Decision status: For Determination
Is Key decision?: Yes
Is subject to call in?: No
Having considered an officer report, and presentations by the Cabinet
Member for Finance and Resources, Councillor Amanda De Ryk, the Chair of
the Public Accounts Select Committee, Councillor Pat Codd and by Councillor
Jacq Paschoud, the Mayor and Cabinet agreed in a recorded vote that:
(1) the comments of the Public Accounts Select Committee of 2 February
2021 be received and a minuted response be provided to the Select
Committee and notes that Mayor and Cabinet decisions on the budget report
will then be taken formally with the budget update report on the 10 February,
(2) having considered the views of those consulted on the budget, and subject
to consideration of the outcome of consultation with business ratepayers and
subject to proper process, as required, the Mayor and Cabinet approved the
following budgetary decisions:
General Fund Revenue Budget
2.3 notes and asks Council to note the projected overall variance of £3.2m (or
1.3%) against the agreed 2020/21 revenue budget of £248.714m as set out in
section 6 of this report and that any year-end overspend will be met from
corporate reserves and provisions;
2.4 endorses and asks Council to endorse the budget cut proposals of
£28.016m as per the Mayor and Cabinet meetings of the 9 December 2020
and 3 February 2020, as set out in section 6 of the report and summarised in
Appendix Y1 and Y2;
2.5 agrees and asks Council to agree the allocation of £6.500m in 2021/22 be
set aside and use of £1.500m reduced contribution for concessionary fares for
corporate risks and pressures;
2.6 agrees and asks Council to agree the allocation of £19.685m of corporate
risks and pressures, social care precept, new homes bonus, social care grant,
lower tier grant and legacy s31 monies in 2021/22 to be invested in funding
quantified budget pressures and opportunities, both recurring and once-off as
set out in section 6;
2.7 agrees to recommend to Council that a General Fund Budget
Requirement of £243.100m for 2021/22 be approved;
2.8 asks Council to agree to a 4.99% increase in Lewisham’s Council Tax
element. This will result in a Band D equivalent Council Tax level of £1,379.96
for Lewisham’s services and £1,743.62 overall. This represents an overall
increase in Council Tax for 2021/22 of 5.91% and is subject to the GLA
precept for 2021/22 being increased by £31.59 (i.e. 9.5%) from £332.07 to
£363.66, in line with the GLA’s draft budget proposals;
2.9 notes and asks Council to note the Council Tax Ready Reckoner which for
illustrative purposes sets out the Band D equivalent Council Tax at various
levels of increase. This is explained in section 6 of the report and is set out in
more detail in Appendix Y4;
2.10 asks that the Executive Director for Corporate Resources issues cash
limits to all Directorates once the 2021/22 Revenue Budget is agreed;
2.11 notes that the Executive Director for Corporate Resources Section 25
Statement will be presented in the Budget Update Report on the 10 February
2021 for approval;
2.12 agrees and asks Council to agree the draft statutory calculations for
2021/22 as set out at Appendix Y6;
2.13 notes and asks Council to note the prospects for the revenue budget for
2021/22 and future years as set out in section 6;
2.14 agrees and asks officers to continue to develop firm proposals to
redesign and transform services and bring them forward in good time to
support the work towards a cuts round to help plan early and meet the future
forecast budget shortfalls;
2.15 notes and endorses the Council’s withdrawal from the discontinued
London Business Rates Pool for 2021/22.
Other Grants (within the General Fund)
2.16 notes and asks Council to note the adjustments to and impact of various
specific grants for 2021/22 on the General Fund as set out in section 7 of the
report;
Fees and charges
2.17 approves and endorses the approach to setting 2021/22 fees and
charges for chargeable services in section 8 of the report and attached at
Appendix Y8;
Dedicated Schools Grant and Pupil Premium
Schools Block
2.18 note and recommends that Council notes that the provisional Dedicated
Schools Grant allocation of £222.769m be the Schools’ Budget (Schools
Block) for 2021/22;
2.19 notes that following the Schools Forum meeting on the 19 January,
submission has been made to the Department for Education with regards to
school funding formula, recommending the application of the National Funding
Formula (including unit values) allowing for a 2% uplift in Minimum Funding
Guarantee (MFG);
2.20 notes that after the funding allocation to schools there is a one-off
remaining amount of Dedicated Schools Grant of £2.3m for 2021/22;
2.21 agrees and recommends that Council agrees, (as recommended by
Schools Forum) the once-off transfer £1.068m of Dedicated Schools Grant to
the High Needs Block and the set aside of £1.24m to support schools through
measures such as the growth fund and the falling rolls fund;
Central Schools Services Block (CSSB)
2.22 notes, and asks Council to note, the construct and allocation of £4.261m
for the CSSB block allocation for 2021/22;
2.23 notes an increase of £2.65 per pupil unit resulting in a net increase of
£68.7k in the “pupil-led” funding element of the block;
High Needs Block (HNB)
2.24 notes, and asks Council to note, the provisional High Needs Block
£62.4m to support the Council’s statutory duty with regards Special Education
Needs. This is a net increase of £5.99m relative to 2020/21;
2.25 notes that the HNB is expected to overspend by between £4-5m in
2020/21;
2.26 notes that the Schools Forum has agreed to transfer £1.068m to the
block to support the Council to meet its statutory functions;
Early Years Block (EYB)
2.27 notes, and asks Council to note, the provisional Dedicated Schools Grant
allocation of £24.17m to the block;
2.28 notes that the Department for Education increase in funding for “3 and 4
year old” from £5.70, to £5.76 (i.e. 6p per hour), and hourly rate for 2 year
olds increase from £6.58 to £6.66 (i.e. 8p per hour) for 2021/22.
