RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet considered and agreed the response to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission;

2. That the Cabinet resolved that, having considered all of the information in this report and noted the positive assurance statement given by the Director of Corporate Services based on the proposed Council Tax strategy, the maximum Council Tax in 2022/23, equating to a Band D Council Tax of £1,380.87, which is an increase of below 3% be approved and recommended to Council for approval.

3. That the Cabinet considered all of the latest information and the comments from the scrutiny process, and makes recommendations to Council as appropriate

4. That Cabinet resolved that the Business Plan 2022-26 including the General Fund Budget and Council Tax Strategy for 2022/23, and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2022-26 as submitted, along with the draft Equality Assessments (EAs), be approved and recommended to Council for approval subject to any proposed amendments agreed at this meeting;

5. That the Cabinet resolved that, having considered all of the latest information and the comments from the scrutiny process, the Capital Investment Programme (as detailed in Annex 1 to the Capital Strategy); the Treasury Management Strategy (Section 5), including the detailed recommendations in that Section, incorporating the Prudential Indicators and the Capital Strategy (Section 4) as submitted and reported upon be approved and recommended to Council for approval, subject to any proposed amendments agreed at this meeting;

6. That Cabinet noted that the GLA precept will not be agreed by the London Assembly until the 24 February 2022, but the provisional figure has been incorporated into the draft MTFS

7. That Cabinet requested officers to review the savings proposals agreed and where possible bring them forward to the earliest possible implementation date

8. That Cabinet noted that there may be minor amendments to figures and words in this report as a result of new information being received after the deadline for dispatch and that this will be amended for the report to Council in March.

9. That Cabinet considered and approved the Risk Management Strategy.

The Joint Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance, Recovery and the Local Economy presented the report, noting there would be an increase in Council Tax of below three percent and that the GLA precept had not yet been agreed by the London Assembly and therefore the figure within the report was provisional. The report presented a balanced budget. The Council were still awaiting the results of discussions with the DFE regarding the DSG.

The Cabinet Member for Local Environment and Green Spaces advised that in partnership with Deen City Farm and following discussions with their trustees, it was proposed that saving ENV2022-23 03 not be taken in full in 2023/24 but tapered off throughout the following five years, with a drop of 10% each year. This would be alongside exploring capital investment in projects which would allow Deen City Farm to to generate income and work with the Council’s greenspaces team to ensure the decrease in Council funding is covered through other grant funding and other sources.

The Director for Corporate Services advised that the final Government settlement had been published and the figures would be updated accordingly. It was noted that the Council Calendar for 2022/23 had been amended to schedule the Scrutiny and Cabinet budget meetings more appropriately. The Wimbledon Putney and Commons Conservators had announced a 3.7% increase in the precept, which has impacted on the level of Council Tax Merton can raise and this was being monitored closely.

In response to questions from the Joint Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children and Education, the Director for Corporate Services advised that the Conservators were able to increase their levy by the rate of inflation and the Council were working closely with neighbouring Boroughs on the impact of any increases.

With relation to the DSG, it was proposed that 100% of the deficit would be funded at the end of 2021/22 and then 50% going forward and discussions were continuing with the DFE on the DSG.

The recommendations were agreed, whilst noting that the proposals put forward for Deen City Farm would feed into the next round of the budget process.

RESOLVED:

 1. That Cabinet considered and agreed the response to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and agreed that saving ENV2022-23 03 be delayed until 2023/24.

2. That the Cabinet resolved that, having considered all of the information in this report and noted the positive assurance statement given by the Director of Corporate Services based on the proposed Council Tax strategy, the maximum Council Tax in 2022/23, equating to a Band D Council Tax of £1,380.87, which is an increase of below 3% be approved and recommended to Council for approval.

3. That the Cabinet considered all of the latest information and the comments from the scrutiny process, and makes recommendations to Council as appropriate

4. That Cabinet resolved that the Business Plan 2022-26 including the General Fund Budget and Council Tax Strategy for 2022/23, and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2022-26 as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5