Issue - decisions

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to welcome the publication by the Scottish Government of its Resource Spending Review through to 2026/2027 on 31 May 2022 and note that this indicated a flat cash settlement for Local Government for the next 3 years, followed by a 1% increase in 2026/27;

(ii)           to approve the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for the General Fund 2022;

(iii)          to note that the report on TOM 1.2 was also on the agenda today, which described the approach the Council intended to take through transformation and multi-agency working to contribute towards closing the gap between income and expenditure forecast;

(iv)          to welcome the alignment of the MTFS and TOM 1.2, together these documents represented the fiscal framework for Aberdeen;

(v)           to note that the publication of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill and associated Financial Memorandum indicated that the first year of operation would be 2025/26, within the terms of the MTFS, and this had the potential to remove c.25% of financial resources from the Council;

(vi)          to note the reported impact that inflation and supply chain volatility was having on our current financial year [Council Financial Performance Quarter 1, 2022/23: RES/22/152] and that the impact was anticipated to continue to have an effect on the future funding gap;

(vii)        to note that the commitments contained within the Partnership Agreement, adopted on 18 May 2022, remained uncosted for future years and were being worked on to support the update of the MRFS when the budget was set for 2023/24 in March 2023;

(viii)       to note the reprofiled capital programme, which was referred from the City Growth and Resources Committee on 3 August 2022 [RES/22/152] to Council today, was the basis for capital financing costs and debt levels referred to in the MTFS;

(ix)          to note the 2023/24 Budget would be discussed and set by the Council in March 2023 reflecting the commitments within the Partnership Agreement;

(x)           to note the ongoing development of the data presented in relation to the Council’s Financial Resilience Framework and the insight this provided of the underlying strength of the Council’s finances that support the continued operation of services through the uncertain and volatile environment. The data identified indicators to watch, and these should be carefully considered when setting future budgets. The Chief Officer - Finance would continue to develop the Framework; and

(xi)          to request that the Council’s submission to the National Care Service call for evidence be circulated to all members after it had been submitted on 2 September.