Agenda item

To consider and approve the revised General Fund Budget and Capital Programme for 2023/24, the draft General Fund Budget Estimates 2024/25 and the draft Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024/25 to 2028/29 for consultation and Capital Programme 2024-2027.

Members considered the Revised General Fund Budget and Capital Programme 2023/24, the Draft General Fund Budget Estimates for 2024/25, the Draft Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2024/25 to 2028/29 and the Capital Programme for 2024/27 report presented by Councillor Boden.

Councillor Boden said he continued to commend the work of the Finance Team for producing the figures in a careful, cautious, and consistent way for consideration by Cabinet; 2024/25 will not be as difficult for Fenland District Council as it will be for others who have either had to issue, or are close to issuing, Section 114 notices. Councillor Boden added there are significant challenges ahead, and he quoted the statement within the report made by the S151 officer, stating that he fully endorsed these comments; there will be some very difficult decisions to make at the appropriate time, but the Council needs to ensure it places as small a burden as it reasonably can upon the residents of Fenland. Councillor Boden further stated that the Council has a good record of keeping it’s council tax down compared to many other local authorities around the country but that will only continue as long as it can meet the challenges mentioned by the S151 officer; being realistic it will not be able to continue long term but so long as the Council can manage to provide good value for money services and continues to look at ways of ensuring it operates in an efficient and effective manner, then council tax increases can be kept down or avoided.

Councillor Hoy said she does not know if this is correct, but it has been claimed that Huntingdonshire has a 40% lower precept than FDC. Quoting the council tax figures she believed neighbouring local authorities charge for their Band D properties, Councillor Hoy noted Fenland charges the highest figure in Cambridgeshire and she would be interested to know why if this is true. Councillor Boden explained that even if the figures quoted are correct, it is misleading to compare the Band D figures for each council. It does not represent the average household in each area as this differs depending on how many households are in bands A to H in each area, and Fenland’s average of Band D homes is lower than any other council in Cambridgeshire. Over the last six years, East Cambridgeshire has not raised council tax whilst Fenland has reduced its council tax by 2% but other district councils within the county have raised theirs sometimes by significant amounts. Cambridgeshire County Council has a policy of increasing the council tax by as much as it can every year. In respect of individual districts, comparing Band D figures is arithmetically correct but extremely misleading and does not express the average cost per household within the various areas. Councillor Boden pointed out that what also must be taken into consideration is that Fenland District Council also has a far greater liability for internal drainage board payments than the other five district councils in Cambridgeshire and so a significant proportion of budget is taken up with that. It is complicated but not surprising that Fenland’s Band D council tax charge is higher than others; if it was the same then the average payment would be massively less than the other areas. Councillor Hoy said that was a helpful answer which makes a lot of sense but from a communications perspective, this sort of information needs to be relayed. Councillor Boden agreed there should be some form of communication strategy to prevent misleading information being given to the public.

Councillor Mrs French congratulated officers and Councillor Boden saying it is very difficult to come up with figures, but she questioned the West End Park mooring figure of £155,000. The mooring has been out of action for over four and a half years, and she has repeatedly chased this but is amazed at that figure when it was originally around £45,000. Councillor Boden thanked Councillor Mrs French for bringing this item to his attention and said that officers would investigate this and advise before the next meeting, but they will need to look at the whole Capital Programme to see what is and what is not appropriate. However, it has been found that the capital costs involved in projects are now greater than estimated several years ago which will make for some very difficult decisions to be made. Councillor Mrs French said that the original cost was given at the beginning of this year not four or five years ago hence her query. Councillor Boden responded hence it is important not to assume the figures given will be the figures seen on the capital programme, but he is grateful for her comments.

Proposed by Councillor Boden, seconded by Councillor Hoy and AGREED that:

(i)           The draft budget proposals for 2024/25 outlined in the report be approved for consultation.

(ii)          The revised General Fund Budget and revised Capital Programme for 2023/24 be approved, and

(iii)        The proposed Capital Programme for 2024-2027 be approved.