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RESOLVED:

That Cabinet makes the following recommendations to
Council on 6 February 2024.

Cabinet recommends that Council:
 

Approves the net revenue budget requirement be set
at £1,197.1 million (net cost of services
after service specific government grants) for 2024/25 (Annex B),
subject to confirmation of the Final Local Government Financial
Settlement.

Approves the total Council Tax Funding Requirement
be set at £914.9 million for 2024/25. This is
based on a council tax increase of 4.99%, made up of an increase in
the level of core council tax of 2.99% and an increase of 2% in the
precept proposed by Central Government to cover the growing cost of
Adult Social Care (Annex E).

Notes that for the purpose of section 52ZB of the
Local Government Finance Act 1992, the Council formally determines
that the increase in core council tax is not such as to trigger a
referendum (i.e. not greater than 3%).

Sets the Surrey County Council precept for Band D
Council Tax at £1,758.60, which represents a 4.99% uplift.
This is a rise of £1.61 a week from the 2023/24 precept of
£1,675.08. This includes £251.44 for the Adult Social
Care precept, which has increased by £33.50. A full list of
bands is as follows:

Approves the use of £5m of earmarked reserves,
to enable additional targeted preventative and early intervention
investment in the event that the Final Local Government Finance
Settlement does not provide any additional funding to that
contained in the provisional settlement (paragraph 6).

Notes that underlying General Fund Balances are
projected to remain at £49 million as of 1 April
2024.

Approves the Total Schools Budget of £656.7
million to meet the Council’s statutory requirement on
schools funding (as set out in Section 9 of the 2024/25 Final
Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy to 2028/29).

Approves the overall indicative Budget Envelopes for
Directorates and individual services for the 2024/25 budget (Annex
B).

Approves the total £1,902.4 million proposed
five-year Capital Programme (comprising £1,291.3 million of
budget and £611.1 million pipeline) and approves the
£404.9 million Capital Budget in 2024/25 (Annex
C).

Approves the Capital and Investment Strategy (Annex
F - Sections 1 to 3), which provides an overview of how risks
associated with capital expenditure, financing and treasury will be
managed as well as how they contribute towards the delivery of
services.

Approves the policy for making a prudent level of
revenue provision for the repayment of debt - the Minimum Revenue
Provision (MRP) Policy (Annex G).

Notes that the investment in Transformation required
to deliver improved outcomes and financial benefits is built into
the proposed Medium-Term Financial Strategy (as set out in section
3 of 2024/25 Final Budget Report and Medium-Term Financial Strategy
to 2028/29).

13.Cabinet notes
that the Audit & Governance Committee has approved the
following at its meeting on the 17th January 2024: Treasury
Management Strategy and Prudential Indicators (Annex F –
Section 4) which set a framework for the Council’s treasury
function to manage risks, source borrowing and invest surplus
cash.
Reasons for Decisions:
Council will meet on 6 February 2024 to agree a
budget and to set the Council Tax Precept for 2024/25. Cabinet is
required to recommend a budget to Council for consideration at this
meeting. The budget directs available resources to support the
achievement of the Council’s ambitions and priorities in the
2030 Vision and the Refreshed Organisation Strategy.
The budget will also support the delivery of the
continuing transformational changes that are required to ensure
that the Council can improve priority outcomes for residents, while
managing growing demand for services and ensuring future financial
sustainability.