Decision
(a) That the updated cost pressures set out
in the paper of 6 October 2020 and the validation work that has been carried
out on these, be noted;
(b) That the amendments to the planning
assumptions used in the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), be noted;
(c) That the financial gap arising from (i)
and (ii) above, be noted;
(d) Cabinet notes the tactical and
transformation savings set out in the paper to start to close the financial
gap, recognising that these are work in progress;
(f) That the Portfolio Holders work with
officers to continue to identify and develop savings opportunities through
tactical or transformational means;
(h) Cabinet continues to make the case to
Government for additional funding given the unprecedented financial
consequences of Covid-19;
(i) That Cabinet agrees the next steps
leading up to the 2021/22 Budget being presented to full Council in February
2021.
Reason for Decision
Councils are required to set a balanced budget. Essentially this means that expenditure is
balanced by income without unsustainable use of one-off, or short-term sources
of finance.
This paper is coming to Cabinet to provide an update on the budget gap
for 2021-22 and subsequent years and progress on action/savings to date. The
paper proposes an approach to close the remaining gap.