Agenda and decisions

The Speaker of the Council MOVED, the Deputy Speaker SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that the minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on 15 February 2023 be confirmed and signed as a true and accurate record.

The motion was MOVED by Councillor De Ryk and SECONDED by Councillor Rathbone.

Under the provisions of the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England)

(Amendment) Regulations 2014, a recorded vote was conducted on this item

with the following result:

For (49)

Councillors Curran, Warner, Hayes, Jackson, Burgess, Onikosi, Howard, Schmidt, John Paschoud, Aliya Sheikh, Malik-Smith, Muldoon, Brown, Webley-Brown, Johnston-Franklin, Cooper, Cunningham, Shrivastava, Moore, Millbank, Stamirowski, Erheriene, Anifowose, Sakina Sheikh, Harding, Olaru, Parry, Clarke, Bernards, Rathbone, Penfold, Ingleby, Wise, Best, Sorba, Lavery, Jacq Paschoud, Davis, Walsh, Bourne, Bell, De Ryk, Powell, Barnham, Krupski, Tam, Dacres, Egan, Anwar (49)

Against (0)

Nil

Abstention (0)

Nil

RESOLVED that, having considered the views of those consulted on the budget, and subject to proper process as required, Council agrees to:

General Fund Revenue Budget

1.    note the projected overall variance after the use of corporate provisions and reserves of £9.6m (or 3.9%) against the agreed 2022/23 revenue budget of £248.610m as set out in section 6 of this report and that any year-end overspend will be met from corporate provisions and reserves;

2.    endorse the budget cut reduction measures of £12.587m as per the Mayor and Cabinet meeting of the 7 December 2022, as set out in section 6 of the report and summarised in Appendix Y1 and Y2;

3.    agree the allocation of £43.848m of resources from the corporate risks and pressures, social care precept, new homes bonus, social care grant, ASC market sustainability and improvement fund and services grant in 2023/24 to be invested in funding quantified budget pressures and opportunities, both recurring and once-off as set out in section 6;

4.    agree a General Fund Budget Requirement of £263.679m for 2023/24 be approved;

5.    agree to a 4.99% increase in Lewisham’s Council Tax element. This will result in a Band D equivalent Council Tax level of £1,492.13 for Lewisham’s services and £1,926.27 overall. This represents an overall increase in Council Tax for 2023/24 of 6.02% and is subject to the GLA precept for 2023/24 being increased by £38.55 (i.e. 9.74%) from £395.59 to £434.14, in line with the GLA’s budget proposals;

6.    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;

7.    consider the Section 25 Statement from the Chief Finance Officer. This is attached at Appendix Y5;

8.    agree the statutory calculations for 2023/24 as set out at Appendix Y6;

9.    note the prospects for the revenue budget for 2023/24 and future years as set out in section 6;

Other Grants (within the General Fund)

10. note the adjustments to and impact of various specific grants for 2023/24 on the General Fund as set out in section 7 of this report;

Dedicated Schools Grant and Pupil Premium Schools Block

11. note the provisional gross Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocation of £337.776m before the Department’s adjustments to fund Academy  ...  view the full decision text for item 8.