The General Fund Revenue Account

Fees and Charges

The Council has a fees and charges policy that establishes the corporate principles for charging for services provided by the Council. The three key principles are:

• The Council must comply with all legal requirements for setting charges and income generation. Where appropriate, this will override other factors to ensure the Council is not exposed to the risk of legal challenge.
• The charging arrangements for any service should meet the full cost of providing the service where possible and include sound arrangements for income collection. The full cost of provision includes a share of central costs and a forecast for the effects of inflation.
• The appropriateness of charges set may be dependent on the wider aims and context of the service and as a result other aspects, such as the impact on service users, must be considered rather than just financial gain when setting fees and charges.
• To adhere to these principles the Council considers the following guidelines when setting fees and charges each financial year:
• Charging decisions will be taken in the context of the Council’s goals and values as set out in its Community Strategy;
• Access, affordability and elasticity of demand will be considered;
• Charges will be consistent with the Council’s policies for Value for Money, Equalities and Customer Access, e.g. consideration will be given to any disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups and those least able to pay;
• Where services are provided on a trading basis, charges will be set at the maximum level the market can bare without eroding demand such that the overall financial position of the service offering is weakened;
• Charges will be benchmarked with comparable local authorities and where they are identified as being significantly lower than in other comparable authorities, increases will be fast tracked in order to bring them in line;
• Charges will not be set at a level above other comparable authorities simply to meet efficiency targets or in response to comparatively higher costs for providing services in Thanet;
• The impact of uptake will be considered so that charges are set at a level that would confer a more favourable financial position;
• Any exemptions and concessions on standard charges will be clearly justified. They will only be provided for services where benefits to the recipient groups are clearly evidenced and are consistent with the Community Strategy.  The Council will consider the adoption of a concessions policy as part of the review of fees and charges to help address inequalities within the district.  Any approved policy will be included on the Council’s website; and
• Enforcement charges will be set at a level proportionate to the nature of the offence and comparable charges in comparable authorities.

Application of these principles and associated guidelines aims to ensure that the Council’s fees and charges are set within a framework of value for money management; whereby financial, performance, access and equity are considered fully and appropriately and decisions taken represent a transparent and balanced approach.

External Funding

Historically the Council has been very successful at attracting external funding and this success continues. External funding is potentially a very important source of income to the Council, but funding conditions need to be carefully considered to ensure that they are compatible with the aims and objectives of the Council. The Council therefore has an external funding protocol to standardise the process relating to external funding to ensure consistency and clarity and to protect the Council from unidentified risks. The protocol has improved processes over external funding streams by:

• Identifying and publicising the terms and conditions relating to external funding;
• Ensuring risks associated with external funding are identified, considered and managed;
• Ensuring exit strategies are considered where appropriate;
• Ensuring that all financial implications are identified e.g. match funding requirements and ongoing unsupported revenue costs;
• Ensuring that legal and VAT issues are identified and considered;
• Ensuring capacity issues are considered i.e. do we have the resources to deliver the project?
• Ensuring that the external funding being sought is considered within the context of the Corporate Plan and Council priorities;
• Ensuring that projects are monitored and that evidence and output data required by funders is collected, and any issues around these areas are highlighted in a timely manner;
• Increasing robustness particularly when there are staffing changes;
• Clarifying roles and responsibilities.

Developing the Three-Year General Fund Revenue Budget

The General Fund Budget Strategy

Fundamental to the development of the budget and three year Medium Term Financial Plan is an overarching Budget Strategy, the objective of which is a safe and sustainable budget that will deliver the policies and aspirations of the Council over the medium term.  The strategy, which underpins the General Fund financial plan, is as follows:

The Council’s Revenue Budget Strategy is:

• To adequately resource the Council’s statutory services and the corporate priorities as set out within the 2007-11 Corporate Plan.
• To maintain a balanced General Fund such that income from fees and charges, Council Tax and Government and other grants is sufficient to meet all expenditure.
• To maintain Council Tax increases as low as possible to avoid the Government’s capping regime, subject to a satisfactory level of Government Grant.
• To maintain the General Fund Reserve at a level that is sufficient to cover its financial risks and provide an adequate working capital.
• To maximise the Council’s income by promptly raising all monies due and minimise the level of arrears and debt write offs, so as to optimise its treasury management potential.
• To actively engage local residents in the financial choices facing the Council.
• To minimise the impact on the general public and business communities from charges levied by the Council as set out within its approved fees and charges.

These principles will enable the development of a budget that is sufficient to meet the Council’s ongoing day to day business activities as well as progress its priorities as contained within the Corporate Plan.  Such clear linkages between financial and business planning are the cornerstone of robust budget management practices.

The budget for 2010/11 and the four years that follow is developed by building onto the existing budget provision the anticipated increases for inflationary increases and budgetary growth that is needed for service developments plus Corporate Plan commitments; after which planned savings, growth in income and the use of reserves are reflected. This all has to be done so as to keep the resulting increase in income from Council Tax to a minimum.

The key budget assumptions used in the budget for 2010/11 and the following four years are shown in Table 4 below:

Table 4

Budget Assumptions

The Budget Build Process

The paragraphs that follow show how the base budget for 2009/10 is built upon.

Making the Most of Existing Resources

Realign and Recycle – The Council’s net budget requirement is developed largely using an incremental approach, starting with a review of the current year’s budget allocations. This may result in adjustments being made to transfer budget between headings to reflect changes to priorities. Such changes are all contained within the existing base budget and have no impact on the setting of Council Tax.

Budgetary Growth

Despite the aim to keep budgetary growth to a minimum, there is always a need for growth for predicted increases in the cost of services as a result of inflationary increases, unavoidable commitments, new policy decisions and external pressures. Reductions in the budget for income receipts are also included within this category. Each of the different types of base budget pressure are discussed in turn below:

Employee Costs – A large proportion of the Council’s expenditure is on staff related costs (including salaries, national insurance and pension contributions), the majority of which relates directly to service delivery.  For the purposes of presenting an illustrative model of the impact of the budget strategy contained within this MTFP, pay has been included at an average of 1% for the first three years (but with the award date set at 1 October in the first two years, rather than the traditional April), followed by 2% for each year thereafter, reflecting the view that the rate of inflation will have begun to return to pre-recession levels in around 4 to 5 years. The budget and MTFP also provides for other increases in employee related headings which have been estimated for including the impact of the 1% increase in employers’ National Insurance Contributions from April 2011. 

Pensions – The decline in the global markets has had a material effect on the value of the Local Government Pension Fund assets, which in turn is expected to have a significant cost implication. This will be quantified at the next actuarial valuation due in 2010 (which will calculate employer contribution rates for 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14). Based on the latest monitoring information, an underspend in existing budget provision for pensions has been identified. It is proposed to set this aside in 2009/10, with any future underspends in 2010/11, to meet any increase in the first instance, pending the outcome of the valuation in 2010.

Other Inflationary Increases – As a general rule the Council does not provide for price increases on goods and services, having instead to find ways to contain the increasing costs within existing budgets or negotiate a better price with its suppliers.  Although it does reflect these in its growth figures, it later removes growth on discretionary price increases as part of its efficiency savings figure.  The only budgetary growth for price increases that ends up being built into the budget is where it is unavoidable, such as where it is part of the terms of an existing contract or for supplies such as energy and fuel.  Where provided for, contractual increases are derived from that specified in the contract.

Income Reductions – The recession has impacted on a number of income generating services for the Council, for example, planning fees, land charges, property rentals, green waste collection income and car parking. In the main part, these are self-financing services, where the charges are set based on full cost recovery. However, due to the downturn in demand, it is necessary to reduce these income budgets; however, wherever possible, they will be matched by an equivalent reduction in expenditure.

Service Improvements and New Demands – Despite the Council’s best endeavours to minimise budgetary growth, due to the demands of Government policies, new statute and other external influences, some growth is inevitable. Specific growth pressures have been identified where known.

Increase in Fees and Charges – The majority of fees and charges are increased in line with inflation (2%). However, the level of some fees and charges are set by statute (e.g. planning fees) and some services are required to set their fees to break even over a three year period (e.g. land charges), therefore the fees for these services will be increased accordingly. A considerable increase in parking fees was applied in 2008/09 and a decision was taken at this stage not to increase them further over the following three years. However, it is proposed to increase the charges from 2012/13 by an average of 20%. This has been reflected in this MTFP.

