Agenda item

This presentation will outline the Council’s strategy to the 2022-23 Budget within the context of the Corporate Plan.?  The presentation will provide details of the approach to setting the budget for the next financial year and the broad impact this will have on the delivery of services.

Councillor Sanderson, Leader of the Council and Councillor Wearmouth, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services gave a presentation to outline the approach being taken to set the budget for the next financial year, looking at the current position, challenges and opportunities and the impact this would have on the delivery of services.  The detail regarding initiatives and schemes would be presented at a separate meeting.  (A copy of the presentation is enclosed with the signed minutes.)

The presentation highlighted:

·        The work of frontline services during the pandemic, and following Storm Arwen, was appreciated and acknowledged with no budget cuts being proposed.

·        Health inequalities to be addressed across the county with a summit planned in March 2022 to make meaningful change with partner organisations.

·        Unexpectedly, employment rates were largely comparable with pre-pandemic rates at 4.1% which was lower than regional and national figures and the economic performance of the county was quite strong.  Targeted interventions hoped to address areas where unemployment figures were higher, including those within the 18–24-year-olds, areas where there were job vacancies and the necessity of introducing a real living wage in adult social care to retain staff who were leaving for jobs in other sectors.

·        The vision and aims of the Corporate Plan identified 48 key priorities with targeted actions to enable their delivery.  Examples included strengthening relationships with town and parish councils, welcoming new businesses, free town centre car parks etc.

·        The overall funding context for the 2022/23 budget was set out; the increase in Council Tax precept remained at 2% without holding a referendum with an additional 1% for Adult Social Care for the next three years.

·        Areas were outlined where the Council intended to invest in the future of the county.

·        A review of the Budget for 2022-23 and the Medium-Term Financial Plan required savings of £9.704 million to balance the budget.  A provisional savings requirement of £28 million had also been calculated for the following two financial years.  The approach to identifying spend and savings within the budget were outlined with proposed savings by Portfolio Holder, although some of these included opportunities for income generation.

·        The consultation was due to close on 21 January 2022.  Over 200 responses had been received to date which was helpful when assessing areas which operated well and those that didn’t, as well as suggestions where more funds should be allocated, before the budget was finalised and published ahead of scrutiny and consideration by Full Council on 23 February 2022.

The following issues were discussed:

·        How unemployment was to be addressed, welcoming new industries and their supply chain, investment in further education and skills at Northumberland College and the Energy Central Learning Hub for vocational skills.  Borderlands funding was available for projects in Haltwhistle and Bellingham and the Heritage Action Zone in Hexham and exploration of opportunities for sustainable jobs in farming and climate change in rural areas.

·        Details of career support via advisors, the Kick Start programme and apprenticeships would be provided outside the meeting.

·        Investment in public toilet provision would be welcomed in Hexham.

·        Partnership working with Northumberland County Council on tourism would be welcomed by Hexham Town Council.

·        Dualling of the A1 was required at the earliest opportunity and should be supported by all.  Delays had been due to environmental audit work and an announcement on funding was expected in June 2022, subject to the aforementioned.

·        Concern regarding the increase in the RPI and inequalities of those individuals on short term contracts and using foodbanks.  A paper written by Alan Milburn, the former Secretary of State for Health, on tackling health inequalities was commended as a useful document.

·        Progress on improving broadband and mobile telephone reception in rural areas had stalled and was required to enable individuals to work from home and operate businesses.  A procurement exercise was believed to be underway to improve broadband speeds for the hardest to reach homes.  Northumberland was included within the first group and it was expected that progress would be seen in the near future.  It would be beneficial to receive an update from the Broadband Team.

·        It would be more helpful to receive a longer-term financial settlement from the government.  A thorough analysis was required of all areas across the Council to drive efficiencies and transformation, scrutiny of this was encouraged.  There was concern that the Council’s balances would be used to balance the budget and significant savings would be required in the next few years.  The only certainties with regard to income related to Council Tax and business rates and there was shared frustration regarding the notification system of local government financing.  However it was expected that different elements of funding from national government would reduce the amount required to be saved in the future.

·        Representatives from the administration sat on the Local Enterprise Partnership and North of Tyne Combined Authority to support businesses and promote local interests.  Whilst funding streams had switched from European to Shared Prosperity, the latter would be used to replace projects in the rural economy.

·        Once the public consultation ended, all members would be invited to attend and review the budget proposals when it was considered by scrutiny.

The Chair thanked the Councillors Sanderson and Wearmouth for their presentation.

RESOLVED that the presentation be received.