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RESOLVED:
 

That Cabinet makes the following recommendations to
Council on 4 February 2025.
 
Cabinet recommends that County Council: 

Approves the net revenue budget requirement be set
at £1,264.1 million (net cost of services
after service specific government grants) for 2025/26 (Annex B),
subject to confirmation of the Final Local Government Financial
Settlement.

Approves the total Council Tax Funding Requirement
be set at £972.3 million for 2025/26. This is
based on a council tax increase of 4.99%, made up of an increase in
the level of core council tax of 2.99% and an increase of 2% in the
precept proposed by Central Government to cover the growing cost of
Adult Social Care (Annex E).

Notes that for the purpose of section 52ZB of the
Local Government Finance Act 1992, the Council formally determines
that the increase in core council tax is not such as to trigger a
referendum (i.e. not greater than 3%).

Sets the Surrey County Council precept for Band D
Council Tax at £1,846.35, which represents a 4.99% uplift, a
rise of £1.69 a week from the 2024/25 precept of
£1,758.60. This includes £286.61 for the Adult Social
Care precept, which has increased by £35.17. A full list of
bands is as follows:

5.   
Notes that underlying General Fund
reserve balances are projected to increase to £50.5 million
as of 1 April 2025, based on the current year forecast. 

6.   
Approves the Total Schools Budget of
£738.7 million to meet the Council’s statutory
requirement on schools funding (as set out in Section 9 of the
2025/26 Final Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy to
2029/30).

7.   
Approves the overall indicative Budget
Envelopes for Directorates and individual services for the 2025/26
budget (Annex B) and that the Corporate Leadership Team be required
to meet the revenue budget for the delivery of Council
services.

8.   
That the Corporate Leadership Team be
required to deliver the revenue saving plans as set out in Annex
A.

9.   
Delegate powers to the Leader and Deputy Chief
Executive & Director of Resources (Section 151 Officer) to
finalise budget proposals and recommendations to County Council,
updated to take into account new information in the Final Local
Government Finance Settlement;’

10. 
Approves the total £1,398.8 million
proposed five-year Capital Programme (comprising £1,016.8
million of budget and £382.0 million pipeline), including the
£406.3 million annual Capital Budget for 2025/26 (Annex
C).

11. 
Approves the Capital and Investment
Strategy (Annex F - Sections 1 to 3), which provides an overview of
how risks associated with capital expenditure, financing and
treasury will be managed as well as how they contribute towards the
delivery of services.

12. 
Approve the Treasury Management Strategy
and Prudential Indicators (Annex F – Section 4) which set a
framework for the Council’s treasury function to manage
risks, source borrowing and invest surplus cash, as considered by
the Audit & Governance Committee on 22 January 2025.

13. 
Approves the policy for making a prudent
level of revenue provision for the repayment of debt - the Minimum
Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy (Annex G).

14. 
Approves and reviews the re-set of the
Earmarked Reserves, as set out in Annex D.

15. 
Notes that the investment in
Transformation required to deliver improved outcomes and financial
benefits is built into the proposed Medium-Term Financial Strategy
(as set out in section 3 of 2025/26 Final Budget Report and
Medium-Term Financial Strategy to 2029/30).
Reasons for decisions:
 
Council will meet on 4 February 2025 to agree a
budget and to set the Council Tax Precept for 2025/26. Cabinet is
required to recommend a budget to Council for consideration at this
meeting. The budget directs available resources to support the
achievement of the Council’s ambitions and priorities in the
2030 Vision and the Refreshed Organisation Strategy.
The budget will also support the delivery of the
continuing transformational changes that are required to ensure
that the Council can improve priority outcomes for residents, while
managing growing demand for services and ensuring future financial
sustainability.