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Medium Term Financial Strategy and Annual Budget 2021/22

Published: 10/12/2020

Flintshire Cabinet Members will receive a report which updates on the budget forecast for 2021/22 when they meet on Tuesday, 15 December.

The report presents an updated budget forecast and advises of the limited budget solutions available meaning that achieving a balanced position for 2021/22 will be highly dependent on sufficient national funding from Welsh Government.

Prior to the recent Chancellors UK Spending Review the minimum budget forecast for 2021/22 was £16.750m. 

The forecast may be subject to change depending on whether Welsh Government follows suit on recent public sector pay announcements where the spending review did not include provision for a general uplift.

However, even after allowing for a reasonable Council Tax annual increase and estimated corporate cost efficiencies of £1.750m, our funding requirement from the settlement will still be in the range of £11.3m which represents an uplift in Revenue Support Grant of around 5.7%. 

Therefore, a Welsh Government average uplift of a minimum 6% is required to provide some flexibility to meet current essential spending requirements.

The Provisional Local Government Settlement is due to be announced by Welsh Government on 22 December. 

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Glyn Banks, said:

“Anything less than an uplift of 5.7% would mean that we cannot meet our current minimum spending requirement and also address a fast-deteriorating schools deficits position across our secondary schools.  Only an uplift in base Council funding could enable us, in turn, to uplift the amount we invest in our local schools funding formula.”

Inevitably in the current situation, the Council will need to carry a number of financial risks into 2021/22 so it is also important that we try and restore diminishing reserve levels arising from the pandemic to mitigate these.

It is hoped that the Welsh Government will be able to continue the good and welcome support that has been provided through the pandemic and provide adequate funding to provide flexibility to meet these current needs.

Councillor Banks continued:

“In the current climate, when we are struggling to reach our Council Tax collection targets and when many households are anxious about job and income security, we cannot shift the burden for proper funding of local public services onto the local tax-payer.”