The Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

It was noted that the final Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) response to the draft budget would be submitted after the final OSC meeting next week and that the Executive would consider those recommendations before submitting the final budget proposals to Council for consideration.

DECISION

1.    To agree to propose a General Fund Revenue Requirement of £386.141m subject to any remaining changes arising from the final Local Government Finance Settlement.

2.    To agree to propose a Band D Council Tax of £113.26 (Council Share) 2021-22 to full Council for approval.

3.    To agree that the Interim Corporate Director, Resources, after consultation with the Mayor and Lead Member for Resources, may make any changes required to the budget following the final settlement announcement.

4.    To agree to propose the 2021-22 transfers to and from reserves as set out in paragraph 3.9.12 of the report.

5.    To agree to proposal to continue the £1 million funding from the Public Health grant to the Key Stage Two extension of Free School Meals.

6.    To approve the proposed £2.974m one-off increase in the Social Care Support Grant for 2021-22 is allocated in full directly as budget to the services (75% to adult social care, £2.230m, and 25% to children’s social care £0.744m).

7.    To approve the proposed £0.746m increase in the Homelessness Prevention Grant is allocated in full to the Place directorate to support homelessness in the borough.

8.    To agree to propose the three-year General Fund Capital Programme 2021-24 as set out in Appendix 8 to the report, totalling £395.471m.

9.    To approve the budget allocation for the newly listed schemes in the programme, subject to sign off through the capital governance process and agreement to proceed given by the Corporate Director of Place in consultation with the Corporate Director of Resources and that schemes funded by future capital receipts, s106 and/or CIL will not go ahead until such funds have been securely received.

10.To approve delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Place in consultation with the Corporate Director of Resources for all activities required to deliver the capital programme e.g. go out to tender, appoint consultants and contractors in accordance with the Procurement Procedures, acquire land interests, appropriate land from the General Fund to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for the delivery of new council homes, subject to approved budget.

11.To approve the following specific recommendations subject to the agreement of the budget Council meeting if/where required:

i.               Approve the 2020-21 spend on IT projects, of which £7.020m to be funded from revenue reserve; and

ii.              Approve the disposal of assets, as set out in Appendix 8F to the report, subject to sign off through the capital governance process and agreement to proceed given by the Corporate Director of Place and Corporate Director of Resources.  

iii.              

12.To approve the principle that when capital receipts are achieved in year that they replace borrowing in future years. 

13.To approve the inclusion of the George Green School within the General Fund Capital Programme 2021-24 totalling £51.400m.

14.To note the development of the medium term and long-term Prioritisation and Financing Delivery Plan for Infrastructure (PFDP) identifying priorities for 2023 to 2030.

15.To agree to propose the 3-year Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme 202124 as set out in Appendix 8E totalling £231.095m.

16.To agree to propose the 2021-22 Housing Revenue Account budget as set out in Appendix 7 to the report.

17.To approve the 2021-22 Management Fee payable to Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) of £32.615m as set out in paragraph 3.11.11 of the report.

18.To note that under the Management Agreement between the Council and THH, THH manages delegated HRA income and expenditure budgets on behalf of the Council.  In 2021-22, THH will manage delegated income budgets totalling £93.942m and delegated expenditure budgets totalling £61.311m.

19.To agree to propose the 2021-22 Dedicated Schools Budget. 

20.To agree that the National Schools Funding Formula (NSFF) adopted by Tower Hamlets originally in 2019-20 continues for 2021-22. The only changes included are increases to the factor values in line with the NSFF, the inclusion of pay and pension grant allocations and a minor change to the funding allocated to schools with split sites. 

21.To agree that the Minimum Funding Guarantee (the mechanism that guarantees schools a minimum uplift in per-pupil funding) is set at 2.0%, the maximum allowed.

22.To agree that the structure of the Early Years Funding Formula remains unchanged except that the two-year-old hourly rates will increase in line with the Early Years National Funding Formula.  

23.To note that the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme will remain unchanged for 2021-22.

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

Action by:

INTERIM CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (K. BARTLE)

The Mayor introduced the Administrations budget proposals and medium-term financial strategy. He noted the comments received to date in response to the draft budget proposals. In particular he highlighted how important it was to use reserves prudently as they could only be spent once. The Council was in a very challenging financial situation and the Council also had to deal with increasing demands on services especially around adult and children’s social care and related support. The Covid-19 pandemic had also impacted significantly and had to be factored into the calculations. These were problems that other Councils were also having to deal with.

However, he highlighted that the administration were committed to doing everything they could to support the vulnerable within the community and the budget set out the best way forward for the Council and its services in the circumstances.

Finally, the Mayor noted updates to the draft budget presented at an earlier meeting which were around greater detail added to the Schools and Education budget,  more information around the Housing Revenue Account and also the new details on the Capital Programme.

