Agenda and minutes

The Council welcomes engagement from members of the public. To speak at this meeting please register no later than 24 hours prior to the date of the meeting via democracy@southkesteven.gov.uk.

There were no public speakers.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Matt Bailey who was substituted by Councillor Graham Jeal, Councillor James Denniston, Councillor Zoe Lane and Councillor Vanessa Smith

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing, Councillor Philip Knowles had also sent apologies.

Members are asked to disclose any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting.

None disclosed.

The minutes from the meeting held on 15 January 2024 were proposed, seconded and agreed.

To present draft Budget proposals:

• The funding position for the General Fund including Council Tax proposals
• Draft General Fund proposals
• Housing Revenue Account Proposals
• The Capital Programme 2025/26 – 2027/28
• Capital Financing
• Reserves and Balances

General Fund

The Leader of the Council introduced the draft budget proposal for 2025/26.

The Leader stated that he had worked on the budget with the Deputy Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer together with his Team, the Cabinet and Senior Officers.  The Cabinet Member for Housing would present the HRA section of the report.

A balanced position had been achieved for 2025/26 without the need to access the reserves and this included the Budget Stabilisation Reserve.

Various “budget bids” had been recommended which would improve service delivery and complement the Corporate Plan.  Although a balanced budget was being presented for 2025/26 it was noted that for the financial years 2026/27 and 2027/28 the outcome was not as predictable due to predicted Business Rates reset and also changes to the funding formula.

The budget setting timetable was then highlighted with the draft budget being presented to Cabinet on 16 January 2025 and Full Council on 27 February 2025.  Consultation on the proposed Council Tax levels would take place between 20 January and 3 February 2025 and feedback would be reported to Cabinet on 11 February 2025 to enable Cabinet to consider the consultation feedback before the proposed budget was recommended to Council on 27 February 2025.

The Leader asked Members for their comments on the budget before them and stated that Local Government Reorganisation would not be discussed at the meeting.

The budget report was split into the following areas:

·       Funding position for the General Fund

·       General Fund proposals

·       Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

·       Capital Programme 2025/26 – 2027/28

·       Capital Financing

·       Reserves and Balances

The first slide showed the Resources Funded by Council Tax since 2010 and highlighted a pattern where the Council had to increasingly raise more of its own money, this would continue under the new Government.  The amount that was contributed by Council Tax would increase from 51% to 61% over the next period up to the financial year 2027/28.  It was noted that the Council was in the last year of the New Homes Bonus and some grants which the Council had received had been abolished. Although the Council had received some contribution to the increase in employers’ cost in relation to National Insurance, the Council would not be fully reimbursed.

Members attention was drawn to Table 1 of the report which showed the indicative funding levels and Appendix A to the report which showed the net cost of services and the net budget requirements.  The net cost of services for 2025/26 was £24,008,000 with some income coming from fees and charges and other areas so the net budget requirement was £20,603,000 which gave a balanced budget for 2025/26. Going forward deficits were shown for 2026/27 (£784,000) and 2027/28 (£989,000) based on the current information available.

The Leader then spoke about Fees and Charges proposals.  He highlighted the following:

·       changes to car parking tariffs which would come into effect on 20 January 2025

·       no change to market charges to encourage economic growth in the markets within the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

None.

The Chairman thanked Members and Officers for attending and closed the meeting at 11:38.