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MOVED, SECONDED and RESOLVED that, having considered the
views of those consulted on the budget, and subject to
consideration of the outcome of consultation with business
ratepayers and subject to proper process, as required, that Mayor
and Cabinet:
 
General Fund Revenue
Budget
 

1.   
notes and asks Council to note the 2023/24 forecast projected
overall variance of £19.9m, after the use of corporate
provisions and reserves, or 7.5% of the agreed budget of
£263.680m as set out in section 6 of this report and that
this year-end overspend will be met from corporate provisions and
reserves;

2.   
endorses and asks Council to endorse the budget cut reduction
measures of £2.315m and £8.423m, with an anticipated
assumed minimum delivery of £5.6m in 2024/25, as set out in
Section 6 of the report and summarised in Appendix Y1 and Y2a and
Y2b;

3.   
agrees and asks Council to agree the allocation of
£52.869m of resources from; the corporate risks and
pressures, adult social care precept, new homes bonus, social care
grant, ASC market sustainability and improvement fund, discharge
grant, New Homes Bonus, Services Grant and reserves in 2024/25 to
be invested in funding quantified budget pressures and
opportunities, both recurring and once-off, as set out in section
6;

4.   
agrees and recommend that Council agree to delegate to the
Executive Director of Corporate Resources the use of the new
additional social care grant allocation instead of reserves for the
funding of once off pressures in 2024/25, as set out in section
6;

5.   
agrees to recommend to Council that a General Fund Budget
Requirement of £293.838m for 2024/25 be approved;

6.   
asks Council to agree to a 4.99% increase in Lewisham’s
Council Tax element. This will result in a Band D equivalent
Council Tax level of £1,566.58 for Lewisham’s services
and £2,037.98 overall. This represents an overall increase in
Council Tax for 2024/2/25 of 5.8% and is subject to the GLA precept
for 2024/25 being increased by £37.26 (i.e. 8.58%) from
£434.14 to £471.4, in line with the GLA’s draft
budget proposals;

7.   
notes the final Settlement Funding Assessment (SFA) figure
for 2024/25 has not yet been announced and agrees to delegate
authority to the Executive Director for Corporate Resources to
include any change to the provisional SFA of £137,197,175 in
the Budget report for Council with any difference to the position
set out in this report covered from provisions and reserves as
necessary;

8.   
notes the provisional and estimated precept and levies from
the GLA and other bodies as detailed in Appendix Y6 and agrees to
delegate authority to the Executive Director for Corporate
Resources to include any changes once confirmed in the Budget
report for Council with any difference covered from provisions and
reserves as necessary;

9.   
notes and asks Council to 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 with more detail in Appendix Y4;

10. 
asks that the Executive Director for Corporate Resources
issues cash limits to all Directorates once the 2024/25 Revenue
Budget is agreed;

11. 
considers, and asks Council to consider, the Section 25
Statement from the Chief Finance Officer, the Executive Director
for Corporate Resources. This is attached at Appendix
Y5;

12. 
agrees and asks Council to agree the draft statutory
calculations for 2024/25 as set out at Appendix Y6;

13. 
notes and asks Council to note the prospects for the revenue
budget for 2024/25 and future years as set out in Sections 6 and
7;

14. 
agrees and asks officers to continue to develop firm
proposals to redesign and transform services and inform the capital
strategy by bringing them forward in good time to support the work
towards a savings and investment round to help plan early to meet
the future forecast medium term finance strategy
objectives;
 
Other Grants (within the General
Fund)
 

15. 
notes and asks Council to note the adjustments to and impact
of various specific grants for 2024/25 on the General Fund as set
out in section 6 of this report;
 
Fees and Charges

16. 
approves the approach to setting 2024/25 fees and charges for
chargeable services in section 6 of the report and attached at
Appendix Y8;
 
Dedicated Schools Grant and
Pupil Premium
Schools Block
 

17. 
notes and recommends that Council notes the provisional gross
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocation of £363.126m before
the Department’s adjustments to fund Academy
schools;

18. 
notes and recommends that Council notes the provisional DSG
allocation for £240.662m be the Schools’ Budget
(Schools Block) for 2024/25 covering both maintained schools and
academies, and that this includes £7.5m of funding that
schools currently receive via the Mainstream Additional
Grant;

19. 
notes an increase in pupil unit funding for primary of
£39 and secondary of £139 and that this also
incorporates the Mainstream Additional Grant as mentioned above.
However, there has been an overall reduction in primary age pupil
by 351, partially off-set by an increase in secondary school
numbers of 100;

20. 
notes that following the Schools Forum meeting on the 18
January 2024, submission has been made to the Department for
Education recommending the application of the National Funding
Formula (including unit values) allowing for a 0% uplift in Minimum
Funding Guarantee (MFG);

21. 
agrees and recommends that Council agrees, as recommended by
Schools Forum, the once-off transfer of circa £0.7m of
Schools Block funding to the High Needs Block;
 
Central Schools Services Block (CSSB)
 

22. 
notes, and asks Council to note, the construct and allocation
of £3.014m for the CSSB block allocation for 2024/25, a
reduction of circa £0.295m from the £3.309m 2023/24
allocation;
 
High Needs Block (HNB)

23. 
notes, and asks Council to note, the provisional HNB
£79.225m to support the Council’s statutory duty with
regards to Special Education Needs (SEN), a net increase of
£2.373m relative to 2023/24. And that the HNB will be
finalised in March for deductions arising for institutions funded
by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA);

24. 
notes that the HNB is expected to overspend by £3m in
2023/24, increasing the cumulative overspend to circa £14m in
total when prior year overspends are included based on the national
accounting override issued by the Department of Education (DfE) and
as part of which Lewisham is progressing a mitigation plan as part
of the Delivering Better Value initiative (Phase 3);
 
