Agenda item

Papers will follow and will be included in the Agenda for the Cabinet Meeting on 7^th February 2023 once published.

Members are requested to consider the reports and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

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Officers presented the Financial Plan 2022/2027 to Members.  The Chair thanked officers for their presentation and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below, some of which had been provided in advance:

In response to a question on suggesting the IDBs reduced their levies to assist with the funding gap, it was noted that they were able to raise their levy each year by statute, and the Council was not in able to withhold funding or dictate their levies, but lobbying of the government on how they were funded would continue.

The question of how business rates were assessed and shared  between County and District as the Borough should not depend on rebates if it was to grow.  The report set out the issues with the business rates retention scheme, currently the surplus growth in rates was distributed in the Norfolk Pool.  However it was not known how this would work in the future until Government announced their proposals for the scheme going forward.  Councillor Morley clarified that it was important to know the distribution of the business rates with the County Deal.

A question on the breakdown of renewable energy rates into onshore and off shore was raised. The response was that offshore wind farms were not rateable (the Crown owned the seabed) so no business rates came directly from them.  We do get business rates from the cables connecting the offshore windfarms to the national grid if the substation and the majority of distance the cable runs over land is in our area.  Solar Farms were rated on their output in MWH.

Councillor Crofts asked for the breakdown of the amount of Council Tax collected which came to the Borough.  This was confirmed as 7% which came to the Borough, and 3% of that was passed out to the IDBs leaving 4% to the Borough.

Under standing order 34 Councillor Kemp asked whether the Borough would continue to receive the Shared Prosperity Fund in 2025 if the County Deal was approved. It was confirmed that the Fund was picked up in the Capital Programme report.  SPF allocations up to 2024/25 were allocated directly to the Borough Council and other districts and it was understood that under the County Deal arrangements would to NCC.  It would be important for the borough to engage with NCC to ensure the priorities identified in the West Norfolk Investment Fund continued to be met from the SPF.

Councillor Bubb asked which fees and charges were rising.   It was explained that work was being carried out on fees there were some statutory charges would go up including the planning fees.

Councillor Ryves asked about the major projects in the capital programme and the projected profit or loss shown over the years on some projects when the property market may reduce and whether additional losses had been factored in.  It was explained that the major housing projects formed the significant part of the capital programme which were currently forecast to generate a surplus overall would continue to be reviewed.  Also consideration would need to be given on whether to change from sale of properties to private rented.  It was explained that the valuations of the properties in the schemes were based on market values and were set out in the Parkway report.

Council de Whalley asked whether any contingencies had been built into schemes and revised significantly to which it was confirmed that there were contingencies built into projects and  schemes would be under regular review to reflect the need for any changes.

Councillor Morley asked about service cost recovery allocation and exposure by the Council’s companies.  It was confirmed that Alive West Norfolk would be setting their own fees and charges.  The Council’s budget reflected the management fee income from Alive West Norfolk.  West Norfolk Housing and West Norfolk Property companies service level agreements were being drafted.  Any exposure through those would have to come through their Boards and the Shareholder Committee in terms of taking action to address that.  The financial plan was based on the projects and the level of income which should be received from them based on forecasts.

A question was asked on a profit and loss for each service which it was explained that in appendix 2 of the papers a breakdown of each area was included.

In regards to setting targets for reducing increasing service costs, it was explained that work was continuing under the cost management and income generation plan which would be carried out to address the budget gaps in the future.

A question was asked about why there was an increase in service costs from £16.5m to £20m – appendix 3 of the report gave a detailed analysis is cost increases and services.  There were some 1 year changes built in in 2023/24 which would increase again the following year as they couldn’t be guaranteed to continue beyond 2023/24.

With regard to the question on why the cost of refuse collection had increased, Appendix 3 of the report gave the explanations for the changes in budget by each service area.

A pie chart was requested to show net flows to evaluate council tax and business rates as a percentage of the requirement.  This was being looked at and would be circulated once it was available.

On being put to the vote there were 3 abstentions for recommendations 2 and 3.

RESOLVED: That the Joint Panel support the recommendations to Cabinet, as set out below.

Recommendation 1

It is recommended that Council note the revision to the Forecast for 2022/2023 as set out in the report.

Recommendation 2

Council is recommended to approve the Policy on Earmarked Reserves and General Fund Balance and the maximum balances set for the reserves as noted in the report and at Appendix 7.

Recommendation 3

It is recommended that Council :

1) Approves the budget requirement of £22,287,700 for 2023/2024 and notes the projections for 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and 2025/2026.

2) Approves that the pension lump sum payments are paid in advance for three years at a value of £5.430m.

3) Approves the level of Special Expenses for the Town/Parish Councils as detailed in the report.

4) Approves the Fees and Charges 2024/2025 detailed in Appendix 4.

5) Approves a Band D council tax of £143.87 for 2023/2024.

Recommendation 4

It is recommended that Council approves a minimum requirement of the General Fund balance for 2023/24 of £1,114,390.