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1.1        
Approved the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025/26
to 2028/29 as set out in this report:
 
·       
that the borough element of council tax is raised
by:
o  
2.00% adult social care precept
o  
2.99% main council tax rate
·       
that a balanced budget is set for 2025/26
 
1.2        
Noted the £46.7m of investment agreed by
Cabinet (almost 70% of which is social care related), to include at
least (Section 9):
·       
£20m for Health and Adults Services
·       
£12m for Children’s Services
·       
£1m for Universal Credit migration
pressure
·       
£200k on-going new investment decision to
provide a further Emotional Wellbeing Hub, in support of Our
Greenwich (Section 9.13).
 
1.3        
Noted the £1.0m one-off funding of Carbon
Offset Section 106 for eligible expenditure from the
“Together for Greenwich: Co-operation for the Future”
agreed by Cabinet (Section 9.14).
 
1.4     Noted the use
the one-off surplus distribution of £0.7m from the national
Business Rates Levy to support operation of the Greenwich Supports
Discretionary Council Tax Hardship Fund and revenues collection
agreed by Cabinet (Section 10.10).
 
1.5     Noted
£1.2m of new savings / income proposals for 2025/26
increasing to £2.1m in 2028/29 (Section 10) agreed by
Cabinet.
 
1.6     Noted the
changes to the Local Council Tax Support scheme, considered by
Cabinet and Council on 29 January 2025 and the impact upon the MTFS
(Section 10.8).
 
1.7     Noted the new
fees and charges for 2025/26 (Appendix C) agreed by
Cabinet.
 
1.8     Noted that the
impact of over a decade of government austerity has led to the
council facing around £150m of pressures over that period,
when combined with huge demographic demands and price inflation it
is challenging to set a balanced budget for each financial year.
(Section 4).
 
1.9     Noted the
number of properties rated for council tax has grown by less than
1% year on year for the fourth consecutive year. (Section
8.22).
 
1.10   Noted the impact of the
Government’s Financial Settlement and related developments
around the MTFS (Section 8):
 
·       
the Chancellor announced a one-year Settlement only
for 2025/26, which allows certainty for a one-year
period
·       
a continuation of the break from the London wide
Business Rates pooling arrangement for 2025/26
·       
the Schools funding position
 
1.11   Noted the schedule of
fees and charges rates for 2025/26 (Appendix D) being agreed under
delegated authority.
 
1.12   Noted budgetary impact of
reprofiling previously agreed income / savings proposals of
£2.4m in 2025/26. (Section 9.10).
 
1.13   Noted a forecasted
overall resourcing gap for 2026/27 in excess of £40m, rising
to almost £100m by 2028/29 (Section 15), before future
government grant and council tax decisions.
 
1.14   Noted the potentially
significant financial risks to the MTFS going forward due to the
uncertainty from proposed funding reform from 2026/27 onwards
(Section 14).
 
1.15   Noted the outcome of the
results of the public consultation which closed on 24 December 2024
(Section 17).
 
1.16   Noted that the MTFS is a
continuous process and will be updated in Summer 2025.
 
1.17   Noted that it shall have
regard to the s151 / Chief Finance Officer’s statement in
Section 16, as required under s25(2) of the Local Government Act
2003, when making decisions in this report.
 
1.18   Noted the comments of the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee of its meeting on 30 January 2025
(Appendix E).
 
1.19   Noted that Cabinet on 17
February 2025 in recommending the budget to Council, have noted
some and agreed others, of the Overview and Scrutiny
recommendations set out in Appendix E. The Cabinet Member for
Finance Resources and Social value confirmed that the
recommendations by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in respect
of the Children’s and Youth Play Services Review had been
agreed by Cabinet and further that the Leader and Cabinet Member
for Equality, Culture and Communities had agreed to meet with some
residents in relation to the proposals.