Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation.

Councillor Thorpe, Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation, presented the suite of budget papers with comprised of the key elements of the 2025/26 budget proposals and the framework for the longer-term Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2026/27 to 2027/28.

It makes available the latest financial information that will underpin the 2025/26 budget and the MTFS. The report also sets out the process that will lead to the agreement of the budget and the setting of the 2025/26 Council Tax at Full Council on the 19 February 2025.

This report reflects the Government’s Provisional 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement published in December 2024. The financial tables within the report focus on a three-year period.

The report is part of the suite of financial reports including:

·         Council Tax Setting

·         Treasury Management Strategy 2025/26

·         Capital Strategy 2025/26 to 2027/28

·         The Dedicated Schools Grant and the schools’ budget 2025/26

Decision:

Cabinet approved the recommendations and commended to Council the following:

·         Approve the Medium-Term Financial Strategy to 2027/28 and the assumptions regarding resources and spending requirements.

·         Approve the Council Tax base for Bury Council for 2025/26 of 58,697.86 Band D equivalent dwellings, this is the basis on which the Council Tax funding has been calculated (Appendix 1).

·         Approve the net revenue budget of £238.256m for 2025/26. Page 32

·         Approve the Council Tax requirement of £118.296m and the increase in Council Tax in 2025/26 of 2.99% in terms of General Council Tax and a further 2% for the Adult Social Care precept for 2025/26 (Appendix 1).

·         Approve the budget assumptions of £23.210m in 2025/26.

·         Approve the new revenue budget proposal relating to residents parking permits pricing structure for consultation and referred to Council for their consideration.

·         Note the remaining budget gap of £11.571m over the medium-term to 2027/28.

·         Approve the use of £5.858m of reserves from the budget stabilisation reserve for 2025/26.

·         Note the forecast position on reserves over the medium-term to 2027/28.

·         Approve the recommendations set out in the Treasury Management Strategy (Appendix 2)

·         To approve the Treasury Management Strategy including the associated Prudential Indicators and Annual Investment Strategy.

·         To approve the Treasury Management Policy Statement.

·         To approve the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy Statement.

·         Approve the Capital Strategy and the Programme for 2025/26 – 2027/28 (Appendix 3).

·         Approve the Dedicated Schools Grant budget for 2025/26 at £253.097m and approve the allocations between the four funding blocks as set out in Appendix 4 of this report.

·         The Schools and Academies 20205/26 funding unit values as recommended by Schools Forum and detailed at Annex 1 to appendix 4.

·         Approve the 2025/26 hourly rates for all early year’s providers as follows:

i.             £5.48 per hour for 3- and 4-year-olds.

ii.           £7.88 per hour for 2-year olds.

iii.          £10.50 per hour for under 2’s.

·         Note the Equality Impact Assessment for the budget report (Appendix 5).

·         Note the Chief Finance Officer (Director of Finance) statement on the robustness of estimates and adequacy of financial reserves in setting the budget (Appendix 6).

Reasons for recommendations:

·         The Council has a legal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 301