Purpose

To obtain Full Council approval for the annual
capital budget, treasury management strategy, revenue budget and to
pass the statutory formal Council Tax resolutions.

Content

1.   
That the updated City of Wolverhampton Capital Strategy be
approved.

2.   
That the City of Wolverhampton Flexible Use of Capital Receipts
Strategy be approved.

3.   
That the revised, medium term General Fund capital programme of
£352.6 million, an increase of £12.9 million from the
previously approved programme, and the change in associated
resources be approved.

4.   
That the authorised borrowing limit for 2025-2026 to support the
capital strategy as required under Section 3(1) of the Local
Government Act 2003 to be set at £1,249.72 million (Reference
PI 3, Appendix 3 of the Cabinet report) be approved. The forecast
borrowing was below the authorised borrowing limit.

5.   
That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2025-2026 as set
out in Appendix 1 of the Cabinet report be approved.

6.   
That the Annual Investment Strategy 2025-2026 as set out in
Appendix 2 of the Cabinet report be approved.

7.   
That the Prudential and Treasury Management Indicators as set out
in Appendix 3 of the Cabinet report be approved.

8.   
That the Annual Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Statement setting
out the method used to calculate MRP for 2025-2026 for the General
Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) as set out in Appendix 4 of
the Cabinet report be approved.

9.   
That the Treasury Management Policy Statement and Treasury
Management Practices as set out in Appendix 6 of the Cabinet report
be approved.

10.That it be approved
that authority be delegated to the Section 151 Officer to amend the
Treasury Management Policy and Practices and any corresponding
changes required to the Treasury Management Strategy, the
Prudential and Treasury Management Indicators, the Investment
Strategy and the Annual MRP Statement to ensure they remain
aligned. Any amendments would be reported to the Cabinet Member for
Resources and Cabinet as appropriate.

11.That it be approved,
that authority be delegated to the Section 151 Officer to lower the
minimum sovereign rating in the Annual Investment Strategy, in the
event of the UK’s credit rating being downgraded by the third
credit rating agency, due to the current economic climate.

12.That the net budget
requirement for 2025-2026 of £361.3 million for General Fund
services, reflecting the work of the Our Future Council Programme
over the last 12 months be approved.

13.That the Medium-Term
Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2025-2026 to 2027-2028 as detailed in
Sections 4 and 8, and the key assumptions underpinning the MTFS as
detailed in Appendices 2 to 9 of the Cabinet report be
approved.

14.That a Council Tax
for Council services in 2025-2026 of £2,104.29 (Council
element) for a Band D property, being an increase of 4.99% on
2024-2025 levels, which incorporates 2% in relation to Adult Social
Care be approved.

15.That the refreshed
Reserves Strategy as detailed in Appendix 13 of the Cabinet Report
be approved.

16.That the
establishment of an Executive Director of Families post and
subsequent recruitment that would be subject to a Special
Appointments Committee as per the Council’s Constitution be
approved.

17.That the
redesignation of the Director of Transformation post to Director of
People Services and subsequent recruitment that would be subject to
a Special Appointments Committee as per the Council’s
Constitution be approved.

18.That it be noted
that the Council Tax base for 2025-2026 was calculated at 67,797.54
(Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government
Finance Act 1992, as amended (the “Act”), as reported
to Cabinet on 15 January 2025.

19.That it be agreed to
calculate the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own
purposes for 2025-2026 was £142,665,000.

20.That it be agreed
that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2025-2026 in
accordance with Sections 30 to 36 of the Local Government Finance
Act 1992 as amended:
 
(a) £827,818,750
    being the aggregate of the
amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in
Section 31A(2) of the Act.
 
(b) £685,153,750
    being the aggregate of the
amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in
Section 31A(3) of the Act.
 
(c) £142,665,000
     being the amount by
which the aggregate at 3(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 3(b)
above, calculated by the Council in accordance with Section 31A(4)
of the Act as its Council Tax requirement for the year. (Item R in
the formula in Section 31B of the Act).
 
(d)
£2,104.29           
being the amount at 3(c) above (Item R), all divided by Item T
(section 1 above), calculated by the Council, in accordance with
Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for
the year (including Parish precepts).
 
(e) £0
                        
being the aggregate amount of all special items (Parish precepts)
referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act.
 
(f) £2,104.29
           
being the amount at 3(d) above less the result given by dividing
the amount at 3(e) above by Item T (1(a) above), calculated by the
Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic
amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts
of its area to which no Parish precept relates.
 

21.That it be noted,
that West Midlands Police and Fire Authorities have issued precepts
to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Local
Government Finance Act 1992 for each category of dwellings in the
Council’s area as detailed in the report.

22.That it be agreed,
that the Council, in accordance with Sections 30 to 36 of the Local
Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the aggregate amounts as
detailed in the report as the amounts of Council Tax for 2025-2026
for each part of its area and for each of the categories of
dwellings.

23.That it be agreed,
that having calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts at
(3) (f) and (4) above, the Council, in accordance with Section
30(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the
following amounts as the amounts of the Council Tax for the year
2025-2026 for each of the categories of dwellings as detailed in
the report.

24.That it be agreed,
that a notice of the amounts payable in respect of chargeable
dwellings in each valuation band for the year commencing on 1 April
2025 be published in at least one local newspaper and that in
accordance with Section 3(2) of the Local Government Finance Act
1992, this notice shall also make reference to the National
Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier set by the Secretary of State, and
specify that the Council Tax and the non-domestic rate demands are
annual demands which cover the full financial year.

25.That it be agreed,
that the Council had determined that its relevant basic amount of
Council Tax for 2025-2026 was not excessive in accordance with
principles approved under Section 52ZB Local Government Finance Act
1992.

26.That it be agreed,
that as the billing authority, the Council had not been notified by
a major precepting authority that its relevant basic amount of
Council Tax for 2025-2026 was excessive and that the billing
authority was not required to hold a referendum in accordance with
Section 52ZK Local Government Finance Act 1992.

27.That it be noted,
the MRP charge for the financial year 2025-2026 would be
£22.8 million for the General Fund and £440,000 for the
HRA; it was forecast that the General Fund MRP would increase to
£23.1 million and the HRA MRP remain at £440,000 in
2026-2027 (paragraph 2.15 of the Cabinet report).

28.That it be noted,
that Cabinet and Council would receive regular Treasury Management
reports during 2025-2026 on performance against the key targets and
Prudential and Treasury Management Indicators in the Treasury
Management Strategy and Investment Strategy, as set out in
paragraph 2.12 and Appendices 2 and 3 of the Cabinet report.

29.That it be noted,
consistent with the Our Future Council Guiding Principles the
capital programme (General Fund and HRA) would remain under
constant review to identify opportunities to generate revenue
budget savings.  The outcome of this
work would continue to be reported to Cabinet as part of the suite
of quarterly financial monitoring reports (paragraphs 2.4 and 2.5
of the Cabinet report).

30.That it be noted,
that the Deputy Chief Executive would retain Section 151 Officer
responsibility, allowing the Director of Finance post to become
vacant, as a result the budget for this post would be given up as a
saving.