Agenda item

Business Planning and Budget 2018/2019

(Member lead: Cllr S Hinchcliffe, Director: Angela Taylor)

Decision:

Resolved:

 

(i)         That the approach to the corporate plan for 2018/19 be endorsed.

 

(ii)        That the revised budget/forecast for 2017/18 and the proposed budget for 2018/19 for WYCA be approved.

 

(iii)       That the indicative capital programme for 2018/19 – 2020/21 be approved.

 

(iv)       That the Transport Committee be delegated to approve individual schemes within the integrated transport block of the 2018/19 capital programme up to a maximum cost of £3m.

 

(v)        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 £105m be determined for the year ended 31 March 20189.

 

(vi)       That the Chief Financial Officer be authorised to issue the levy letter in respect of the financial year ending 31 March 2019 to the five District Councils in West Yorkshire.

 

(vii)      That a payment of £5.099m be made to the District Councils in accordance with Table 2 of the report.

 

(viii)     That the Chief Financial Officer be authorised to arrange appropriate funding for all expenditure in 2017/18 and 2018/19 subject to statutory limitation, including the most appropriate application of capital funding as set out in the report.

 

(ix)       That the expenditure of highways maintenance funding of £28.4m and the pothole action fund of £2.2m, to be paid quarterly to the West Yorkshire local authorities in accordance with the DfT formula, and for the Director of Resources to vary these amounts should DfT revise the payments from those provisionally indicated be approved.

 

(x)        That the policy, effective from 2017/18, for recovering the WYCA costs of managing the capital programme against the capital programme spend being mainly Growth Deal, Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme and Local Transport Plan Integrated Transport be approved. For 2018/19 the estimated total value is £5.24m (2%-3%).

 

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

 

(xii)      That the treasury management policy as set out in Appendix 4 be approved.

 

(xiii)     That the prudential limits for the next three years as set out in Appendix 4 be adopted.

Minutes:

The Authority considered a report of the Director of Resources and was

given a presentation which:

 

·         Set out the outline corporate plan for West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) for 2018/19 and its strategic aims on behalf of local people.

 

·         Sought approval for the proposed revenue budget and transport levy for 2018/19, the indicative capital programme and the treasury management statement.

 

Corporate Plan 2018/19

 

It was reported that the Corporate Plan was in the process of being developed. A high level summary of the draft business plans for each of the organisation’s five Directorates was attached at Appendix 1 and these will form the basis of the 2018/19 corporate plan which will be brought to the next WYCA meeting for approval. The proposed shape of the corporate plan was set out in Appendix 2.

 

Revenue Budget 2018/19

 

Members considered the revenue budget and transport levy for 2018/19. Details of the proposed budget for 2018/19 and early estimates for the subsequent two years were provided in Appendix 3. 

 

The challenges in setting a balanced budget were noted together with a number of actions which had been required, including identifying budget savings and income targets required. 

 

The proposed transport levy reduction of £1m was in response to continuing pressure on local government funding with proposals that the levy is further reduced by £1m in each of the next two years.  A review would be undertaken over the next year of the way in which transport services are provided in order to reduce expenditure over the next three years.  Details of the net and gross levy by population, showing the decrease was set out in Table 2 of the submitted report together with the rebates due to each District. 

 

Details of the Reserves Policy and position for 2017/18 were outlined in the submitted report. The workings for this year’s reserves policy were set out in Table 1 and were based on the approach taken in previous years with an updated assessment of the relative risks. 

 

Capital Programme 2017/18 and 2018/19

 

WYCA noted the capital programme for 2018/19 and subsequent years and the indicative capital programme which were outlined in the submitted report. 

 

It was reported that the Investment Committee had considered the individual projects within the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund (WY+TF) and would  continue to be a key part of the process whereby Growth Deal and other projects are considered and recommended for progression.  This would also include the further work on the call for projects.  It was proposed that the arrangements for the Transport Committee to approve Integrated Block funded projects up to a value of £3m also be continued for 2018/19.

 

Treasury Management

 

Members noted the Prudential Funding Statement which was attached at Appendix 4. This set out the treasury management activity in the year, the arrangements in place and details of the funding position.

 

Resolved:

 

(i)         That the approach to the corporate plan for 2018/19 be endorsed.

 

(ii)        That the revised budget/forecast for 2017/18 and the proposed budget for 2018/19 for WYCA be approved.

 

(iii)       That the indicative capital programme for 2018/19 – 2020/21 be approved.

 

(iv)       That the Transport Committee be delegated to approve individual schemes within the integrated transport block of the 2018/19 capital programme up to a maximum cost of £3m.

 

(v)        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 £105m be determined for the year ended 31 March 2019.

 

(vi)       That the Chief Financial Officer be authorised to issue the levy letter in respect of the financial year ending 31 March 2019 to the five District Councils in West Yorkshire.

 

(vii)      That a payment of £5.099m be made to the District Councils in accordance with Table 2 of the report.

 

(viii)     That the Chief Financial Officer be authorised to arrange appropriate funding for all expenditure in 2017/18 and 2018/19 subject to statutory limitation, including the most appropriate application of capital funding as set out in the report.

 

(ix)       That the expenditure of highways maintenance funding of £28.4m and the pothole action fund of £2.2m, to be paid quarterly to the West Yorkshire local authorities in accordance with the DfT formula be approved, and that  the Director of Resources be authorised to vary these amounts should DfT revise the payments from those provisionally indicated be approved.

 

(x)        That the policy, effective from 2017/18, for recovering the WYCA costs of  managing the capital programme against the capital programme spend being mainly Growth Deal, Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme and Local Transport Plan Integrated Transport be approved. For 2018/19 the estimated total value is £5.24m (2%-3%).

 

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

 

(xii)      That the treasury management policy as set out in Appendix 4 to the report be approved.

 

(xiii)     That the prudential limits for the next three years as set out in Appendix     4 to the report be adopted.

Supporting documents: