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RESOLVED:
 
1. 
That Council bring forward into 2024/25 the Council’s
projected 2023/24 General Fund balance of £17.0m with the aim
of increasing this to £20m over the medium-term period to
2026/27 noting the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) projected 2023/24
balance of £15m with the aim of increasing to £17.6m by
the end of March 2024.
2. 
That Full Council agree for approval the directorate estimates and
estimates for the General Finance Account items set out in Table 2
in Section 14 of this report.
3. 
That Full council note that the budget is a financial exposition of
the priorities set out within the Strategic Plan summarised at
Section 6 below.
4. 
That Full Council note that in line with the requirements of the
Local Government Act 2003,the Interim
Group Director of Finance, is of the view that:
 
The General Fund balances which currently
stand at £17.0m and the level of
other reserves are adequate to meet the
Council’s financial needs for 2024/25
and that considering the economic uncertainty
they should not fall below this
level and that the aim is to increase these to
£20m over the medium term period to 2026/27 from a review of
current earmarked reserves.
 
This view takes account of the reserves
included in the Council’s latest
published 2022/23 Accounts and the movements
of those reserves since that
date – which have been tracked through
the Overall Financial Position (OFP)
Reports, and the latest OFP projections. Note
also, that the projections in the
HRA Budget to increase the balance to
£17.6m by 31 March 2024 are also
considered to be adequate at this point in
time but will need to continue to be
reviewed in the light of the challenges facing
the HRA.
 
The General Fund estimates are sufficiently
robust to set a balanced budget
for 2024/25. This takes into account the
adequacy of the level of balances
and reserves outlined above and the assurance
gained from the comparisons of the 2023/24 budget with the
projected spend identified in the December 2023 OFP. The overall
level of the corporate contingency has been set at £2m.
 
That Full Council approve the proposed General
Fund fees and charges as set out in Appendix 7 for implementation
from 1st April 2024.
That full Council continue the policy
requiring the Interim Group Director of Finance to seek to mitigate
the impact of significant changes to either resources or
expenditure requirements.
That Full Council require the Mayor, Cabinet
and the Corporate Leadership Team to develop robust plans to
deliver against the revised Medium Term Financial Plan included at
Appendix 5 taking into account the recommendation of the S151
Officer as set out in the Section 25 Statement (Appendix 11). This
is needed to maintain the financial resilience of the Council and
to avoid the
requirement to make short-term decisions which
will adversely impact on
our residents.
That Full Council note the summary of the HRA
Budget and Rent setting report proposed to Cabinet on 22nd January
2024.
That Full Council authorise the Interim Group
Director of Finance to implement any virements required to allocate provision for demand
and growth pressures
set out in this report subject to the
appropriate evidence base being provided.
That Full Council approve:
The allocation of resources to the 2024/25
capital programme referred to in
Section 22 and Appendix 6.
That Full Council note that the new capital
expenditure proposals match uncommitted resources for the year
2024/25.
That Full Council agree the prudential
indicators for Capital Expenditure:- the
Capital Financing Requirement; the Authorised Limit and Operational
Boundary for External Debt; the Affordability prudential
indicators; and the Treasury
Management Prudential Indicators for 2024/25
as set out in Section 23 and
Appendix 3.
That Full Council confirm that the authorised
limit for external debt of £792m agreed above for 2024/25
will be the statutory limit determined under section 3(1) of the
Local Government Act 2003. Further reassurance about the robustness
of the budget is the confirmation that the Council’s
borrowings are within the boundaries of prudential guidelines.
That Full Council continue to support the
approach of using reserves to manage emerging risks and
liabilities.
That Full Council note that at its meeting on
24th January 2024 the Council agreed its Council Tax Base for the
2024/25 financial year as 77,766.9 in accordance with regulations
made under section 33(5) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
The Council Tax Base is the total number of properties in each of
the eight council tax bands A to H converted to an equivalent
number of band D properties.
That Full Council agree that the following
amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2024/25 in
accordance with Sections 31A to 36 of the Localism Act 2011.
 