Early Years Block (EYB)

25. 
notes, and asks Council to note, the Dedicated Schools Grant
allocation to the EYB of £40.225m;

26. 
notes, and asks Council to note that the Department for
Education has increased hourly funding for 3 and 4 year olds from
£6.33 to £7.24 (14.4%) and with respect to 2 year old
disadvantaged funding, the hourly rate has increased from
£7.52 to £10.64 (41.5%);

27. 
notes, and asks Council to note, the introduction of new
funding from 1 April 2024 for 2 year old working parent entitlement
of £10.64 per hour and new funding for under 2 year olds from
1 September 2024 at £14.52 per hour;

28. 
notes that the maintained nursery supplementary funding
allocation for 2024/25 is subject to change but is expected to
increase by circa £89k, subject to movement in pupil
numbers;
 
Pupil Premium

29. 
notes, and asks Council to note, that the pupil premium will
continue in 2024/25, that the per-pupil funding is expected to
increase by 1% for primary and 2% for secondary, with the total
quantum confirmed in summer 2024;
 
Housing Revenue
Account

30. 
notes, and asks Council to note, the consultation report on
proposed service charge increases to tenants and leaseholders in
the Brockley area, presented to tenants and leaseholders on 2
November 2023, as attached at Appendix X2a and X2b;

31. 
notes, and asks Council to note, the consultation report on
proposed service charge increases to tenants and leaseholders
presented to the remaining tenants and leaseholders on 13 November
2023 as attached at Appendix X3.

32. 
agrees, and asks Council to agree, to set an increase in
dwelling rents of 7.7% (an average of £8.57 per week) –
as per the Governments formula rent increases to be applied to
rents for 2024/25 and as outlined in section 9 of this
report;

33. 
agrees, and asks Council to agree, to set an increase in the
hostels accommodation charge by 7.7% (or £3.10 per week), in
accordance with Governments direction for formula rent increases to
be applied to rents for 2024/25;

34. 
approves, and asks Council to approve, the following average
weekly increases/decreases for dwellings for:

a.   
 service charges to PFI managed dwellings
(Brockley) to ensure full cost recovery and 9.9% inflationary
uplift for 2024/25;

? caretaking 9.9%
(£0.35)
?
grounds 9.9% (£0.21)
?
communal lighting 9.9% (£0.01)
?
bulk waste collection 9.9% (£0.15)
?
window cleaning 9.9% (£0.00)
?
tenants’ levy 0.00% (£0.00)
 

b.   
service charges to Council managed dwellings:
?
caretaking 7.70% (£0.59)
?
grounds 7.70% (£0.10)
?
window cleaning 7.70% (£0.03)
?
communal lighting 7.70% (£0.10)
?
block pest control 7.00% (£1.80)
?
waste collection 7.70% (£0.07)
?
heating & hot water 7.70% (£1.23)
?
tenants’ levy 0.00% (£0.00)
?
bulk waste disposal 7.70% (£0.05)
?
sheltered housing 0.00% (£0.00)
 

c.    
approves, and asks Council to approve, the following average
weekly percentage changes for hostels and shared temporary units
for;

? service charges (hostels) –
caretaking etc.; 7.70% or £5.92pw energy cost increases for
heat, light & power; 10.0% or £0.71pw;
?
water charges increase; 7.70% or £0.02pw;

d.   
approves, and asks Council to approve, an increase in garage
rents by 8.90% (£1.58 per week) for Brockley PFI and Council
residents as outlined in Appendix X4;

e.   
notes, and asks Council to note, that the budgeted
expenditure for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for 2024/25 is
£224.3m, split £111.5m revenue and £112.8m
capital, which includes the decent homes and new build
programmes;

f.     
agrees the HRA Business Plan for 2024/25, as attached at
Appendix X7;

g.   
notes the 2023/24 P8 HRA Capital Programme monitoring
position and the Capital Programme potential future schemes and
resources as set out in Section 11 of this report;

h.   
agrees to write-off 32 cases of Former Tenants’ Arrears
as set out in Appendix X5, totalling £561,449.14;
 
Treasury Management
Strategy

35. 
approves and recommends that Council approves the Treasury
Management Strategy 2024/25 including the prudential indicators and
treasury indicators;

36. 
approves and recommends that Council approves the Annual
Investment Strategy and Creditworthiness Policy, set out in further
detail at Appendix Z2;

37. 
approves and recommends that Council approves the Investment
Strategy as set out in section 10 of this report, along with the
operational boundary & authorised limit for the year as set out
in tables D4 and D5 in this report;

38. 
approves and recommends that Council approves the Minimum
Revenue Provision (MRP) policy as set out in section 10.27 of the
report;

39. 
agrees and recommends that Council agree to delegate to the
Executive Director of Corporate Resources the authority during
2024/25 to make amendments to borrowing and investment limits
provided they are consistent with the strategy and there is no
change to the Council’s authorised limit for
borrowing;

40. 
approves and recommends that Council approves the overall
credit and counterparty risk management criteria, as set out at
Appendix Z2, the proposed countries for investment at Appendix Z5,
and that it formally delegates responsibility for managing
transactions with those institutions meeting the criteria to the
.
 
Capital Programme
 

41. 
notes the capital programme position and recommends that
Council approve the 2024/25 to 2027/28 Capital Programme of
£558.0m as set out in section 11 of this report and Appendix
W1;

42. 
agrees and recommends that Council agree to delegate to the
Executive Director for Corporate Resources authority to amend the
scheme mix within the Capital programme to respond to the risks as
set out as long as this is done within the total programme
parameters approved and that regular updates on the capital
programme, reflecting any changes, are regularly reported back to
Mayor & Cabinet.