DECISION

Cabinet agreed to submit the budget and policy framework aspects of the report for review by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

1.    To propose a General Fund Revenue Funding Requirement of £383.551m for 2022-23 subject to any remaining changes arising from the final Local Government Finance Settlement, which includes a surplus of £5.413m in 2022-23 which will be allocated to one-off projects.

2.    To approve the Council Tax Base calculation for 2022-23 and agree that authority to approve this in future years is delegated to the Section 151 Officer.

3.    To propose to freeze the Tower Hamlets element of Council Tax and to only levy a 1% Adult Social Care precept for 2022-23. This will result in a Band D Council Tax of £1,146.54 (Council share) 2022-23 to be referred to Full Council for approval.

4.    To propose that the Interim Corporate Director – Resources, after consultation with the Mayor and Lead Member of Resources, makes any changes required to the budget following the final settlement announcement.

5.    To note that the Council is joining the 8 Authority Pool for Business Rates with seven other London Local Authorities for 2022-23 and note that delegated authority has been given to the Section 151 Officer to implement the Council’s inclusion in the pool.

6.    To approve the 2022-23 transfers to and from reserves as set out in paragraph 3.9 of the report.

7.    To approve the continuation of £1m funding from the Public Health grant to the Key Stage Two extension of Free School Meals.

8.    To approve that the increase in the Social Care Grant for 2022-23 is allocated in full to the services (75% to adult social care and 25% to children’s social care).

9.    To propose the 2022-23 Housing Revenue Account budget as set out in Appendix 7 to be referred to Full Council for approval.

10.To approve the HRA housing rent and service charge increases as outlined in section 3.11.

11.To approve the 2022-23 Management Fee payable to Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) of £33.236m as set out in paragraph 3.11.16 of the report.

12.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 2022-23, THH will manage delegated income budgets totalling £98.842m and delegated expenditure budgets totalling £32.128m.

13.To propose the 2022-23 Schools Budget.

14.To agree that the National Schools Funding Formula (NSFF) adopted by Tower Hamlets originally in 2019-20 continues for 2022-23. The only changes included are increases to the factor values in line with the NSFF and the use of the mobility factor in the NSFF for the first time.

15.To agree that the Minimum Funding Guarantee (the mechanism that guarantees schools a minimum uplift in per-pupil funding) is set as close as possible to 2.0%, the maximum allowed after consideration for growth and factor changes in School allocations.

16.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. 

17. To note that the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme will remain unchanged for 2022-23.

18.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)

(Director of Finance, Procurement and Audit (N. Visram)

The item was considered alongside Agenda Item 6.1 (Mayor’s Foreword to the Council’s Budget Report) and the combined minute is presented here.

The Mayor introduced both reports. He highlighted that this report began the Council’s formal budget review process whereby the Budget would be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The comments of the Scrutiny Committee would then be considered at the next Cabinet meeting. He noted that there may need to be further amendments at that second Cabinet meeting. Finally, a meeting of Council would agree the Budget and Council Tax for the authority.

Looking at the report he highlighted a number of issues including:

·       A lot of work had gone into the proposals.

·       There were still considerable financial pressures for cuts whilst there were also increasing demands on key services such as adult and children’s social care.

·       There were also some proposals for investment in areas such as CCTV and delivering new Council housing.

·       There were proposals to tackle the climate emergency.

·       The need to deal with changes brought about by the pandemic.

Councillor Candida Ronald, Cabinet Member for Resources and the Voluntary Sector, then took Members through the budget proposals in more detail. She highlighted the overarching goal of ensuring a fairer, cleaner and safer Tower Hamlets. She noted a number of points including:

·       The Local Government Funding Settlement in December had provided an increase in funding for the Council but that this was only for one year and there was significant uncertainty beyond that which also extended to other income streams such as Business Rates and the New Homes Bonus.

·       A one year budget was being proposed this year rather than the usual three year plan due to this uncertainty.

·       It was proposed to freeze the Council Tax with the exception of a 1% increase for social care.

·       £5.4 million of surplus was available to meet resident priorities as identified in the recent consultation.

·       The Council was looking to make use of a number of new and continuing grant areas.

·       Some new savings were proposed in the report and a few previous savings are being written off as unachievable.

·       Rent and service charge increases for tenants were set out and work on fire safety was also set out.

Summing up, she highlighted how pleased she was that this year the number of proposed cuts was limited and there were proposals for increases in other areas. She thanked the Mayor and everyone for the excellent budget proposals that were set out.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Candida Ronald for her presentation. He proposed that the draft budget be submitted to Scrutiny. He proposed the recommendations as set out. This was agreed unanimously by the Members present and it was:

RESOLVED

1.    To propose a General Fund Revenue Funding Requirement of £383.551m for 2022-23 subject to any remaining changes arising from the final Local Government Finance Settlement, which includes a surplus of £5.413m in 2022-23 which will be allocated to one-off projects.

2.    To approve the Council Tax Base calculation for 2022-23 and agree that authority to approve this in future years is delegated to the Section 151 Officer.

3.    To propose to freeze the Tower Hamlets element of Council Tax and to only levy a 1% Adult Social Care precept for 2022-23. This will result in a Band D Council Tax of £1,146.54 (Council share) 2022-23 to be referred to Full Council for approval.

4.    To propose that the Interim Corporate Director – Resources, after consultation with the Mayor and Lead Member of Resources, makes any changes required to the budget following the final settlement announcement.

5.    To note that the Council is joining the 8 Authority Pool for Business Rates with seven other London Local Authorities for 2022-23 and note that delegated authority has been given to the Section 151 Officer to implement the Council’s inclusion in the pool.

6.    To approve the 2022-23 transfers to and from reserves as set out in paragraph 3.9 of the report.

7.    To approve the continuation of £1m funding from the Public Health grant to the Key Stage Two extension of Free School Meals.

8.    To approve that the increase in the Social Care Grant for 2022-23 is allocated in full to the services (75% to adult social care and 25% to children’s social care).

9.    To propose the 2022-23 Housing Revenue Account budget as set out in Appendix 7 to be referred to Full Council for approval.

10.To approve the HRA housing rent and service charge increases as outlined in section 3.11.

11.To approve the 2022-23 Management Fee payable to Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) of £33.236m as set out in paragraph 3.11.16 of the report.

12.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 2022-23, THH will manage delegated income budgets totalling £98.842m and delegated expenditure budgets totalling £32.128m.

13.To propose the 2022-23 Schools Budget.

14.To agree that the National Schools Funding Formula (NSFF) adopted by Tower Hamlets originally in 2019-20 continues for 2022-23. The only changes included are increases to the factor values in line with the NSFF and the use of the mobility factor in the NSFF for the first time.

15.To agree that the Minimum Funding Guarantee (the mechanism that guarantees schools a minimum uplift in per-pupil funding) is set as close as possible to 2.0%, the maximum allowed after consideration for growth and factor changes in School allocations.

16.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. 

17. To note that the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme will remain unchanged for 2022-23.

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