Agenda item

2023/24 Budget Setting Process

Minutes:

A suggested process for setting the 2023/24 budget, including indicative timescales, was presented. This was in the context of the continued uncertainty and expected constraints upon Local Government funding, along with risks and opportunities that need to be explored. The accompanying report also referred to the interdependency between the budget setting process and the Future Tandridge Programme (FTP) (Minute 60 refers).

 

The Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), as presented to Full Council on the 10th February 2022, anticipated a funding gap of £874k for 2023/24. The report provided early illustrations of updated scenarios of savings requirements for 2023/24, namely ‘pessimistic’ (£1,494k); ‘optimistic’ (£314k) and ‘neutral’ (£887k). All three scenarios reflected the escalating rate of inflation and made alternative assumptions about the delivery of the budgeted £713k savings target.  The optimistic scenario assumed that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will approve the use of capital receipts to bolster General Fund reserves, in which case the full £433k of reserves growth in the MTFS would not be necessary.

 

Each scenario would be refined as the budget process developed. Government funding was unlikely to be confirmed before the Local Government Finance Settlement in December 2022 and, in the meantime, the Local Government sector (including Tandridge) would lobby DLUHC for additional funding to meet the impact of high inflation on the cost of delivering services. The additional savings required, to be delivered through the Future Tandridge programme, was likely to range between £0.3m and £1.5m, with a neutral estimate of £0.9m.

 

The report proposed the following suggested timeline for setting the 2023/24 budget:

 

Time Period / Date

Activity / Milestone

 

July – Sept  2022

Initial estimates of pressures and savings developed, alongside Future Tandridge Programme business cases

Review of fees and charges

Review of staff allocations and charges to Housing Revenue Account

 

August – Sept 2022

Engagement with Members on 2023/24 initial pressures, savings and fees & charges

 

Sept 2022

Committee Cycle – Future Tandridge Programme business cases and initial pressures and savings

 

Oct – Nov 2022

 

Engagement with Members on 2023/24 draft budget

1st Dec 2022

 

2023/24 draft budget and capital programme, including tax base to S&R

Dec 2022

Expected publication of Local Government Finance Settlement – finalisation of funding estimates

 

Dec 2022 to

Jan 2023

Engagement with Members on 2023/24 final budget

 

Engagement with residents and business rate payers on 2023/24 budget

 

Jan 2023

Committee Cycle – 2023/24 final budget, capital programme and Medium Term Financial Strategy

 

31st Jan 2023

2023/24 final budget, capital programme and Medium Term Financial Strategy to S&R Committee

 

9th Feb 2023

2023/24 final budget, capital programme and Medium Term Financial Strategy to Council

 

The merits of modelling the impact of more severe budgetary constraints than the ‘pessimistic scenario’ within the report were discussed.

 

The Chair reflected that the service review process within the FTP programme had established good practices in terms of challenging the status quo and proving catalysts for change. 

  

          R E S O L V E D – that the proposed process and timescale for setting the 2023/24 budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy, and the financial context in which it will be prepared, be noted.

 

 

Supporting documents: