Issue - meetings

Budget and Business Plan 2021/22

Meeting: 04/02/2021 - West Yorkshire Combined Authority (Item 85)

85 Budget and Business Plan 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 657 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

Resolved:

 

(a)      That the Combined Authority proposed revenue budget for 2021/22 be approved.

 

(b)      That the indicative capital programme and budget for 2020/21 – 2023/24 be approved.

 

(c)      That progress on the 2021/22 business plan be noted.

 

(d)      That £1.5 million of the 2021/22 gainshare to meet the costs of both the Mayor’s Office and mayor readiness costs that are incurred in 2021/22, including final costs of the election process be approved.

 

(e)      That approval be given to use the 2021/22 Mayoral Capacity Fund of £1 million to meet the additional capacity/support costs as set out in the submitted report.

 

(f)       That the Transport Committee be delegated to approve individual schemes within the integrated transport block of the 2021/22 capital programme up to a maximum cost of £3 million.

 

(g)      That in accordance with the powers contained in the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (as amended) and by virtue of article 9(6) of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Order and the Transport Levying Bodies Regulations 2015 (as amended) a levy of £103 million be determined for the year ended 31 March 2022.

 

(h)      That the Director, Corporate Services be authorised to issue the levy letter in respect of the financial year ending 31 March 2022 to the five District Councils in West Yorkshire.

 

(i)       That a payment of £5.09 million be made to the five District Councils in accordance with Table 2 of the report.

 

(j)       That authorisation be given to the Director, Corporate Services to arrange appropriate funding for all expenditure in 2020/21 and 2021/22 subject to statutory limitation, including the most appropriate application of capital funding as set out in the report.

 

(k)      That once funding is received, approval be given for the Director, Corporate Services to approve payment of highways maintenance funding and the pothole action fund, to be paid quarterly to the West Yorkshire local authorities in accordance with the DfT formula.

 

(l)       That approval be given to the continuing of the policy, effective from 2017/18, for recovering the Combined Authority costs of managing the capital programme against the capital programme spend being mainly West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund, Transforming Cities, Getting Building Fund, Brownfield Housing, Local Transport Plan Integrated Transport and any schemes developed in year.  For 2021/22 the estimated total value is £9.6 million (2% - 3% of the total capital programme).

 

(m)     That the adoption of the CIPFA Code of Practice for Treasury Management in Public Services be reaffirmed.

 

(n)      That the treasury management policy as set out in Appendix 5 be approved.

 

(o)      That the prudential limits for the next three years as set out in Appendix 5 be adopted.

Minutes:

The Combined Authority considered a report of the Director, Corporate Services which:

 

·                 Sought approval to the proposed revenue budget and transport levy for 2021/22, the indicative capital budget and programme and treasury management statement.

 

·                 Sought approval to the summary business plan for 2021/22 that sets out the services, activities and priorities for the organisation in the coming year.

 

·                 Sought approval for the revised forecast outturn revenue position for 2020/21.

 

Revenue Budget Position 2020/21

 

Members noted the final forecast position which was set out in Appendix 1. This included, as previously approved, some use of gainshare to support the costs of transition to becoming a mayoral combined authority, including early election costs and legal and project resources.

 

Business Plan 2021/22

 

It was reported that all directorates had produced a detailed business plan and a summary of the overarching business plan for the organisation for 2021/22 was attached at Appendix 2. A public facing corporate plan was being developed, and this would draw on the information in the business plans to demonstrate what the Combined Authority and LEP intend to deliver for people in the region in the coming year. 

 

Revenue Budget 2021/22

 

Members considered the draft baseline revenue budget which was set out in Appendix 3. This assumes that the transport levy is maintained at the current level.  It was noted that the budget for 2021/22 will be the first for the Combined Authority as a ‘mayoral combined authority’.  It was recognised that the budget was not without risks and challenges and these were set out in the report.  The future funding position for local authorities, combined authorities and LEPs was still unclear and the pressures and demands to support the region following the exit from the EU and the pandemic were acknowledged.

 

Details of the Reserves Policy were outlined in the submitted report and the workings for this year’s reserves policy were set out in Table 1.

 

Transport Levy

 

Details of the net and gross levy by population were provided in Table 2.  It was noted that local authorities will be notified of the transport levy by mid-February 2021.

 

Capital Strategy

 

It was noted that the capital strategy was currently being reviewed/revised and will be brought to a future meeting for approval.

 

Capital Budget

 

The Authority noted the capital funding available to the Combined Authority for 2021/22 and the subsequent years and the indicative capital programme expenditure which were outlined in the submitted report. The capital expenditure and funding budget estimates for the period 2020/21 to 2023/24 were set out in Appendix 4.

 

It was reported that the Investment Committee would continue to be a key part of the process whereby programmes and projects are considered and recommended for progression.  It was also proposed that the arrangement for the Transport Committee to approve Integrated Block funded projects up to a value of £3 million is continued.

 

Treasury Management

 

Members noted the Treasury Management Statement which was attached at Appendix 5 and had been endorsed by the Governance & Audit Committee.

 

It  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85