2.29 notes that the maintained nursery supplementary funding allocation for
September 2021 to March 2022 is subject to change and has not yet been
finalised;
Pupil Premium
2.30 notes, and asks Council to note, that the pupil premium will continue in
the 2021/22 financial year. The funding rates in the year will be same as
2020/21 but the census date has changed to January.
Housing Revenue Account
2.31 notes the consultation report on service charges to tenants’ and
leaseholders in the Brockley area, presented to area panel members on 16
December 2020, as attached at Appendix X2;
2.32 notes the consultation report on service charges to tenants’ and
leaseholders and the Lewisham Homes budget strategy presented to area
panel members on 17 December 2020 as attached at Appendix X3;
2.33 sets an increase in dwelling rents of 1.5% (an average of £1.46 per
week) – as per the formula rent calculations outlined in section 9 of this report;
2.34 sets an increase in the hostels accommodation charge by 1.5% (or £0.53
per week), in accordance with formula rent calculations;
2.35 approves the following average weekly increases/decreases for
dwellings for:
2.35.1 service charges to non-Lewisham Homes managed dwellings
(Brockley) to ensure full cost recovery and 2.1% inflationary uplift for 2021/22;
caretaking 2.10% (£0.66)
grounds 2.10% (£0.80)
communal lighting 2.10% (£0.06)
bulk waste collection 2.10% (£0.03)
window cleaning 2.10% (£0.00)
tenants’ levy 0% (£0.00)
2.35.2 service charges to Lewisham Homes managed dwellings:
caretaking 1.99% (£0.13)
grounds 1.94% (£0.04)
window cleaning 26.00% (£0.02)
communal lighting 2.55% (£0.03)
block pest control 2.20% (£0.04)
waste collection 23.20% (£0.11)
heating & hot water 1.62% (£0.17)
tenants’ levy 0% (£0.00)
bulk waste disposal 0.00% (£0.00)
sheltered housing 0.00% (£0.00)
2.36 approves the following average weekly percentage changes for hostels
and shared temporary units for;
service charges (hostels) – caretaking etc.; no change
energy cost increases for heat, light & power; no change
water charges increase; no change
2.37 approves an increase in garage rents by 1.1% (£0.17 per week) for
Brockley and Lewisham Homes residents;
2.38 notes that the budgeted expenditure for the Housing Revenue Account
(HRA) for 2021/22 is £226.1m, split £112.1m revenue and £114.0m capital,
which includes the decent homes and new build programmes;
2.39 agrees the HRA budget strategy cut proposals in order to achieve a
balanced budget in 2021/21, as attached at Appendix X1;
2.40 agrees to write off forty-one cases of Former Tenants’ Arrears as set out
in section 9 and Appendix X7, totalling £655,329.76;
Treasury Management Strategy
2.41 approves and recommends that Council approves the prudential
indicators and treasury indicators, as set out in section 10 of this report;
2.42 approves and recommends that Council approves the Annual Investment
Strategy and Creditworthiness Policy, set out in further detail at Appendix Z2;
2.43 approves and recommends that Council approves the update to the
Investment Strategy as set out in section 10 of this report, namely to allow
investment in UK building societies with a minimum credit rating of BBB- from
Fitch (or equivalent) for up to 3 months, and no more than £10m per
institution;
2.44 notes and asks Council to note that the Capital Strategy 2021/22 will be
brought forward during the year;
2.45 approves and recommends that Council approves the Minimum Revenue
Provision (MRP) policy as set out in section 10 of this report;
2.46 agrees and recommends that Council agrees to delegate to the
Executive Director of Corporate Resources authority during 2021/22 to make
amendments to borrowing and investment limits provided they are consistent
with the strategy and there is no change to the Council’s authorised limit for
borrowing;
2.47 approves and recommends that Council approves the overall credit and
counterparty risk management criteria, as set out at Appendix Z2, the
proposed countries for investment at Appendix Z3, and that it formally
delegates responsibility for managing transactions with those institutions
which meet the criteria to the Executive Director for Corporate Resources;
2.48 approves and recommends that Council approves a minimum sovereign
rating of AA-for non-UK investments;
Capital Programme
2.49 notes the 2020/21 Quarter 3 Capital Programme monitoring position and
the Capital Programme potential future schemes and resources as set out in
section 11 of this report;
2.50 notes the significant proposed rise in prudential borrowing of more than
£275m by 2023/24, primarily to fund the Building for Lewisham programme
capital plans;
2.51 recommends that Council approves the 2021/22 to 2023/24 Capital
Programme of £517.5m, as set out in section 11 of this report and attached at
Appendices W1 and W2.
Publication date: 04/02/2021
Date of decision: 03/02/2021
Decided at meeting: 03/02/2021 - Mayor and Cabinet
Accompanying Documents: