RESOLVED:

That Cabinet –

1)     agrees to amend, as appropriate, the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) to incorporate its decision, taken previously on the Overview and Scrutiny Commission - pre decision scrutiny of the Business Plan 2014-2018, for  the Council in March 2014

2)      having considered all of the information in the report, and noted the positive assurance statement given by the Director of Corporate Services based on the proposed strategy, the Council Tax in 2014/15, equating to a Band D Council Tax of £1,102.26 be approved and recommended to Council for approval. This represents a Council Tax freeze;

3)      resolves that the Business Plan 2014-18 including the General Fund Budget and Council Tax Strategy for 2014/15, and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2014-2018 as submitted, be approved and recommended to Council for approval subject to any proposed amendments agreed at this meeting;

4)      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 (Appendix 12) as submitted and reported upon be approved and recommended to Council for approval, subject to any proposed amendments agreed at this meeting;

5)      notes that the GLA precept that was agreed by the London Assembly on the 14 February, be incorporated into the draft MTFS;

6)      notes that there may be minor amendments to figures in the 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;

7)      in respect of the new business rates reliefs announced in the Autumn statement 2013, agrees the Retail Property Discount Policy and the Retail Premises Re-Occupation Policy set out in Appendices 12(a) and 12(b).

Reason for urgency:

The Chair has approved the submission of this report as a matter of urgency as it provides the latest available information on the Business Plan and Budget 2014/15 and requires consideration of issues relating to the Budget process and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2014-2018. It is important that this consideration is not delayed in order that the Council can work towards a balanced budget at its meeting on 5 March 2014 and set a Council Tax as appropriate for 2014/15.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, supported by the Director of Corporate Services, presented the Business Plan 2014-2018. The principles of the report was to continue with the medium term financial planning, and the proposals made followed that approach. A number of key aspects were highlighted, including the proposal to keep Council Tax frozen; that Appendix 12 contained the proposed approaches for the new business rates reliefs’ schemes, and it was confirmed that the GLA precept had now been set by the London Assembly and was provisional figure contained within the report was correct.

Members also considered the tabled Appendix 15 to the Business Plan, which detailed the Treasury Management Strategy 2014/15 along with the Cash Flow Statements for 2013-4 to 2017-8.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet –

1)      agrees to amend, as appropriate, the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) to incorporate its decision, taken previously on the Overview and Scrutiny Commission - pre decision scrutiny of the Business Plan 2014-2018, for the Council in March 2014

2)      having considered all of the information in the report, and noted the positive assurance statement given by the Director of Corporate Services based on the proposed strategy, the Council Tax in 2014/15, equating to a Band D Council Tax of £1,102.26 be approved and recommended to Council for approval. This represents a Council Tax freeze;

3)      resolves that the Business Plan 2014-18 including the General Fund Budget and Council Tax Strategy for 2014/15, and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2014-2018 as submitted, be approved and recommended to Council for approval subject to any proposed amendments agreed at this meeting;

4)      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 (Appendix 12) as submitted and reported upon be approved and recommended to Council for approval, subject to any proposed amendments agreed at this meeting;

5)      notes that the GLA precept that was agreed by the London Assembly on the 14 February, be incorporated into the draft MTFS;

6)      notes that there may be minor amendments to figures in the 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;

7)      in respect of the new business rates reliefs announced in the Autumn statement 2013, agrees the Retail Property Discount Policy and the Retail Premises Re-Occupation Policy set out in Appendices 12(a) and 12(b).