Issue - meetings

[To consider and determine the Council’s budgetary provisions for the forthcoming municipal year:

·       Capital Programme 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 quarter three review and 2022- 2023 to 2026-2027 budget strategy

·       Treasury Management Strategy 2022-2023 

·       Final Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2022-2023 to 2025-2026

·       Council Tax Formal Resolutions.]

1.    That the revised City of Wolverhampton Capital Strategy be approved.

2.    That the revised, medium term General Revenue Account capital programme of £346.1 million, an increase of £47.7 million from the previously approved programme, and the change in associated resources be approved.

3.    That the authorised borrowing limit for 2022-2023 to support the capital strategy as required under Section 3(1) of the Local Government Act 2003 to be set at £1,163.3 million (PI3, Appendix 3 of the Cabinet report). The authorised borrowing limit includes a forecast provision for potential business cases that may be brought forward during the year, additional borrowing will only be authorised if the business case proves to be affordable over the medium term. The forecast borrowing was below the authorised borrowing limit.

4.    That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2022-2023 as set out in Appendix 1 of the Cabinet report be approved.

5.    That the Annual Investment Strategy 2022-2023 as set out in Appendix 2 of the Cabinet report be approved.

6.    That the Prudential and Treasury Management Indicators as set out in Appendix 3 of the Cabinet report be approved .

7.    That the Annual Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Statement setting out the method used to calculate MRP for 2022-2023 as set out in Appendix 4 of the Cabinet report be approved.

8.    That the Treasury Management Policy Statement and Treasury Management Practices as set out in Appendix 6 of the Cabinet report be approved.

9.    That authority be delegated to Cabinet to approve updates to the Treasury Management Strategy and corresponding practices during 2022-2023 to reflect the additional reporting requirements detailed in the most recent publication of the revised Treasury Management and Prudential Codes. It is important to note that, the Council complies with the principles of the codes however due to the timing of the release of the new Codes, CIPFA has allowed reporting on the Codes to be deferred until 2023-2024.

10.That authority be continued to be delegated to the Director of Finance to amend the Treasury Management Policy and Practices and any corresponding changes required to the Treasury Management Strategy, the Prudential and Treasury Management Indicators, the Investment Strategy and the Annual MRP Statement to ensure they remain aligned. Any amendments will be reported to the Portfolio Holder for Resources and Cabinet (Resources) Panel as appropriate.

11.That authority be continued to be delegated to the Director of Finance to lower the minimum sovereign rating in the Annual Investment Strategy, in the event of the UK’s credit rating being downgraded by the third credit rating agency, due to the current economic climate.

12.That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Resources, in consultation with the Director of Finance, to amend the MRP statement should this be required following the outcome of the consultation.

13.That the net budget requirement for 2022-2023 of £267.2 million for General Fund services be approved.

14.That the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2022-2023 to 2025-2026 as detailed in Table 5 and  ...  view the full decision text for item 8

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Ian Brookfield presented the report on 2022-2023 Final Budget Report for approval. The report encompassed the Capital Programme 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 quarter three review and 2022- 2023 to 2026-2027 budget strategy, the Treasury Management Strategy 2022-2023, the Final Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2022-2023 to 2025-2026 and Council Tax Formal Resolutions.

The Council were advised that the Final Budget Report was underpinned by the Our City: Our Plan to ensure that resources were aligned with the priorities of the Council.

The Capital Programme 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 quarter three review and 2022- 2023 to 2026-2027 budget strategy provided Council with an update on the 2021-2022 financial performance of the General Revenue Account and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital programmes, whilst also providing a revised forecast for 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 as at quarter three 2021-2022. The report also recommended revisions to the current approved capital programme covering the period 2021-2022 to 2026-2027.

The Treasury Management Strategy 2022-2023 report sets out the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy for 2022-2023 for approval by Council. The report incorporates six elements, which were detailed in separate documents, appended to this report.

The Final Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2022-2023 to 2025-2026 report presented a balanced budget for 2022-2023 aligned to the Council Plan priorities and an update on the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2022-2023 to 2025-2026.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Ian Brookfield proposed the recommendations and the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Simkins seconded the recommendations.

Councillor Paul Appleby provided the principal speech in response to the budget report and moved the report Conservative Group Alternative Budget and outlined the rationale to the amendment to the budget. Councillor Udey Singh seconded the amendment to the budget and outlined the rationale for supporting the amendment.

The Conservative Group Alternative Budget was debated by Council.

In accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 the votes were recorded as follows for the amended motion: