Agenda item

The Cabinet considered a report providing the latest proposals for the Revenue Budget Strategy for 2022/23 and the following two financial years.

The report summarised the latest budgetary position and provided an update on the budget validation, spending pressures, the Welsh Government final settlement and the responses received to the budget consultation.

The Cabinet Member for Resources outlined a number of factors influencing the budget, including the fact the final settlement from Welsh Government would not be received until the 1st March 2022.  Whilst having regard to the late announcement of the final settlement, he advised that key components of the budget assumptions and allocations had been reviewed and had provided some increased headroom to enable the authority to revisit some of the original budget proposals. 

The Cabinet Member for Resources advised that full details of the provisional settlement, included within the report, detailed that Local Government funding on an all-Wales basis had increased by an average of 9.4% on the 2021/22 settlement, with Carmarthenshire’s allocation being 9.2% (£311.597m).

Although that settlement had enabled the authority to allocate funding in its budget for a significant amount of inflationary and unavoidable pressures, it still required savings to be made.

The initial draft budget plans had included a contingency sum of £3.5m in respect of ongoing costs and lost commercial revenues. This sum was retained in the final budget and it was stressed that this remained the largest risk to the budgets going forward. 

The Cabinet Member referred to the final settlement from Welsh Government, due to be announced on the 1st March 2022, and advised that the report sought authority for the Director of Corporate Services in liaison with the Leader, Chief Executive and the Cabinet Member for Resources to make any necessary adjustments to the Budget Strategy prior to County Council on the 2nd March 2022.  It was noted that the Director of Corporate Services had however, made some adjustments to some of the other figures within the report, as part of the normal routine as clearer information had become available, with current total validation adding some £16.2m to the budget.

The Cabinet Member for resources advised that the budget maintained the pay assumption of 4% allowance for next year for both NJC as well as teaching staff, and this remained the most significant validation included within the assumptions.  This was in line with general expectations and acknowledged that inflation was escalating well above 5%.

It was noted that changes to some of the key assumptions such as energy price increases, and the release of last years economic development capital contribution provided scope to make some changes with the following highlighted:

• An additional £50k to fund additional capacity in the public rights of way section,
• £190k additional funding for school meal costs following a recent notification of supplier price increases.

The Cabinet Member for Resources reminded the Cabinet that based on the provisional budget settlement, there was some scope to make changes to the strategy, and it had previously agreed to reduce the Council tax increase for 2022/23 to 2.50%, thereby providing a sum of £1,795k to respond to the budget consultation. He therefore proposed the following savings:-

·         removal of the proposed £15k reduction to 3rd sector grants,

·         removal of the £95k staffing reduction to ICT,

·         halt the plans introducing charges to additional car parks.

The Cabinet Member advised that having proposed the above changes, sufficient funding was available to cap the council tax increase to 2.50% for 2022/23.  Those proposals, if adopted, would present a fair and balanced budget to the Council.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT IT BE RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:-