Decision details

Cabinet at its meeting of 15 December 2014, received a report as part of the Council’s agreed two stage budget process as outlined in the report considered by Cabinet on 24 November 2014.

The purpose of the report was to enable Cabinet to consider the feedback from consultation undertaken to date with Scrutiny, residents, partner organisations, businesses and other interested parties and to recommend to Council approval of phase one budget proposals.

An addendum document was circulated prior to the meeting of Cabinet which contained revised recommendations and at the meeting, following debate, a further amendment to the recommendation was also agreed.

Cabinet considered the report and RESOLVED:

1.     To have regard to the consultation feedback received to date and statutory advice detailed in the report when determining the phase one budget proposals, noting that consultation remains open and an addendum will be provided prior to the Cabinet meeting and to the council meeting;

2.     To recommend that Council:

i.   Defer some phase one budget proposals to phase two of the budget process to enable Cabinet further time to conclude the specific issues raised on certain budget proposals. The proposals to be deferred being:

Comprising of the partial deferral of the parks, trees and open spaces, this being:

-  Cutting of parkway verges will be reduced by around 20 per cent, however visibility for traffic will be maintained at all times. This proposal makes a saving of £10,000.

-  Grass cutting will be reduced from ten cuts a year to eight. This proposal makes a saving on £38,500.

-  Shrubs which are ageing or have reached the end of their life will be removed. This proposal makes a saving of £83,000.

-  Four of the city’s seven bowling greens will be closed. Currently there are bowling greens at Bushfield in Orton, Central Park (2), East Community Centre, Itter Park, Ringwood in Bretton, Stanground and Werrington. In addition, six grass tennis courts at Central Park and five at Itter Park will be closed. Clay tennis courts at both parks will remain open. This proposal makes a saving of £36,000.

ii.       Approve the phase one budget proposals, as summarised in appendix 1 to the Cabinet report, subject to the deferral of the proposals as outlined in recommendation (2i), to enable implementation of these budget proposals to commence; and

3.     To note the timetable for the phase two consultation and formal approval of the 2015/16 to 2024/25 Medium Term Financial Strategy as detailed at section 6. Furthermore, budget proposals approved by Council on the 17 December will form part of the medium term financial strategy but will not form part of the second stage of consultation or Council debate on 4 March 2015.

Under statutory requirements the Council must set a lawful and balanced budget. The approach outlined in this report work towards fulfilling this requirement.

Cabinet considered releasing all budget proposals in the New Year after the provisional finance settlement announcement as Cabinet had done so over previous financial years. The cross party Budget Working Group expressed a desire to release budget proposals earlier than in previous years. Cabinet considered the cross party Budget Working Group’s view and recognise that as work is continuing to identify and propose further budget proposals, and given the unprecedented scale of the savings to find, Cabinet agreed to publish their budget proposals in two stages. This will enable the remaining phase one budget proposals to be approved by Council on 17 December to allow the implementation process to commence depending on whether the proposals require to be implemented under Director delegation, Cabinet Member Decision Notice or a further report to Cabinet.

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