Other Growth – Given the pace of change it is likely that there will be pressures that arise between now and the next four years which can not currently be foreseen.  As a result this MTFP assumes a figure of approximately £1m for as yet unidentified growth over the years 2011/12 to 2014/15. Any growth requirement above this level will need to be matched by savings in order to stay within the Council’s planned Council Tax increases.

Corporate Plan Growth

The Corporate Plan represents the Council’s aims and aspirations for the continual improvement of its services and its commitments to community priorities. Ensuring that sufficient resources are available to deliver the Corporate Plan is a fundamental requirement of this Medium Term Financial Plan.  Costs have been provided for future years based on draft plans and spending projections for a range of services and initiatives. These include extending CCTV coverage, developing activities for young people across the district and achieving improvements in cleaning standards.

All of the different sources of budgetary growth that are anticipated over the course of this medium term plan are summarised in Table 5.

Table 5

Budgetary Growth 2010 - 2015

Budget Reductions

With the credit crunch continuing to form the backdrop to the Council’s financial planning processes and the fact that many of the easier to achieve savings have already been taken in recent years, it is clear that the Council must review the services it delivers and the way that it delivers them. Substantial savings can be found in the following areas:

• Efficiency, Effectiveness and Economy – As outlined in the Value for Money (Efficiency) Strategy, officers are already doing much to improve value for money for the Council.  Budgets and procurement options are continuously being scrutinised in order to keep costs to a minimum, whilst maintaining or improving service standards.  Every year the Council manages to deliver a significant level of efficiency savings by careful re-negotiation of contracts and purchasing assets, rather than using more expensive leasing options.  This category of savings also includes those that are able to be made through revising business processes, improving the rate of return on assets and looking at staffing levels in fee-funded areas.  
• Staff and Staffing Related Costs – With staffing costs making up approximately 60% of the Council’s gross revenue budget (excluding housing benefit payments and concessionary fares), this is obviously an area which must feature strongly in any review of costs and budgetary provision. In order to be able to achieve the large-scale savings that need to be redirected to fund priority services over the course of the medium term, more substantial changes are required.  As a result, staff contracts are being reviewed and the merging of some services is being considered. The Council will also continue to manage staff costs very carefully with an ongoing review of structures.
• Collaboration with Other Councils – An efficiently run organisation should always keep costs to a minimum by setting organisational structures that minimise management costs through delivering complimentary services via a single management team. This principle can be further extended across a group of councils, where substantial savings are possible through the establishment of shared services. The Council is being extremely proactive in this area and is investigating options for collaborative working with the other East Kent authorities of Canterbury, Dover and Shepway for a number of services including housing management and waste management. Work is also in progress to consider extending this to the majority of other front-line and back-office services.

Key Proposals for Budget Reductions

The above principles have been taken forward as part of the budget developments for 2010/11. Budget reductions of £2.4m, £1.38m, £1.46m, £1.19m and £1.16m for 2010/11 through to 2014/15 respectively (including removal of discretionary prices) have been identified in order to fund budgetary growth and to stay within the Government’s capping limits.

Staffing and staff related costs – The Council’s costs are heavily driven by staffing levels. As with most local government agencies, the majority of staff contracts are based on traditional office hours, even in areas where the workload demands more of an extended working day, such as evening and weekend working. It is proposed to take a close look at existing contracts to optimise the staff availability to the peaks and troughs of workload, taking care to ensure that any proposals do not breach equal pay or age discrimination legislation. A review will also be undertaken of staff travel expenses entitlement. In addition, it is proposed to merge functions where staff have similar skills to enable a reduction in staff numbers whilst maintaining resilience. Some minor revisions to the responsibilities of the senior managers have prevented the need to appoint to the vacant Deputy Chief Executive post. Given the tight financial constraints, the Council will continue to manage staff costs very carefully with an ongoing review of structures, especially when posts become vacant.

