Report by Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive to the Strategy and Resources Committee on 3 February 2025 (attached).

The Lead Member for Resources and Commercialisation introduced the report to Council.

Councillor Clayton, Leader of the Council thanked the Lead Member for Resources and Commercialisation for her work with the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive.

Council received a presentation by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive on the Revenue Budget 2025-26, Capital Programme and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025-26 to 2030-31 (circulated previously) as follows:

·       The Core Spending Power total for England was 6%. By region, the South West Core Spending Power was 5.4% and by authority type North Devon Council, being a Shire District, the Core Spending Power was however only 0.3%. In comparison, the CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation to November 2024 was 2.6%.

·       A Shire Districts referendum would be required if the Council set an increase of 3% or more than £5 for Council Tax, whichever was the greater.

·       Following the draft finance settlement in December 2024,the draft budget has assumed an increase on Council Tax of 2.99%. The overall Council Tax Increase of £708,000 was broken down as £223,000 from the 2.99% increase and £485,000 from increase in tax base (of which £353,000 came from the second homes premium and £132,000 tax base).

·       The Business Rates draft budget figure came from the Retained Growth (made up of £2m North Devon Business rates growth, £680,000 Renewable Energy Schemes and £350,000 Devon pool retained income).

·       Giving an overall figure of £3.090m factored into the draft budget.

·       Revenue Support Grant and Baseline Funding – additional £49,000.

·       New Homes Bonus – actual award £705,000 (£355,000 more than 2024-25).

·       Rural Services Delivery Grant had been removed (£421,000 less than 2024-25).

·       Services Grant – had been removed (£21,000 less than 2024-25).

·       Funding Guarantee – had been removed (£1,507,000 less than 2024-25).

·       New Recovery Grant – an additional £267,000

·       New Funding Floor Grant – an additional £988,000.

·       The overall net impact of less Government funding was £290,000 reduction.

·       The Government’s consultation on the Finance Settlement ended 15 January 2025.

·       North Devon Council’s consultation response could be seen in Appendix F of the agenda report.

·       There was an increase in the gap of Government funding per head of population between rural and urban authorities of £166.19.

·       The Extended Producer Responsibility aimed to make ‘producers’ responsible for the cost of collection, managing and recycling of packaging and incentivise them to make their products recyclable by modulating fees based on the recyclability of products. It also aimed to reduce unnecessary packaging, increase quality and reduce litter.

·       The Government had made an announcement on ‘Simpler Recycling’ services due to start March 2026.

·       New burdens funding to be provided for food waste collections.

·       The provisional Extended Producer Responsibility payment allocation for North Devon was £1,178,000. There was improved capacity with the investment that had been made at Brynsworthy Environment Centre and the vehicles types that had been acquired and operated put the Council in a strong position to implement the “simpler recycling requirements”.

·       The Medium Term Financial Strategy (2024-2030) showed a budget  ...  view the full minutes text for item 104

Report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive to the Strategy and Resources Committee on 3^rd February 2025 (attached), and

(a) Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 3^rd February 2025 (to follow).

The Committee considered a report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive (circulated previously) regarding the Revenue Budget 2025-26, Capital Programme and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025-26 to 2030-31.

The Lead Member for Resources and Commercialisation addressed the Committee to give a brief introduction as follows:

·         The Council had achieved a balance budget.

·         Garden waste charges were to remain the same.

·         The Council provided a very affordable bulky waste service.

·         The National Insurance changes to employer’s National Insurance had produced an additional £325,000 cost to the Council.

·         Green Lanes shopping centre continued to provide an income.

·         It had to be assumed going forwards that there would be no increase in funding from Central Government so the Council would need to find more ways to become financially self-sufficient.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive gave a presentation, and highlighted the following:

·         The Government’s Finance Policy Statement issued in November 2024 guaranteed that no council would see a cash reduction in its Core Spending Power (CSP). The increase for local government was 3.2% in real terms.

·         All councils were to receive additional income from Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging payments.

·         Confirmed £233m new funding for homelessness prevention – also consolidating main rough sleeping and single homelessness grants into a single grant outside of settlement.