The authority calculates the aggregate of: (in
accordance with Section 31A
(2) of the Act)
 
(a) £1,374.738m being the expenditure
which the authority estimates it will
incur in the year in performing its functions
and will charge to a revenue account, other than a BID Revenue
Account, for the year in accordance with proper practices.
(b) £2m being such allowance as the
authority estimates will be appropriate for contingencies in
relation to amounts to be charged or credited to a revenue account
for the year in accordance with proper practices.
(c) £nil being the financial reserves
which the authority estimates it will be
appropriate to raise in the year for meeting
its estimated future expenditure.
(d) £nil being such financial reserves
as are sufficient to meet so much of the amount estimated by the
authority to be a revenue account deficit for any earlier financial
year as has not already been provided for.
(e) £nil being the amount which it
estimates will be transferred in the year from its general fund to
its collection fund in accordance with section 97(4) of the 1988
Act, and
(f) £nil being the amount which it
estimates will be transferred from its
general fund to its collection fund pursuant
to a direction under section 98(5) of the 1988 Act and charged to a
revenue account for the year.
 
The authority calculates the aggregate of: (in
accordance with Section 31A
(3) of the Act)
 
(a) £1,263.182m being the income which
it estimates will accrue to it in the
year and which it will credit to a revenue
account, other than a BID Revenue Account, for the year in
accordance with proper practices.
(b) £4.218m being the amount which it
estimates will be transferred in the year from its collection fund
to its general fund in accordance with section 97(3) of the 1988
Act.
(c) £nil being the amount which it
estimates will be transferred from its collection fund to its
general fund pursuant to a direction under section 98(4) of the
1988 Act and will be credited to a revenue account for the year,
and
(d) £nil being the amount of the
financial reserves which the authority estimates it will use in
order to provide for the items mentioned in subsection (2) (a),
(b), (e) and (f) above.
£109.338m being the amount by which the
aggregate calculated under subsection (1) above exceeds that
calculated under subsection (2) above, the authority calculates the
amount equal to the difference; and the amount so calculated is its
Council Tax Requirement for the year.
£109.338m being the amount at (3.2.18)
divided by the amount at (3.2.15)
above, calculated by the Council, in
accordance with section 31A of the
Act, £1,405.97 as the basic amount of
its council tax for the year.
That the Council in accordance with Sections
30 and 36 of the Local
Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the
aggregate amounts
shown in the tables below as the amounts of
Council tax for 2024/25 for
each part of its area and for each of the
categories of dwellings.
 
Valuation Bands
Hackney
 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

£937.31

£1,093.53

£1,249.75

£1,405.97

£1,718.41

£2,030.84

£2,343.28

£2,811.94

 
That it be noted that for 2024/25 the Greater
London Authority has stated the following amounts in precepts
issued to the Council, in accordance with Section 40 of the Local
Government Finance Act 1992, for each of thecategories of dwellings shown below.
 
Valuation Bands
GLA
 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

£314.27

£366.64

£419.02

£471.40

£576.16

£680.91

£785.67

£942.80

 
 
That having calculated the aggregate in each
case of the amounts at 3.2.20
and 3.2.21 above, the Council, in accordance
with Section 30(2) of the Local
Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the
following amounts as the
amounts of Council Tax for 2024/25 for each of
the categories of dwellings as
shown below.
 
Valuation Bands
Combined Hackney/GLA
 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

£1,251.58

£1,460.17

£1,668.77

£1,877.37

£2,294.57

£2,711.75

£3,128.95

£3,754.74

 
That Full Council agree, subject to the
decision of Members on recommendations 3.2.16 to 3.2.18 that
Hackney’s Council Tax requirement for 2024/25 be
£109.338m which results in a Band D Council Tax of
£1,405.97 for Hackney purposes and a total Band D Council Tax
of £1,877.37 including the Greater London Authority (GLA)
precept.
To agree that in accordance with principles
approved under section 52ZB of
the Local Government Finance Act 1992, and the
new provisions included in the Localism Act 2011, the increase in
the Council’s Council Tax requirement
for 2024/25 as shown at Appendix 8 is not
excessive (5% or above) and therefore does not require the Council
to hold a referendum.
That Full Council agree the Treasury
Management Strategy for 2024/25, set out at Appendix 3.
That Full Council agree the criteria for
lending and the financial limits set out at Appendix 3.
That Full Council approve the Minimum Revenue
Provision statement setting out the method of calculation to be
used, as set out in paragraphs 23.19-23.28 below.
 
REASONS FOR
DECISION
 
The Council has a legal obligation to set its
Council Tax and adopt its annual
budget. This report is seeking formal approval
of the 2024/25 budget.
 
Previous decisions in this context relate
to:
 
? The Overall Financial Position reports
presented monthly to Council during
2023/24.
? The Calculation of the 2024-25 Council
Taxbase & Local Business Rates
report approved by Council on 24th January
2024