Whole Council Shared Service – The proposals for the whole council shared service should deliver savings through mass economies of scale across the East Kent councils, whilst enabling best practice to be shared across all four, and providing a structure that has an even greater resilience than currently. It is felt that a sum of between £2.5m and £3m could be achieved across the full breadth of council services that are expected to be transferred into the shared service vehicle in the fullness of time. It is expected that these savings will fall over the last three years of the MTFP.

Service Efficiencies and Reductions – The Council has been able to make a number of budget reductions as a result of further efficiency improvements. These include modernising the access points for visitor information centres; removing anti-virus scanning of e-mails; improving the rate of return of assets; reducing the cost of supporting members and reducing staff in fee-funded areas.

Increased Activity on Charged-for Services – It is anticipated that additional licence fee and land rental income will be generated from the London Array site over the next few years. Additional income from moorings of work boats is also projected.

Phasing of Savings – It is proposed that where feasible all of the savings actions will be implemented at the earliest opportunity to give the Council the best chance of stabilising its budget requirement as soon as possible. However, as many of the savings are expected to take a few years before a full year reduction is able to be budgeted for, some of the savings have been slipped to 2011/12. Where savings are generated ahead of when expected or are for sums greater than budgeted for, in line with previously agreed policies, they will be set aside to fund severance costs in the first instance, and then to re-populate the General Reserve and Invest to Save Reserve.

Presented below in Table 6 are the budget reductions that have been estimated for the medium term.

Table 6

Budgetary Reductions 2010 - 2015

Volatile Budgets

Ordinarily, the budget and MTFP are used to set out expectations of future expenditure and income streams. However, there is considerable uncertainty in some areas that means predicting some budgets is not possible. For example, there is uncertainty regarding how quickly the recovery will be following the recession and what future interest rates are likely to be; there is also uncertainty around future possible restructures, shared services and whether the Council will need to undertake prudential borrowing due to lack of other capital funding. All these uncertainties will impact on future income streams, interest payable and receivable and pensions. This means that we can not predict with any confidence the likely budget adjustments that may be required to these budgets. It has been assumed that as a minimum any positive or negative budget impacts will offset each other, or more likely, will result in a surplus that could be contributed to reserves. To manage this, these volatile budgets will be controlled corporately, ringfenced and any variations reported back to members. It is hoped that these budgets can be predicted with more certainty in 2011.

The Impact of the Proposals on Staffing Numbers

The changes to the General Fund Revenue Account planned for in the medium term that are described earlier in this report reflect a number of changes to the Council’s permanent staffing establishment.  These have been carefully considered, and have been, or are yet to be consulted on, to ensure that the staffing structures are able to support the service delivery plans for the next five years. 

The result of the changes to the permanent staffing establishment by service that is anticipated over the course of the medium term is shown in Table 7.

Table 7

Planned Changes to the Permanent Staffing Establishment

The table above does not reflect changes in staff numbers following the implementation of shared services projects so these numbers are subject to change. It also does not reflect those posts that are grant funded, or seasonal, as the numbers of these are not easily known in advance as it is determined by the amount of funding available.  Grant funded posts are regularly reviewed, and where a robust business case exists for the permanent provision of the service they provide the post is added to the permanent establishment through the additional base budget as part of the annual budget report.  The funding for seasonal staff is treated as cash limited and its deployment will depend upon the particular need which may vary on a year to year basis depending upon the weather and other seasonal influences.

General Fund Reserves

The Local Government Finance Act 1992 specifies that precepting authorities, such as Thanet District Council, must have regard to the level of reserves needed for estimated future expenditure when calculating the budget requirement.  In order to comply with this requirement each year the Council reviews its level of reserves, taking account of the financial risks that could pose a threat to the Authority over the medium term.  The largest risk facing the Council in the medium term, as identified in this risk assessment, is shared services failing. It is anticipated that there would be sufficient time to take alternative action to balance the budget if this were to happen and therefore it is considered appropriate to keep the optimal level of general reserves at 10% of the net revenue budget, as in the last MTFP, as this is felt to be a sufficient level of contingency. 

