To review the budget consultation report and this is contributing to the budget setting process. process in line with the Council’s priorities.

Members are asked to refer to the report included in the Cabinet agenda 15^th December, 2021.

Tower Hamlets Council - Agenda for Cabinet on Wednesday, 15th December, 2021, 5.30 p.m.

The Committee noted that in March 2022, the Council will agree its budget for 2022-23 and in line with previous years, the Council has carried out consultation with residents, businesses, and other key stakeholders to help inform the budget setting process. The results of the Council’s 2022-23 budget consultation carried out from October to November 2021 were outlined in the report.  The key points of the discussion may be summarised as follows:

The Committee:

v  Welcomed that budget consultation undertaken earlier this year and noted that the findings from the consultation will be incorporated into the budget setting process.

v  Noted that the headline findings from the budget consultation highlighted Community Safety as the top concern for residents which is a shift from the previous year which had been on Public Health.

v  Noted on the top line analysis of the settlement but wanted clarity on the potential £18 million extra available to the Council than originally assumed as result of government delays on the business rate re-set and felt that the historical underestimation on budget setting often posed unnecessary risks to cutting services.

v  Commented that it had been very useful to get a sense of the public mood and expressed the hope that the results from the consultation will play its part on next year’s budget.

Following a full and wide-ranging discussion, the Chair thanked all those Committee Members in attendance together with Councillor Candida Ronald (Cabinet Lead Member for Resources and Voluntary Sector); Nisar Visram (Director of Finance, Procurement and Audit Interim); and Kevin Bartle(Corporate Director, Resources & Section 151 Officer) for their contributions to what had provided Members sense of the public’s mood.

Accordingly, the Committee resolved that:

v  It looked forward to reviewing the budget and will seek to understand how the findings from the budget consultation have been taken on board.