Agenda item

Members of the Committee are asked to consider the following reports which are listed to follow:

·       General Fund and HRA Budget 2022/23

·       Treasury Management Strategy Report

The Committee’s consideration of these reports will be focused on:

1.     Risk Identification

2.     Risk Mitigation

3.     Reserve Strategy

4.     MTFS Direction of Travel

The Committee received a report detailing the Revenue and Capital Budgets for the General Fund for 2022/23 (setting out further growth and savings proposals to 2024/25), the proposed Council Tax charges for 2022/23, and the revenue and capital budgets for the Housing Revenue Account [HRA].

Matt Davis, Interim Director of Finance introduced the report.

The following matters were raised by the Committee:

a)    Covid Grants: Members raised concerns around the total received from grants for costs of Covid-related emergencies. The Officer explained that a monthly monitoring report was published, the latest of which projected a modest surplus on budget

b)    Fair Funding Formula: Following a question from a Member, the Officer noted that central Government had a new method of supporting Council’s with their business rates, in the form of the Fair Funding Formula. When this was introduced, it changed how much each Council received compared to the old formula methodology. The Officer also noted that Croydon was not the only authority to have been issued a section 114 notice

c)    Comparison to other local Boroughs: Members highlighted concerns around the difference in funding between Croydon and other London Boroughs. The Officer explained that a number of variables were taken into consideration including resident population and net daily inflows. Central London typically had a higher number of commuters; due to which part of the grant reflected the number of services offered to non-residents.