Agenda item

To seek approval to recommendations from the Executive contained in the attached report of the Chief Finance Officer (Introduced by the Executive Member for Resources) and within the appendices listed below.

a) Approve the budget and proposals set out in this report, including the level of Council Tax as set out in the Formal Council Tax Resolution for 2024/25, including Special Expenses & Parish Precepts, at Appendix A;

b) Note the advice of the Chief Finance Officer in relation to the robustness of the estimates within the overall budget, including the risks contained within it and the adequacy of the proposed level of financial reserves, as set out in the Statutory Report at Appendices B1 – B3;

c) Approve the council’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) at Appendix C;

d) Note the council’s forecast Cumulative Budget Deficit and Budget Strategy 2024/25 to 2026/27 at Appendix D, including the analysis of the movement in the 2024/25 Budget from the position approved by Council in February 2023;

e) Note the analysis of the Directorate Budgets for 2024/25, by expense type, at Appendix E;

f) Approve the capital programme for 2024/25 to 2026/27 (Appendices F1, F2 & F3);

g) Approve the Capital Strategy at Appendix G;

h) Approve the Treasury Management Strategy at Appendix H1 and note the advice of the treasury management consultants at Appendix H2;

i) Approve the council’s Pay Policy at Appendix I for publication on the council’s website from April 2024 (including Appendix I (i) – the payscales for Chorley Council and Appendix I (ii) – the payscales for Shared Services);

j) Note the Budget Consultation 2024/25 Report at Appendix J;

k) Note the Impact Assessment of the Budget Proposals for 2024/25 at Appendix K.

The Deputy Executive Leader and Executive Member for Resources, Councillor Peter Wilson, presented the Executive’s Revenue Budget 2024/25, Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and Capital Programme 2024-27.

Councillor Wilson thanked officers and the Labour Group for their hard work and input into the proposed budget.

The 2024/25 budget and the MTFS for the next two years had been updated to take account of the Local Government Finance Settlement announced in February and the latest financial information, forecasts and economic outlook, and were reflective of the following:

• due to the continued pressures on council budgets, alongside reduced levels of funding from government to meet these increasing costs, the figures include a proposed 2.99% increase in council tax in 2024/25;

• the figures include a proposed 1.99% increase in council tax in 2025/26 and of 1.99% in 2026/27; these proposals would be revisited each year as part of the budget setting process and would be dependent upon the outcome of the government’s reviews of both the future funding framework and the future distribution of funding between councils, the review of the business rates system and the development of the ‘Levelling-Up’ agenda;

• continued investment is reflected in ongoing revenue budgets to ensure delivery of corporate strategy priorities.

Although the level of funding in cash terms has decreased by £0.8m (4.5%) from £17.6m in 2016/17 to £16.8m in 2024/25, there had been a further real terms reduction as the rate of inflation (as measured by CPI) has increased by 31.9% over this period.

Despite this, the council had been, and remained, ambitious in its approach to addressing the budget deficit by generating efficiency savings and additional income.

The council continued to invest in the borough and the budget included £22.450m of capital investment from 2024/25 to 2026/27, including investment in:

• the provision of affordable housing, support for refugees and adaptations to assist residents in their homes;

• improving and transforming the leisure centres to encourage our residents to be active and healthy, along with investment in play, recreation and open spaces;

• driving economic development through the delivery of the Woodlands development site;

• supporting our town centre through the town centre masterplan and the recently

awarded Levelling-Up Fund, for which plans are currently being developed;

• delivering the green agenda, including decarbonisation of council properties;

• rationalisation of council accommodation, including relocation of the Bengal St depot and works to the Town Hall and the former White Hart public house;

• investment in a programme of refurbishment and replacement of bus shelters across

the borough through the Asset Improvement programme.

The Deputy Leader, Councillor Peter Wilson proposed and the Deputy Portfolio Holder- Resources, Councillor Arjun Singh, seconded the recommendation.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Alan Cullens, thanked the officers for their work in presenting a balanced budget, and noted the Opposition would have looked to reduce debt and would not have invested in bus shelters.  He suggested that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee review the events program and Councillor Wilson agreed.      

In line with the legal requirement for all budget decisions to be recorded, this proposal was put to the vote and recorded as follows:

For: Councillors Sarah Ainsworth, Aaron Beaver, Julia Berry, Alistair Bradley, Alan Cullens, Karen Derbyshire, Gordon France Margaret France, Danny Gee, Tommy Gray (Mayor), Christine Heydon, Alex Hilton, Terry Howarth, Hasina Khan, Samir Khan, Zara Khan, Michelle Beach, Roy Lees, Adrian Lowe, Pauline McGovern, June Molyneaux, Alistair Morwood, Dedrah Moss, Beverley Murray, Alan Platt, Debra Platt, Aidy Riggott, Jean Sherwood, Chris Snow, Craige Southern, Arjun Singh, Kim Snape, Jenny Whiffen, Neville Whitham, Alan Whittaker, Joan Williamson and Peter Wilson 

Against: None.      

Abstain: None.      

The vote was unanimous, and it was therefore Resolved:

a) Approve the budget and proposals set out in this report, including the level of Council Tax as set out in the Formal Council Tax Resolution for 2024/25, including Special Expenses & Parish Precepts, at Appendix A;

b) Note the advice of the Chief Finance Officer in relation to the robustness of the estimates within the overall budget, including the risks contained within it and the adequacy of the proposed level of financial reserves, as set out in the Statutory Report at Appendices B1 – B3;

c) Approve the council’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) at Appendix C;

d) Note the council’s forecast Cumulative Budget Deficit and Budget Strategy 2024/25 to 2026/27 at Appendix D, including the analysis of the movement in the 2024/25 Budget from the position approved by Council in February 2023;

e) Note the analysis of the Directorate Budgets for 2024/25, by expense type, at Appendix E;

f) Approve the capital programme for 2024/25 to 2026/27 (Appendices F1, F2 & F3);

g) Approve the Capital Strategy at Appendix G;

h) Approve the Treasury Management Strategy at Appendix H1 and note the advice of the treasury management consultants at Appendix H2;

i) Approve the council’s Pay Policy at Appendix I for publication on the council’s website from April 2024 (including Appendix I (i) – the payscales for Chorley Council and Appendix I (ii) – the payscales for Shared Services);

j) Note the Budget Consultation 2024/25 Report at Appendix J;

k) Note the Impact Assessment of the Budget Proposals for 2024/25 at Appendix K.