Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: County Hall, Chichester

Contact: Katherine De La Mora on 033 022 22535  Email: katherine.delamora@westsussex.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Declarations of Interest

Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personal interest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it.  If in doubt please contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

Minutes:

1.     Mr Hunt declared a personal interest as the Chairman of the

Chichester Harbour Conservancy in relation to Item 4 – Approval of the County Council’s Revenue Budget 2019/20 and Capital Programme 2019/20 to 2023/24.

 

2.     Ms Goldsmith declared a personal interest as a member of the

Chichester Harbour Conservancy in relation to Item 4 - Approval of the County Council’s Revenue Budget 2019/20 and Capital Programme 2019/20 to 2023/24.

 

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 54 KB

The Cabinet is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2018 (attached, cream paper).

Minutes:

3.  Resolved – that the minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2018 

               be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 

3.

Approval of the County Council's Revenue Budget 2019/20 and Capital Programme 2019/20 to 2023/24 pdf icon PDF 52 KB

Report by Director of Finance, Performance and Procurement. 

 

The attached report sets out the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2019/20 to 2022/23, the Revenue Budget 2019/20, the Capital Strategy 2019/20 to 2023/24 and the Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2019/20.

 

The Chairman of the Performance and Finance Select Committee has been invited to join the meeting for this item.  A summary of the comments and recommendations made by the Select Committee at its meeting on 17 January 2019 on the draft budget proposals is attached. 

 

The Cabinet is asked to endorse the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2019/20 to 2022/23,  Revenue Budget 2019/20, Capital Strategy 2019/20 to 2023/24 and Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2019/20 for endorsement by County Council on 15 February 2019. 

Additional documents:

Decision:

Following consideration of the report at its meeting on 29 January 2019, the Cabinet resolved to endorse the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2019/20 to 2022/23, Revenue Budget 2019/20, Capital Strategy 2019/20 to 2023/24 and Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2019/20, subject to the amendments outlined in Annex 6, for endorsement by County Council on 15 February 2019.

 

The call-in deadline is 7 February 2019.

Minutes:

4.    The Cabinet considered a report by the Director of Finance, Procurement and Performance setting out the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2019/20 to 2022/23, Revenue Budget 2019/20, Capital Strategy 2019/20 to 2023/24 and Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2019/20 (copy appended to the signed version of the minutes).  The report was introduced by Louise Goldsmith, Leader, who highlighted that this was a strong budget set in a difficult financial climate.  Proposed savings adjustments were set out in Annex 6 in response to the issues raised by the service Select Committees.

 

5.  Jeremy Hunt, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources highlighted that the aim of the budget was to deliver the key priorities as set out in the West Sussex Plan.  Mr Hunt highlighted the key points in the report including the following:

·         The additional one off funding announced in the Autumn Budget was welcomed, however it did not address the long term funding issues. 

·         The removal of the Revenue Support Grant deficit and the confirmation of the 75% Business Rate Retention scheme for 2019/20 were welcome news. 

·         The increase in the referendum limit for Council Tax by a further 1% was a key component to help achieve a balanced budget for 2019/20. 

·         The report confirmed further investment in the Adults and Health and Children and Young People budgets.

·         Thanked the Performance and Finance Select Committee for their review and endorsement of the Budget and the Service Select Committees for reviewing the proposals.  Adjustments to the savings had been presented in Annex 6 as a direct response to the concern raised by the Select Committees. 

·         The Capital Strategy set out how the Capital Programme supported the West Sussex priorities, and confirmed that the borrowing envelope remained the same as the previous year. 

·         Despite the current challenges, the County Council was in a sound financial position and was still providing quality services and increasing funding in critical services for the benefit of residents. 

·         Highlighted the need for the government to provide adequate and fair funding in the future. 

 

6.  Katharine Eberhart, Director Finance, Procurement and Performance highlighted the robust levels of reserves, and that the County Council continued to be in a strong position compared to other County Councils.  It was important to retain financial resilience by maintaining this level of reserves and not use them to sustain the budget. The report was presenting a forward looking, affordable Capital Programme.  The amendments as outlined in Annex 6 included the introduction of a 750k Transitional Fund to support joint initiatives to support the homeless. 

 

7.   Pieter Montyn, Chairman of Performance and Finance Select Committee, highlighted the following points from the feedback from the Select Committee on 17 January 2019 and the all Member Day on 9 January 2019:

·         Members raised concern of the unintended consequences of savings and requested further visibility of the impact assessments for the saving proposals.

·         Welcomed the continuing lobbying of government for fairer funding.

·         Welcomed the additional proposals as set out in Annex 6 and that these would be well  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Cabinet will be held on Tuesday 28 January 2020 .

Minutes:

17.  The next meeting is scheduled for 30 January 2020