Purpose

Identify the financial risks that will impact the annual budgets for each of the next 3 years.

Decision

1) Approve the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

2) The Council continues to take a proactive and robust approach to delaying or ceasing all Capital programme expenditure not deemed to be of a legal or statutory responsibility or can demonstrate a clear reduction of revenue expenditure.

3) The Council continues to evaluate the current asset portfolio and identify any suitable potential disposal options to generate additional Capital receipts to alleviate financial burdens around borrowing costs for the current Capital programme.

4) The Council reviews its new Council wide financial restrictions, (brought in from October 2023) for its effectiveness, financial results, and organisational impact.

5) Service cost areas are reduced in the current and future financial years, to provide the necessary savings to balance the budget, with a pre-Section 114 approach.

6) The Council continues to focus on reducing the temporary housing expenditure, with the requirement of producing a Housing and Homelessness strategy outlining how those costs are to be reduced before 2025/26.

7) The Council commits to implementing and co-ordinating its individual strategies to align with one single long term overall Corporate Plan. This includes Green Initiatives, Housing and Homelessness, Cultural Regeneration, IT, HR (including Equalities), Capital Financing and Asset Management.

8) Full Council to note the actions to address the Budget deficit and if no conclusive savings identified, that the issue of a Section 114 notice will take place in 2024/25.