It was noted that the report would now be presented to Council for final determination.

DECISION

1.       To approve a General Fund Revenue Funding Requirement of £354.496m subject to any changes arising from the final Local Government Finance Settlement.

2.       To propose a Band D Council Tax of £1,060.35 for 2020-21 to be referred to Full Council for consideration.

3.       To authorise the Corporate Director Resources after consultation with the Mayor and Lead Member of Resources to make any changes required to the budget following the final settlement announcement.

4.       To approve the provisional Capital Programme for the period 2020-23; as detailed in Appendix 8 and adopt the associated capital estimates.

5.       To approve the 2020-21 Housing Revenue Account budget as set out in Appendix 7.

6.       To approve the 2020-21 Management Fee payable to Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) of £32.415m as set out in Table 5.

7.       To note that under the Management Agreement between the Council and THH, THH manages delegated income and expenditure budgets on behalf of the Council.  In 2020-21, THH will manage delegated income budgets totalling £93.792m and delegated expenditure budgets totalling £93.465m.

8.       To approve the 2020-21 Dedicated Schools Budget.

9.       To agree that the National Schools Funding Formula (NSFF) adopted by Tower Hamlets in 2019-20 continues for 2020-21. The only changes are increases to the factor values in line with the NSFF.

10.    To agree that the Minimum Funding Guarantee (the mechanism that guarantees schools a minimum uplift in per-pupil funding) is set at 1.84%, the maximum allowed.

11.    To agree that the structure of the Early Years Funding Formula remains unchanged except that hourly rates will increase in line with the Early Years National Funding Formula.  

12.    To propose that Council approves no changes to the current Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2020-21.    

13.    To note the Equalities Impact Assessment and specific equalities considerations as set out in Section 4.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (N. MURTON)

(Interim Divisional Director, Finance, Procurement and Audit (K. Bartle)

Councillor Candida Ronald, Cabinet Member for Resources and the Voluntary Sector, introduced the proposed budget proposals and medium term financial plan. She took Members through the main sections of the report and some of the particular challenges being faced by the Council such as those around SEN Transport and support for vulnerable children and adults. She also noted that the Housing Revenue Account was in surplus.

She noted that, due to the need to meet these challenges with reduced government funding, the budget proposed increasing Council Tax by 1.99% with an additional 2% social care precept. She also highlighted that the Council Tax Reduction Scheme was unamended.

The Mayor welcomed the report and thanked Lead Members and officers for their hard work to put the report together. He noted the Overview and Scrutiny budget response and agreed to provide comment on the process observations outside of the meeting. In response to questions on the speed of capital expenditure he proposed that Overview and Scrutiny explore that issue.

He noted that the report would now be presented to Council for final determination and on that basis agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.       To approve a General Fund Revenue Funding Requirement of £354.496m subject to any changes arising from the final Local Government Finance Settlement.

2.       To propose a Band D Council Tax of £1,060.35 for 2020-21 to be referred to Full Council for consideration.

3.       To authorise the Corporate Director Resources after consultation with the Mayor and Lead Member of Resources to make any changes required to the budget following the final settlement announcement.

4.       To approve the provisional Capital Programme for the period 2020-23; as detailed in Appendix 8 and adopt the associated capital estimates.

5.       To approve the 2020-21 Housing Revenue Account budget as set out in Appendix 7.

6.       To approve the 2020-21 Management Fee payable to Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) of £32.415m as set out in Table 5.

7.       To note that under the Management Agreement between the Council and THH, THH manages delegated income and expenditure budgets on behalf of the Council.  In 2020-21, THH will manage delegated income budgets totalling £93.792m and delegated expenditure budgets totalling £93.465m.

8.       To approve the 2020-21 Dedicated Schools Budget.

9.       To agree that the National Schools Funding Formula (NSFF) adopted by Tower Hamlets in 2019-20 continues for 2020-21. The only changes are increases to the factor values in line with the NSFF.

10.    To agree that the Minimum Funding Guarantee (the mechanism that guarantees schools a minimum uplift in per-pupil funding) is set at 1.84%, the maximum allowed.

11.    To agree that the structure of the Early Years Funding Formula remains unchanged except that hourly rates will increase in line with the Early Years National Funding Formula.  

12.    To propose that Council approves no changes to the current Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2020-21.    

13.    To note the Equalities Impact Assessment and specific equalities considerations as set out in Section 4.