Decision details

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND

General Fund Revenue Estimate

a)set a Dacorum Borough Council General Fund Council Tax requirement of £12.836m, and a provisional amount of £13.851m for the combined Borough Council and Parish Councils’ requirement for 2022/23;

b) approve a Band D Council Tax increase of £5 (2.4%) for Dacorum Borough Council;

c) approve the base estimates for 2022/23, as shown in Appendix A1, and the indicative budget forecasts for 2022/23 – 2025/26, as shown in Appendix A2;

d) approve the forecast balances of Revenue Reserves as shown in Appendix J, and approve section 11 of this report as the updated Reserves Strategy;

e) approve increases in Fees and Charges for 2022/23 as set out in Appendices C3, D3, and E3;

f) approve and adopt the Treasury Management Strategy for 2022/23, attached at Appendix K;

g) approve and adopt the Capital Strategy for 2022/23, attached at Appendix L;

h) note that this budget paper, if approved by Council, will form part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Capital Programme

i) approve the Capital Programme for 2022/23 to 2026/27, as detailed in Appendix I;

j) approve the financing proposals in Appendix I subject to an annual review of the financing options by the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, during the preparation of the Statement of Accounts.

Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

k) set dwelling rents according to the new MHCLG Rent Standard, which provides for a rent increase of CPI+1% (4.1% in total). The average dwelling rents is proposed to be £111.23 in 2022/23 (based on 52 weeks);

l) approve the HRA estimate for 2022/23 as shown in Appendix F.

Employer Terms and Conditions

m) note that the hourly rate of all Council employees continues to exceed the rate proposed by the rates of the Living Wage Foundation, for 2022/23 (to be reviewed annually thereafter).

Statement by Chief Finance Officer

n)         approve the statement by the Chief Finance Officer regarding the robustness of the budget estimates and level of reserves as set out in Appendix M.

In addition, Cabinet agreed the following recommendation:

Cabinet resolved to recommend to Council that Dacorum Borough Council is to set aside £135k towards the Wendover Canal Trust restoration project. This is made up of a £25k initial payment to the trust and £110k that will be set aside to fund the final £110k once all other funding requirements have been achieved