Decision - General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2009/10

(1)   To recommend to Council, subject to (3) below, the 2009/10 General Fund Revenue Budget proposals including;

·          The 2009/10 budget allocations to services as set out in paragraphs 3.22 to 3.25 and appendix 1.

·          The council’s budget for 2009/10 of £219.0m.

·          The Directorate budget strategies as set out in appendix 7

·          The corporate budgets of £9.2m

·          The contingency budget of £3.6m as set out in table 7.

·          The reserves allocations as set out in appendix 4 including earmarking sufficient reserves to cover projected investment income losses over the next 3 years.

·          The borrowing limit of £317m for the year commencing 1 April 2009.

·          The annual Minimum Revenue Provision statement as set out in paragraphs 3.43 and 3.44.

·          The prudential indicators as set out in appendix 6 to this report.

·          That any LABGI grant is earmarked for the purposes set out in paragraph 3.17.

·          To increase the value of taxi vouchers to £65 as set out in paragraph 3.37.

·          The licensing fees and charges set out in appendix 8 and the amendments to Culture Recreation & Tourism fees and charges set out in paragraph 3.34.

·          The confirmation of allocations of LPSA2 reward grant following consideration by the Public Services Board as set out in paragraph 3.14 and appendix 9

(2)   To note the budget and resource projections for 2010/11 and 2011/12 as set out in appendix 5 based on council tax increases of 2.5% for each year.

(3)   To note that supplementary information needed to set the overall council tax will be provided for the budget setting Council as listed in paragraph 4.8.

(4)   That the proposals made by the Chairman in response to the recommendations made from the Overview & Scrutiny Organisation Commission be agreed:

(i)    That consideration would be given to including the fees and charges reports with the main budget reports, as part of the timetable for the next financial year;

(ii)               That opposition leaders would be consulted about timings via the Leaders Group; and

(iii)             That a report be drafted for the Overview & Scrutiny Commission detailing how other authorities prepare their budgets and that it should be mindful of any resources implications.