2020/21 Budget and MTFP and presents the Council’s MTFP for the next three financial years prior to it being recommended for approval at the Full Council meeting on 27 February 2020.

The Cabinet is recommended to:

·         Note the details of the 2020/21 Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, the Council response to the consultation and the expected date of the announcement of the Final Local Government Finance Settlement;

·         Note, and comment upon as appropriate, the financial forecasts for 2020/21 to 2022/23;

·         Note and approve the indicative budget adjustments since the MTFP Update presented to the Cabinet meeting on 6 January 2020 resulting in available MTFP resources of £3.537m in 2020/21 and the revised MTFP position;

·         Approve the allocation of £2.950m of the available MTFP resources as set out in paragraph 3.9;

·         Note the available one-off resources identified and approve the allocation of up to £1m of these resources to increase the Council’s General Fund Balance subject to the Section 151 Officers assessment of its adequacy to support the 2020/21 Budget;  

·         Consider and decide upon the options to be taken to allocate the balance of £3.634m (£0.587m MTFP resources and £3.047m available one-off resources identified); and

·         Approve the allocation of corporate contingency budgets to Cash Limit budgets as part of the 2020/21 budget setting process.

Officer Contact: Jonathan Davies on 0161 218 1025 or email: jonathan.davies@stockport.gov.uk

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning and Governance submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) updating the Cabinet on the forecasts for the Council’s finances for the period 2020/21 to 2023/24 following the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement announced on 20 December 2019.

The Deputy Leader of the Council provided an overview of the report, emphasising:-

·         The impact of austerity continued to be felt in local government, and Stockport Council was working towards achieving a reduction in its budget of £10.3m for 2020/21.

·         The Council had been awarded one-off monies to help offset pressures in Adult Social Care, however, while this was welcome, what was needed was sustained support for ongoing revenue costs.

·         Following the outcome of a public consultation with regard to the proposals for Stockport’s museums, further consideration would now be given to this matter with a decision being deferred until later in the year.

·         There would be further investment in services including new data servers and staffing within Legal Services to offset the cost of agency staff.

·         It was proposed to use £100k of unallocated monies for community orchards in the seven wards that did not yet have one.

·         £1m of funds would be transferred into reserves to maintain the Council’s CIPFA ranking.

·         Additional resources would be allocated to make improvements to the current memorial to the Stockport Air Disaster at Hopes Carr.

·         It was suggested that approval be given to ending the subsidy for meals before the Council Meeting and use that in combination with other grant monies to run a trial in a number of areas to avert holiday hunger for children.

RESOLVED – That in relation to the Medium Term Financial Plan - Financial Landscapes and Forecast 2020/21 to 2022/23:-

·         the details of the 2020/21 Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, the Council response to the consultation and the expected date of the announcement of the Final Local Government Finance Settlement be noted;

·         the financial forecasts for 2020/21 to 2022/23 be noted;

·         the indicative budget adjustments since the MTFP Update presented to the Cabinet meeting on 6 January 2020 resulting in available MTFP resources of £3.537m in 2020/21 and the revised MTFP position be noted and approved;

·         the allocation of £2.950m of the available MTFP resources as set out in paragraph 3.9 be approved;

·         the available one-off resources identified and approve the allocation of up to £1m of these resources to increase the Council’s General Fund Balance subject to the Section 151 Officers assessment of its adequacy to support the 2020/21 Budget be noted; 

·         the allocation of corporate contingency budgets to Cash Limit budgets as part of the 2020/21 budget setting process be approved; and

·         the use of £0.100m of one-off available resources to support the provision of community orchards across the borough.