Councillor Candida Ronald, Cabinet Member for Resources and the Voluntary Sector, took Cabinet through the report in more detail including looking at both revenue and capital budgets and individual proposals. She spoke about the uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and that there had already been a negative impact on the Council’s income and expenditure. She welcomed the funding the government had provided but noted that it was still uncertain in a number of areas the exact funding available. She also highlighted a number of other issues such as slippage in achieving agreed savings, use of resources and the need to tackle new challenges as they appeared.

The report was then opened up to discussion and the meeting heard from a number of participants raising a number of issues and points including:

·       Details of new proposes Capital Spending including on bridges over the River Lea.

·       The significant reduction in the Council’s revenue reserves and risks around business rate collection and office accommodation.

·       Hearing from local petitioners who were concerned about changes to specialist day centre services.

·       The issues that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were considering including the pre-decision scrutiny questions and officer responses.

·       The Council’s capital plans including around securing social housing units.

·       Challenges around anti-social behaviour especially around Shoreditch.

It was noted that the final Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) response to the draft budget would be submitted after the final OSC meeting next week and that the Executive would consider those recommendations before submitting the final budget proposals to Council for consideration. It was also noted that some housekeeping changes may be required which were delegated to the Interim Corporate Director, Resources.

The Mayor proposed that the budget proposals should be forwarded to Council without amendment at this stage. This was agreed without dissent and so it was:

RESOLVED

1.    To agree to propose a General Fund Revenue Requirement of £386.141m subject to any remaining changes arising from the final Local Government Finance Settlement.

2.    To agree to propose a Band D Council Tax of £113.26 (Council Share) 2021-22 to full Council for approval.

3.    To agree that the Interim Corporate Director, Resources, after consultation with the Mayor and Lead Member for Resources, may make any changes required to the budget following the final settlement announcement.

4.    To agree to propose the 2021-22 transfers to and from reserves as set out in paragraph 3.9.12 of the report.

5.    To agree to proposal to continue the £1 million funding from the Public Health grant to the Key Stage Two extension of Free School Meals.

6.    To approve the proposed £2.974m one-off increase in the Social Care Support Grant for 2021-22 is allocated in full directly as budget to the services (75% to adult social care, £2.230m, and 25% to children’s social care £0.744m).

7.    To approve the proposed £0.746m increase in the Homelessness Prevention Grant is allocated in full to the Place directorate to support homelessness in the borough.

8.    To agree to propose the three-year General Fund Capital Programme 2021-24 as set out in Appendix 8 to the report, totalling £395.471m.

9.    To approve the budget allocation for the newly listed schemes in the programme, subject to sign off through the capital governance process and agreement to proceed given by the Corporate Director of Place in consultation with the Corporate Director of Resources and that schemes funded by future capital receipts, s106 and/or CIL will not go ahead until such funds have been securely received.

10.To approve delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Place in consultation with the Corporate Director of Resources for all activities required to deliver the capital programme e.g. go out to tender, appoint consultants and contractors in accordance with the Procurement Procedures, acquire land interests, appropriate land from the General Fund to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for the delivery of new council homes, subject to approved budget.

11.To approve the following specific recommendations subject to the agreement of the budget Council meeting if/where required:

i.               Approve the 2020-21 spend on IT projects, of which £7.020m to be funded from revenue reserve; and

ii.              Approve the disposal of assets, as set out in Appendix 8F to the report, subject to sign off through the capital governance process and agreement to proceed given by the Corporate Director of Place and Corporate Director of Resources.  

12.To approve the principle that when capital receipts are achieved in year that they replace borrowing in future years. 

13.To approve the inclusion of the George Green School within the General Fund Capital Programme 2021-24 totalling £51.400m.

14.To note the development of the medium term and long-term Prioritisation and Financing Delivery Plan for Infrastructure (PFDP) identifying priorities for 2023 to 2030.

15.To agree to propose the 3-year Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme 202124 as set out in Appendix 8E totalling £231.095m.

16.To agree to propose the 2021-22 Housing Revenue Account budget as set out in Appendix 7 to the report.

17.To approve the 2021-22 Management Fee payable to Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) of £32.615m as set out in paragraph 3.11.11 of the report.

18.To note that under the Management Agreement between the Council and THH, THH manages delegated HRA income and expenditure budgets on behalf of the Council.  In 2021-22, THH will manage delegated income budgets totalling £93.942m and delegated expenditure budgets totalling £61.311m.

19.To agree to propose the 2021-22 Dedicated Schools Budget. 

20.To agree that the National Schools Funding Formula (NSFF) adopted by Tower Hamlets originally in 2019-20 continues for 2021-22. The only changes included are increases to the factor values in line with the NSFF, the inclusion of pay and pension grant allocations and a minor change to the funding allocated to schools with split sites. 

21.To agree that the Minimum Funding Guarantee (the mechanism that guarantees schools a minimum uplift in per-pupil funding) is set at 2.0%, the maximum allowed.

22.To agree that the structure of the Early Years Funding Formula remains unchanged except that the two-year-old hourly rates will increase in line with the Early Years National Funding Formula.  

23.To note that the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme will remain unchanged for 2021-22.

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