The London Borough of Redbridge Council met on Thursday, 3 March 2016, to approve the Revenue Budget and Council Tax for 2016/17, the Capital Programme for 2016/17–2020/21, the Housing Revenue Account Budget, Rents and Charges for 2016/17, and the Treasury Management Strategy and Prudential Indicators. The Council agreed to increase Council Tax by 1.99% for general services and an additional 2% for adult social care.

Revenue Budget and Council Tax for 2016/17

The Council approved the Revenue Budget and Council Tax for 2016/17. This decision followed a debate on an amendment moved by Councillor Canal, which was ultimately not carried. The approved budget includes a 1.99% increase in Council Tax, alongside an additional 2% increase specifically for adult social care. The basic amount of Council Tax for a Band D property for 2016/17 was set at £1,139.22, with the total Council Tax, including the Greater London Authority precept, amounting to £1,415.22. This represents an overall increase of 1.78% from the previous year.

The budget report detailed significant financial challenges, including continued reductions in central government funding and increasing demand for services, particularly in adult social care and children's services. To address these challenges, the Council has identified substantial savings and efficiencies across various portfolios. Notable areas include:

• Children and Young People: Savings are projected through restructuring services, alternative delivery models for special educational needs transport and provision, and reviews of commissioned services.
• Health and Social Care: Proposals include removing the council subsidy for community meals, recovering learning and development training costs, redesigning systems, and reviewing assessment of need for care packages.
• Housing, Payments and Benefits: This portfolio includes an increase in temporary accommodation costs, offset by efficiency savings from redesigning payments, benefits, and customer services.
• Leader Portfolio: This portfolio includes significant savings from transformation initiatives such as rethinking support services, customer access strategy, better asset management, terms and conditions review, and contract renegotiations.
• Environment and Sustainability: Savings are anticipated from increasing volumes collected per vehicle, capitalising revenue spend on preventative highway repair, and reviewing the Transport DSO.

The Council also noted the Section 151 Officer's review of the robustness of the budget and the adequacy of reserves, concluding that the General Fund balance is adequate at £19.1 million at 31 March 2016 to mitigate risks.

Capital Programme

The Council approved the Capital Programme for 2016/17–2020/21. This programme includes both internally and externally funded schemes, totalling £238.877 million for internally funded projects and £123.547 million for externally funded schemes.

Key areas of investment include:

• Children and Young People: Significant investment is allocated to meeting the demand for additional pupil places and other children's services capital investment proposals, totalling £73.4 million.
• Planning, Economy and Regeneration: This includes £11 million for renewing Ilford's public realm, £10.418 million for the Clements Road Housing Development, and £60 million for Housing Delivery Subsequent Schemes.
• Housing Revenue Account (HRA): A substantial £107.566 million is allocated for externally funded capital schemes within the HRA, covering major repairs, right to buy receipts, and HRA sites development.
• Environment and Sustainability: £11.8 million is allocated for environmental services, including transport modernisation and highway repair.

The Council also approved the Prudential Indicators, which set limits for external debt and interest rate exposures, ensuring that the capital investment plans are prudent, affordable, and sustainable. The ratio of financing costs to net revenue stream for the General Fund is projected to increase from 6.40% in 2016/17 to 8.83% in 2018/19.

Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget, Rents and Charges for 2016/17

The Council agreed the Housing Revenue Account Budget, Rents, Service and Other Charges for 2016/17. A key decision was to decrease dwelling rents by an average of 1% per year for the next four years, in line with government policy. This decision was made despite concerns raised during consultation about potential impacts on service resources.

Tenant service charges for non-Sheltered Housing Unit (SHU) residents (excluding those on the Orchard Estate) are set to increase by an average of 8.5%, primarily due to increased grounds maintenance costs. Amenity charges for Orchard Estate residents will remain at £8.42 per week. Charges for SHUs, including tenant service charges, heating, hot water, and sewerage, will increase by an average of 2.5%. Garage rents and parking charges will increase by the Consumer Price Index plus 1%, equating to 0.9%.

The HRA budget also includes a revenue contribution to the capital programme of £3.997 million for 2016/17, alongside funding from the Major Repairs Allowance and Capital Reserve. The draft capital programme for 2016/17 to 2018/19 totals £9.301 million.

Treasury Management Strategy and Prudential Indicators

The Council approved the Treasury Management Strategy for 2016/17 and the associated Prudential Indicators. The strategy prioritises the security and liquidity of investments, with a cautious approach to market conditions. Key indicators include an authorised limit for external debt of £272.1 million in 2016/17, increasing to £376.3 million by 2018/19. The operational boundary for external debt is set at £262.1 million for 2016/17, rising to £366.3 million by 2018/19. The strategy aims to maintain a high proportion of fixed-rate borrowing to manage interest rate risk.

The investment strategy outlines limits for investments longer than one year, decreasing from £45 million in 2016/17 to £15 million by 2020/21. The Council will continue to invest in high credit quality institutions, with a focus on security and liquidity.

The meeting also noted the Section 151 Officer's advice on the robustness of estimates and the adequacy of reserves, concluding that the General Fund balance is adequate at £19.1 million at 31 March 2016. However, the budget's sustainability is dependent on the successful delivery of savings, particularly from the Transformation Programme.

The meeting was also reminded of the Council's statutory duty under Section 149 of the Equalities Act 2010 to pay 'due regard' to the impact of decisions on groups with protected characteristics. Equality Impact Assessments have been conducted for budget proposals, with mitigating actions planned where adverse impacts are identified.