Decision Maker: Cabinet, Council

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: February 17, 2025

Purpose: To agree the MTFS Strategy

Content: Agreed to provide for £46.7m of investment (almost 70% of which is social care related), to include at least (Section 9 of the report): ·        £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 of the report).   Agreed to provide £1.0m one-off funding of Carbon Offset Section 106 for eligible expenditure from the “Together for Greenwich: Co-operation for the Future” (Section 9.14 of the report).   Agreed to 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 (Section 10.10 of the report).   Agreed £1.2m of new savings / income proposals for 2025/26 increasing to £2.1m in 2028/29 (Section 10 of the report).   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 of the report).   Agreed new fees and charges for 2025/26 (Appendix C of the report)   Agreed the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025/26 to 2028/29 as set out in this report and subsequently recommended to Council for approval:   ·        the MTFS as per 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 ·        a balanced budget for 2025/26   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 of the report)   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 of the report)   Noted the impact of the Government’s Financial Settlement and related developments around the MTFS (Section 8 of the report):   ·        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   Noted the schedule of fees and charges rates for 2025/26 (Appendix D of the report) being agreed under delegated authority   Noted budgetary impact of reprofiling previously agreed income / savings proposals of £2.4m in 2025/26. (Section 9.10 of the report)   Noted a forecasted overall resourcing gap for 2026/27 in excess of £40m, rising to almost £100m by 2028/29 (Section 15 of the report), before future government grant and council tax decisions   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 of the report)   Noted the outcome of the results of the public consultation which closed on 24 December 2024 (Section 17 of the report)   Noted that the MTFS is a continuous process and will be updated in Summer 2025   Noted that it shall have regard to the s151 / Chief Finance Officer’s statement in Section 16 of the report, as required under s25(2) of the Local Government Act 2003, when making decisions in this report   Noted the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of its meeting on 30 January 2025 (Appendix E of the report)