·         Council tax increases would remain at 2.99% or £5 (whichever was higher).

·         Rural Services Delivery grant was to be abolished – this was currently paid to 50 district councils and worth £15m in total.

·         Services grant would also be abolished – this was currently paid to all districts and worth £3.5m in total.

·         A new £600m recovery grant – targeted councils with highest levels of deprivation – would likely only be open to a minority of districts.

·         Councils would be compensated for the cost of the Employers National Insurance increase – for directly employed staff only.

·         There would be a fundamental reform to the local government funding model after 2025/26.

·         Government would launch a consultation in December on a new approach to allocation funding (Fair Funding) and a further technical consultation on resetting business rates in January.

·         The Core Spending Power total for England was 6%. By region, the South West Core Spending Power was 5.4% and by authority type North Devon Council, being a Shire District, the Core Spending Power was however only 0.3%. In comparison, the CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation to November 2024 was 2.6%.

·         The draft budget has assumed an increase on Council Tax of 2.99%. The overall Council Tax Increase of £708,000 was broken down as £223,000 from the 2.99% increase and £485,000 from increase in tax base (of which £353,000 came from the second homes premium and £132,000 tax base).

·         The Business Rates draft budget figure came from the Retained Growth (made up of £2m North Devon Business rates growth, £680,000 Renewable Energy Schemes and £350,000 Devon pool retained income).

·         Giving an overall figure of £3.030m factored into the draft budget.

·         Revenue Support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68

Report by Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive (attached).

The Committee considered a report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive (circulated previously) regarding the Revenue Budget 2025-26, Capital Programme and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025-26 to 2030-31.

The Lead Member for Resources and Commercialisation addressed the Committee to give a brief introduction as follows:

·         We had achieved a balance budget.

·         Garden waste charges were to remain the same.

·         We provided a very affordable bulky waste service.

·         The National Insurance changes to employer’s National Insurance had produced an additional £325,000 cost to the Council.

·         Green Lanes shopping centre continued to provide an income.

·         It had to be assumed going forwards that there would be no increase in funding from Central Government so the Council would need to find more ways to become financially self-sufficient.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive gave a presentation, and highlighted the following:

·         The Government’s Finance Policy Statement issued in November 2024 guaranteed that no council would see a cash reduction in its Core Spending Power (CSP).  The increase for local government was 3.2% in real terms.

·         All councils were to receive additional income from Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging payments.

·         Confirmed £233m new funding for homelessness prevention – also consolidating main rough sleeping and single homelessness grants into a single grant outside of settlement.

·         Council tax increases would remain at 2.99% or £5 (whichever was higher).

·         Rural Services Delivery grant was to be abolished – this was currently paid to 50 district councils and worth £15m in total.

·         Services grant would also be abolished – this was currently paid to all districts and worth £3.5m in total.

·         A new £600m recovery grant – targeted councils with highest levels of deprivation – would likely only be open to a minority of districts.

·         Councils would be compensated for the cost of the Employers National Insurance increase – for directly employed staff only.

·         There would be a fundamental reform to the local government funding model after 2025/26.

·         Government would launch a consultation in December on a new approach to allocation funding (Fair Funding) and a further technical consultation on resetting business rates in January.

·         The Core Spending Power total for England was 6%.  By region, the South West Core Spending Power was 5.4% and by authority type North Devon Council, being a Shire District, the Core Spending Power was however only 0.3%.  In comparison, the CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation to November 2024 was 2.6%.

·         The draft budget has assumed an increase on Council Tax of 2.99%.  The overall Council Tax Increase of £708,000 was broken down as £223,000 from the 2.99% increase and £485,000 from increase in tax base (of which £353,000 came from the second homes premium and £132,000 tax base).

·         The Business Rates draft budget figure came from the Retained Growth (made up of £2m North Devon Business rates growth, £680,000 Renewable Energy Schemes and £350,000 Devon pool retained income). 

·         Giving an overall figure of £3.030m factored into the draft budget.

·         Revenue Support Grant and Baseline Funding – additional  ...  view the full minutes text for item 107