Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

None.

Councillor Gareth Davies declared a personal interest in relation to item 139.

To confirm as a true record the Minutes of the previous Meeting of the Cabinet held on 10 January 2023.

Matters arising: There were no matters arising from the minutes.

None.

None.

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DECISION:

1.     To note that the proposed increase in the Mid & West Wales Fire Authority levy (their 13% Budget option) means a £519k cost pressure on the Council’s 23/24 Budget, which is the equivalent of a 1.3% Band D Council Tax increase for Ceredigion residents.

2.     To approve a preferred option for the draft 23/24 Budget Requirement of £180.101m, which would represent a proposed Band D Council Tax increase for County Council purposes of 7.3% (including 1.3% in relation to the proposed Fire Authority Levy increase).

3.     To recommend that the Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committees consider the following options for the 23/24 Budget Requirement and resulting Council Tax increase for County Council purposes of:

a)    A 6.3% Council Tax increase (including 1.3% in relation to the proposed Fire Authority Levy increase) and a 23/24 Budget requirement of £179.627m, which would provide a lower contribution towards Delegated Schools Budget Cost Pressures.

b)    A 7.3% Council Tax increase (including 1.3% in relation to the proposed Fire Authority Levy increase) and a 23/24 Budget requirement of £180.101m.

c)    A 8.3% Council Tax increase (including 1.3% in relation to the proposed Fire Authority Levy increase) and a 23/24 Budget requirement of £180.576m, to provide a higher contribution towards Delegated Schools Budget Cost Pressures.

d)    An alternative option over and above Recommendations 3a) to 3c) to provide a specific increase for a specific purpose, provided that any option is considered during the Budget Scrutiny meetings and that the Section 151 officer is given sufficient time in advance to fully model the impact and to provide an opinion on its robustness.

4.     When the 23/24 Final settlement is issued that:

a)    The value of any further specific grants transferred into RSG will be passported through to the relevant Service’s budget, including the £143k Fire Authority Pensions Grant to the Fire Levy budget.

b)    Any other specific changes should be directly targeted to the affected Service(s), as and where appropriate.

c)    Any other change to the AEF will be dealt with by an adjustment to the Leadership Group budget.

5.     To note that a report on the updated Medium Term Financial Strategy will be considered as a separate future item and that it will reflect an indicative 24/25 Settlement increase of no more than 3.1%.

6.     To approve the Multi-Year Capital Programme as set out in Appendix 8 and recommend this to Full Council for approval.

7.     To approve the Capital Strategy as set out in Appendix 9 and recommend this to Full Council for approval.

8.     To refer this Cabinet report for the views of the Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committees who are due to meet on 02/02/23, 09/02/23 and 10/02/23. These committees will also receive information on Fees & Charges proposals.

9.     To note that the final decisions on the 23/24 Budget Requirement and the level of Council Tax increase for 23/24 will be made by Full Council on 02/03/23.

Reason for the decision:

To enable the 2023/24 Budget preparation.

DECISION:

To confirm the nominations outlined in the report as LA representatives on the Governing Bodies of the relevant School.

Reason for the decision:

To nominate representatives of the LA on Governing Bodies.

Cabinet noted the report.

None.