RESOLVED:
1.1. Approve the Council’s 2023-29 General Fund Capital Programme which includes planned expenditure of £486.53m (including capitalisation directions) across the six years.
1.2. Approve the Council incurring nil borrowing for 2023-24, with borrowing projected of £28.38m in 2024-25 and £175.17m over the four years after 2024-25. The cost of this borrowing will be factored into the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan for final agreement at Full Council resulting in 2024-25 total interest charge and Minimum Revenue Provision of £72.5m.
1.3. Approve the Council 2024-25 Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme with a total investment planned of £57.26m with borrowing of £24.80m.
1.4. Approve an increase to the 2023-24 HRA capital budget from £33.248m to £37.162m, owing to increased major repairs and improvements, with this £3.914m increase funded by HRA reserves.
1.5. Approve the Council’s Capital Strategy, as detailed within Appendix A of this report.
1.6. Note the Council’s historic legacy borrowing and debt burden continues to be critical to the sustainability of the Council’s revenue budget. Dialogue with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) continues, and the Council is seeking further financial support from Government in regards to its level of indebtedness and balancing the budget to ensure it can deliver sustainable local government services.