Issue - meetings

Report of Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets, Councillor Peter Jeffries

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets said that under normal circumstances, the Cabinet would be discussing the interim budget proposals at this meeting, which would then go out for consultation.  However, after being presented with single-year settlements for many years, making long-term financial planning difficult, the incoming government is giving us a multi-year settlement which although welcome comes with some uncertainty.  The companies that provide modelling and up-to-date, relevant information about the budget suggest there could be a difference of £2m in our budget alone, so rather than consult on a set of figures that may prove unreliable, we have opted to wait until after the government announces its figures, then work through those before going out to consultation, to ensure the best position and the best financial information.  This is unfortunate but unavoidable and will require an additional Cabinet meeting but it is the right thing to do, to maintain openness and transparency.

The Leader confirmed that the settlement was originally promised for 30 November, but has now been pushed back to 17 December.  She agreed that deferring this item to an extraordinary meeting on 23 December is not ideal but the right thing to do, allowing a few days to work out the impact it will have on our budget implications.