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The Cabinet Member
for Finance, Performance and Core Services presented the
Council’s proposed budget framework for 2024/25 which
incorporated the following:
 
·  Proposed
General Fund revenue budget for 2024/25;
·  Proposed
level of Council Tax for 2024/25;
·  Medium
Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2024/25 to 2026/27;
·  Draft
Capital Budget for 2024/25 and revised Capital Programme 2024/25
to 2026/27;
·  Strategy
for the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts 2024/25;
·  Chief
Financial Officer’s Statutory Finance Report (Section 25
Statement)
 
The proposed General
Fund net budget for 2024/25 was £221.745m, which incorporated
a drawdown from reserves of £8.809m to balance the 2024/25
budget after the inclusion of £15.595m of savings and
£54.129m of growth from the 2023/24 revised
budget.  In order
to achieve that budget, it would be necessary for the Council
to increase its element of the Council Tax by 4.99%, made up of
2.99% for general spending and 2% that would be ringfenced as an
adult social care precept.  The Greater London Authority
element of the Council Tax would increase by
8.6%.
 
The Cabinet Member
outlined the steps taken by the Council to achieve a balanced
budget for 2024/25 in the context of high inflation, the
cost-of-living crisis, increasing pressures and demand for social
care services and the continued uncertainty around local government
finances.  The Government’s delay in introducing Fair Funding
reforms meant that Barking and Dagenham continued to be
significantly disadvantaged due to its population increase and high
levels of deprivation which were not being properly funded by the
Government.
 
The Cabinet Member
also highlighted a number of other important aspects
within the report, which included:
 
·  The
key principles that underpinned the Council’s Medium Term
Financial Strategy, as set out under paragraph 4.14 of
the report;
·  The
key financial risks for both the local government sector as a whole
and those specific to Barking and Dagenham, as detailed in section
18 of the report;
·  The
key implications of the Local Government Finance Settlement for
2024/25, as set out under paragraph 7.7 of the report, and the
continued failure of the Government to provide local authorities
with any confidence to plan for the future;
·  The
service budgets for 2024/25, which included details of the growth,
inflation and savings to be achieved in each area, as set out under
paragraph 12.1 of the report;
·  The
Council’s reserves position for 2024/25, which meant that the
main budget reserve would remain above the £12m minimum level
previously set even after the drawdown to achieve a balanced budget
for 2023/24; and
·  The
outcome of the budget consultation exercise recently undertaken
which reflected the local community’s acknowledgement of the
need for the Council to increase Council Tax by the maximum amount
allowed in order to deliver its aspirations and the
priorities that were most important to residents.
 
In response to
questions, the Cabinet Member advised that pressures on the budget were coming from across the borough
impacting on all services; however, pressures were fundamentally
coming from Government with a third of funding for the Council lost
and the fair funding deal not yet being finalised.  Demand for Council services had increased
considerably, creating a huge funding gap of £4bn over next
two years to keep services where they were now across the
country.  Councils were struggling to
find resources to cover the gaps and were being encouraged by
Government to spend reserves, when most Councils, if not all, had
already looked into the use of reserves to balance
budgets.
 
The Cabinet Member advised that
the cost of placements for those in social care were skyrocketing
in both childrens and adults services,
with particular concern regarding private providers.
 
The Cabinet Member further
advised that whilst the Council had undertaken borrowing from the
Public Works Loan Board, which were secure and locked in at low
rates, the Council also had tangible assets in place to back up any
debt.
 
With regard to savings, the
Cabinet Member advised that savings proposals were monitored and
went through a rigours process to ensure they were achievable
before approved.  Directors were held
accountable by the Cabinet, who robustly challenged savings
proposals that were put forward for approval.
The Cabinet Member took the
opportunity to remind residents that there were discretionary funds
in place from the Council for those who were struggling to pay
their council tax.
 
