Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) introduced the report and highlighted the following:

a)     This was anticipated to be the last budget predicated on a yearly financial settlement;

b)    The paper clearly illustrates the impact additional funding and resources which were availed to the Council and the actions required to mitigate continuing rising demand pressures in all areas;

c)     Large amounts of additional funding had been provided to numerous service areas to bridge the gap in funding, including:

                         I.         an additional £12 million to Adult Social Care and

                       II.         an uplift in funding to coordinate the response to homelessness within the community, including the provision of emergency accommodation;

                      III.         Extra funding provision of £19 million for Children’s Social Care and School Transportation costs;

d)    Overall funding, a culmination of revenue Support Grant, Council Tax receipts and business rates, had increased;

e)     £5 million of reserves were drawn-down to render a balanced budget;

f)      The cost of resources, i.e. directorate budgets, had seen an increase of £17 million;

g)     Net additional cost pressures and adjustments total over £50 million pounds, offsets from resources and grants therefore indicates £14 million of savings would be needed;

h)    Whereas the budget may appear superficially dour, public services had not been cut and various services, such as Active Leisure and public libraries remained committed to and key policies such as Net Zero goals were to be maintained. 

David Northey (Director for Finance) added the following:

i)      Having provided a balanced-budget was a very positive achievement;

j)      The £13.9 million of savings required to offset pressures were comprised of £10 million of savings with the further £4 million from re-articulation of existing service funds, primarily budget clean ups, which could be achieved relatively sans pain; 

k)     This budget before Cabinet was the draft and that final settlement figures would be introduced in February;

l)      Identified high-risk areas still remained in place and further transparency and forbearance was required to manage these areas.

Councillor Haydon (Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Libraries, Events, Cemeteries and Crematoria) added:

m)   Not only were service levels being retained, in terms of public library provision, services had been expanded. St Budeaux Library had expanded its operating hours and days.

Councillor Cresswell (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships) added:

n)    Finances being allocated to budgets in reference to the staffing of Educational Healthcare Plans (EHCPs) was appreciated, as it aided in the reduction of anxiety experienced by children, parents and carers. 

Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing, Cooperative Development and Communities) added:

o)    The housing crisis experienced by government during the preceding 21 months was still ongoing and the budget continued the commitment towards support for housing development;

p)    The additional £724,000 granted for homelessness provision would be utilised for targeted prevention work, which has previously proved highly efficacious in providing carry-on savings both financial and humanitarian;

q)    These two decisions displayed a commitment to the Plan for Homes and higher quality housing outcomes in the future.

Councillor Briars-Delve (Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change) added:

r)     The additional £300,000 invested in the Grass-Cutting team last year yielded great results, with the amount of grass cutting which occurred doubling within the year. Continued patronage would capitalise on this foundation;

s)     Continued outlay into the Climate Emergency Investment Fund, an essential component of Net Zero and decarbonisation policies, would yield further savings for the Council across various departments. It was calculated that £500,000 of energy efficiency savings had been garnered through this fund last year and similar savings would continue;

t)     The £65 million from the Capital Programme linked to Net Zero projects was a large amount for the ambitious project. One particular example of the manner in which it has paid dividends is with investment into bins and vehicles has allowed for the movement into the highly positive food waste delivery and recycling schemes.

Councillor Aspinall (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care) added:

u)    The increased budget of £750,000 allocated to the Public Health Unit was welcome as it would ensure integral preventative work, such as smoking prevention, within the community;

Councillor Tudor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) added:

v)     Conceptualisation of the sheer scope and scale of Local Government budgets was a potentially onerous task and the more Cabinet Members and Councillors comprehended its complexity and immensity, the higher the propensity for constituents and taxpayers to understand in kind.

Cabinet agreed to:

1.     Note the report, and that it was subject to change in line with any Final Settlement adjustments and changes required as proposals are developed.

2.     Recommend the Report to the Budget Scrutiny Committee