Agenda item

2021/22 Budget Monitoring and 22/23 Budget Process

Minutes:

Shaer Halewood, Director of Resources, introduced a report which described how the 2021/22 budget would be monitored through the Committee system during the year and also the process for setting the 2022/23 budget. This would enable the Policy and Services Committees (the committees) to take ownership of their specific budgets and provide robust challenge and scrutiny of officers on the performance and management of those budgets. For the first committees in the new municipal year, each committee would receive a budget book detailed by function to enable committees to have oversight of where income and expenditure occurred.

 

Committees would be responsible for ensuring that the budget was spent responsibly and remained within the relevant envelope, identifying savings where possible. Officers would be accountable for providing best advice to committees. Policy and Resources Committee would be responsible for ensuring and advising the Council that the entire budget remained in balance at all times or provided mitigating actions to bring the budget back in line, should a deficit be forecast. The report detailed the information which would be provided.

 

With regard to the process for setting the 2022/23 budget, this would commence immediately. One of the key documents required to enable the Council to receive approval for exceptional financial support was a balanced five-year medium term financial plan (MTFP). 

 

A summary of this was provided in the budget report to the Committee on 17 February 2021. This document was prepared by officers and shared virtually with Policy and Resources Committee Members, and now required committee oversight and approval. Committees would consider whether the proposals included in the MTFP for the 2022/23 budget, and beyond, were to be taken forward or whether they were to be replaced by alternative proposals that the committees recommended. Any alternative proposals would be required to be tested against the Council’s objectives of the Wirral Plan to ensure that resources were aligned to priorities and could demonstrate beneficial outcomes and value for money. 

 

Each committee would be responsible for seeking best advice to identify, develop and agree savings proposals during the summer to ensure a draft balanced budget could be considered by this Committee in October 2021, to enable budget consultation to start in a timely manner following the Policy and Resources Committee in November 2021.

 

In respect of a proposed working group to convene to consider the content of the MTFP and make recommendations into the committees at their first meetings, the Chair suggested that this should be for the new Policy and Resources Committee to address, once established after the May elections.

 

In respect of the zero-based budgeting exercise for one of the committees to undertake it was important for a committee to be identified and it was suggested that this could be agreed outside of the meeting, between the political groups and officers.

 

On a motion by the Chair, seconded by Councillor Anita Leech, it was -

 

Resolved – That,

 

(1)  the process for monitoring the 2021/22 in-year budget, be agreed;

 

(2)  the process for the 2022/23 budget setting process, be agreed;

 

(3)  that a joint working group be convened as soon as practicable, the membership to be drawn from the Policy and Resources Committee and agreed by Group Leaders; and

 

(4)  the process for the Zero-Based Budgeting exercise in 2021/22 and the first committee(s) to undertake the process, fully supported by officers to enable a framework to be developed for other committees to follow, be agreed.

Supporting documents: