Agenda item

Decision

RESOLVED:

1. That the list of proposed savings as set out in the report are agreed so that a balanced budget can be recommended to full Council.
2. That an alternative option for balancing the budget should be agreed to replace savings not taken if there are any.
3. That any additional funding announced as part of the final Local Government Settlement announcement be transferred to reserves.
4. That new capital bids, as set out in the report, be recommended to full Council for inclusion in the Capital Programme.

Reasons for the decision:

To enable the Council to set a balanced budget.

Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance, introduced this item. She began by saying that she was pleased to present a balanced budget and thanked officers for their hard work in achieving this. She also thanked members for their input, specifically Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

Cllr Shires referred members to section 2.2 of the report, specifically the following:

‘There were 133 out of the 164 District Councils that received a zero per cent increase, with NNDC being allocated £805,000 to bring its increase up to 0.0% i.e. without this the Council would have seen a reduction in funding of this £805,000’.

With that in mind, Cllr Shires said that it was very clear that Government ministers did not understand North Norfolk. There was no mention of the coast and everything was focused on ‘working age’ residents which did not reflect the demographic of the district. She said that given the move towards devolution, it was unlikely that this approach would change.

Cllr Shires went on to refer page 250, line 5, and reassured members that there were no savings to be identified. She then confirmed that deficit projections were significantly reduced compared to this time last year. Regarding savings. She said that she had asked officers to ensure that any future reports clearly set out the savings against the criteria listed in section 8.

In conclusion, Cllr Shires said that she could provide more information on the temporary accommodation borrowing proposals if required.

The Chairman agreed with Cllr Shires’ comments regarding the financial settlement, explaining that it effectively meant 1 pence of additional spending per head of the district’s population. This meant that north Norfolk residents paid considerably more for services than those in northern urban areas. Consequently, the council had had to work really hard to achieve a balanced budget and this was against additional pressures such as the demand for temporary accommodation, with over 80 children in such housing on some nights.

Cllr C Cushing said that he endorsed the comments made by the Chairman and the Portfolio Holder regarding the Government’s approach to rural districts. He said that ministers represented urban areas and had no understanding of countryside matters.

Cllr Cushing referred to the final page of the report and references to public conveniences, specifically the lack of reference to the toilets in Stalham which had previously been put forward as a potential saving. He sought clarification as to whether this meant that it was no longer a savings proposal. Cllr Shires confirmed that this was correct.

Cllr N Dixon referred to the chart on page 249 and said that there should be an additional column stating ‘zero’ for NNDC. This would clearly set out the current position and send a strong message to residents about the Government’s approach to district councils.

He went onto refer to page 255 and the table of reserves. He asked whether the statement at section 3.16 included the reserves used to cover revenue spends on services which was unplanned. Cllr Shires replied that there was no unplanned spend projected for 2025/2026 so clarified whether Cllr Dixon was referring to unplanned spend for 2024/2025. The Director for Finance confirmed that the table on page 255 set out the planned spend for future years and it did include revenue expenditure where money had been set aside for planned use – such as grant funding for specific projects.

Cllr Dixon sought confirmation that no money had been spent from the reserves on services that were not planned. The Director of Finance replied that there was no unplanned expenditure included in the table, it was all planned.  In response to a further question from Cllr Dixon as to whether any money from the reserves had been spent on service delivery, the Director for Finance confirmed that it had. Cllr Dixon asked whether the amount could be identified and shared at the Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting.

Cllr Dixon asked for an update on the latest overspend forecast figure as referred to on page 251. He asked whether the figure stated in section 3.2 was still the same. The Director for Finance replied that it was currently being worked on and the period 10 Budget Monitoring report would cover this. She did not anticipate much variation though.

Cllr J Toye spoke in support of Cllr Shires and the work that officers and members had done to produce a balanced budget.

Cllr L Shires drew members’ attention to page 247 and the reference to the budget consultation taking place. She said that it hadn’t opened for consultation yet and this was likely to happen in early February.

The Monitoring Officer advised Cabinet members to clarify which of the proposed savings and which of the proposed capital bids they wished to recommend to Full Council. The Chairman confirmed that they supported the proposals as set out in the report.

It was proposed by Cllr L Shires, seconded by Cllr T Adams and

RESOLVED:

RESOLVED to recommend to Full Council:

1. That the list of proposed savings as set out in the report are agreed so that a balanced budget can be recommended to full Council.
2. That an alternative option for balancing the budget should be agreed to replace savings not taken if there are any.
3. That any additional funding announced as part of the final Local Government Settlement announcement be transferred to reserves.
4. That new capital bids, as set out in the report, be recommended to full Council for inclusion in the Capital Programme

Reasons for the decision:

To enable the Council to set a balanced budget.