In accordance with
paragraph 10.3.2 of Part 2, Chapter 3 of the Council Constitution,
the budget was put to a recorded vote and was agreed as follows:
 
For: Councillors
Achilleos, Akwaboah, Ashraf, P Bright, S Bright, Channer,
Chowdhury, Cormack, Dulwich, Freeborn, Geddes, Ghani, Haroon,
Hornby, Hussain, Jones, Kangethe, Khan, Lumsden, Miah, Mullane,
Nalule, Oluwole, Paddle, Perry, Pongo, Quadri, Rahman, Rai, Ramsay,
C Rice, I Robinson, P Robinson, Saleem, Sandhu, Shaukat, Sohaib,
Spoor, Twomey, P Waker, Worby and Zamee (42)
 
Against: Councillor L Rice (1)
 
Abstain: None (0)
 
(Note: Councillor
Gill left the chamber at 19:38 and therefore was not present to
vote)
 
The Assembly resolved to:
 
(i) 
Agree that the basic amount of Council Tax (Band D equivalent)
shall increase by 2.99%, and by a further 2% for the Adult Social
Care precept, bringing the total increase to 4.99%;
(ii) 
Agree that the Council Tax to be set for 2024/25 shall be
£1,531.35 for a Band D property, comprising £1,310.70
for core Council Tax and £220.65 for the Adult Social Care
precept, an increase of £43.61 and £29.17 per year
respectively;
(iii) 
Note that the Council shall levy an additional £471.40 on the
Band D amount above on behalf of the Greater London Authority which
represented an increase of 8.6%;
(iv) 
Note the amount of 54,916.54 as the Council Tax Base for Barking
and Dagenham for 2024/25, an increase of 1,589.69 on the previous
year, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Local Authorities
(Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 made under the
Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended);
(v) 
Agree, in setting the Council’s General Fund revenue budget,
to set the Council Tax requirement at £84.096m for
2024/25;
(vi) 
Consider and have due regard to budget consultation feedback with
residents and businesses as set out in Section 20 to the report and
note that no changes were recommended as a result;
(vii) 
Agree the Statutory Budget Determination for 2024/25 as set out at
Appendix D to the report;
(viii) 
Approve the proposed General Fund Revenue Budget for 2024/25 as set
out in Appendix A to the report, subject to any changes required
from the final Local Government Finance Settlement;
(ix) 
Delegate authority to the Strategic Director, Resources, in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Core
Services, to make further changes to the 2024/25 budget proposals
up to a maximum amount of £1.0m;
(x) 
Agree the new savings and growth proposals as set out in Appendix B
to the report;
(xi) 
Agree that the current budget gap of £8.809m shall be funded
from use of reserves for 2024/25 and to note that additional
permanent savings proposals shall need to be identified;
(xii) 
Approve the latest General Fund Medium Term Financial Strategy
2024/25 to 2026/27 as set out in section 4 and Appendix A to the
report;
(xiii) 
Note that the proposals maintain a General Fund balance of
£12m in line with the Council’s approved Reserves
Policy (July 2023);
(xiv) 
Note the projected reserve balances at 31 March 2025 following the
planned use of £8.809m to achieve a balanced budget, as set
out in Section 19 of the report;
(xv) 
Approve the Council’s provisional Capital Programme,
including Investment and Acquisition Strategy (IAS) schemes, for
2024/25 to 2026/27 as detailed in section 8 and Appendix G to the
report;
(xvi) 
Agree to set a Capital Budget for 2024/25 at £209.462m, as
detailed in Appendix G to the report;
(xvii) 
Approve the Strategy for the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts
2024/25 at Appendix I to the report, in line with the regulatory
requirements to facilitate the delivery of efficiency savings
including capitalisation of redundancy costs;
(xviii) 
Note the Chief Financial Officer’s Statutory Finance Report
(Section 25 Statement) as set out in Appendix H to the report and,
in particular, their determination of “the robustness of the
estimates made for the purposes of the calculations, and the
adequacy of the proposed financial reserves”; and
(xix) 
Note the changes to the report since its endorsement by the Cabinet
on 19 February, as set out in paragraph 19.13 of the report.