Issue - meetings

Budget Papers

Meeting: 19/02/2025 - Council (Item 6b)

6b The Council’s 2025/26 Revenue Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2026/27 through to 2027/28 pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation.

Additional documents:


Meeting: 12/02/2025 - Cabinet (Item 301)

301 The Council’s 2025/26 Revenue Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2026/27 through to 2027/28 pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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