The opening balance as at 1 April 2009 was £2.076m, which equates to only 9.16% of the 2009/10 Net Revenue Budget. This balance is expected to drop to £1.883m by 31 March 2011 due to anticipated severance costs of £193k  - this is just 8.16%. Every effort will be made to replenish the General Reserve to the recommended level at the earliest opportunity from in-year underspends.

Earmarked Reserves

In addition to the General Reserve, a number of earmarked reserves exist, which are sums set aside for specific purposes.   Essentially these allow funds to be saved over a number of years for large and often one-off items of expenditure, thereby smoothing the impact on Council Tax. 

The earmarked reserves over the medium term are shown below.  Where the exact demand on the reserve is not known sufficiently far enough in advance over the medium term no estimates are allowed for within the MTFP.  This does not affect the ‘bottom line’ of the budget requirement, as neither the expenditure nor the equivalent amount of funding from the earmarked reserves are reflected.

The Earmarked Reserves that are being used in the medium term are:

• Capital Projects Reserve – This holds revenue monies and other contributions set aside to meet capital projects.
• Revenue Projects (Slippage) Reserve – To enable all planned costs to be contained within budget, this reserve has been established to carry forward budget that remains unutilised as a result of slippage of a significant value.
• Information Technology Reserve – This reserve was created to support the development of new information technology initiatives to improve efficiency throughout the Council’s activities. The annual budget includes provision for IT related projects. Where the projects are not delivered within the financial year, the unutilised budget is transferred to this reserve to be spent in future years. The budget proposals over this MTFP are to increase the base budget for the replacement of the Council’s e-mail system, which is due in 2012. It is intended that the budgetary growth will be set at one third of the amount needed, and set aside three years in this earmarked reserve, until needed. The base budget growth will then be reversed.
• Environmental Action Plan Reserve – The Environmental Action Plan is a fundamental part of the Council’s Corporate Plan and a key corporate priority. This reserve therefore holds funds that have been set aside to meet various environmental improvements throughout the district.   
• Housing and Planning Delivery Grant Reserve – Housing and Planning Delivery Grant offers significant funding to enable local authorities to improve their planning and housing services and to introduce the many changes involved in the Government’s programme for the reform of planning services. All of this grant that is not used in the year received is rolled forward in this reserve for future years.
• Cremator Works Reserve – The Council has an obligation to be environmentally compliant by the year 2012. Major works to the crematorium facilities are needed in order to meet this requirement and a reserve has been established to ensure that sufficient monies are put aside so that the required works can be carried out. A surcharge is raised on all cremation fees and this surcharge is transferred to the reserve.
• Decriminalisation Reserve – The Council administers on-road parking service but has to account for the income and expenditure separately.  This reserve holds any unutilised revenues from parking charges. These are used to fund future parking, transport or environmental improvement related schemes. It is planned to use £40k per annum from this reserve to meet the additional costs arising from the concessionary fares scheme. The funds within this reserve are not available for general Council use.
• Local Authority Business Growth Initiative (LABGI) Reserve – All LABGI grant that is not used in the year that it is received is rolled forward in this reserve so as to be available in future. The reserve is used to fund the non-base costs that arise from the implementation of the Corporate Plan and other one-off costs as deemed appropriate.
• Priority Improvement Reserve – This holds money set aside to fund initiatives that require one-off funding that will deliver service improvements or act as an invest to save reserve, providing initial start-up funds for projects that will ultimately save money.
• Council Elections Reserve – This is a saving account for the elections which occur every four years.
• Office Accommodation Reserve – This is to meet the costs of the office accommodation strategy.
• Corporate Plan Reserve – Any slippage on the proposed Corporate Plan growth is carried forward on this reserve, to enable the activities within the Plan to be adequately funded.
• Local Development Framework Reserve –  Due to the variable profile of spend on the Local Development Framework and the variable cost in relation to consultation and inspection, it is proposed that any underspend on this activity be set aside in this reserve to be drawn against as required.
• Renewal Fund - This is a saving account for specific purposes based on the average annual amount required e.g. for the production costs of the best value survey which occurs every three years and for the cost of CRB checks.
• Customer Services Fund – This reserve is for concessionary fares and housing benefit subsidy. Due to the volatility of these two activities and the tight financial constraints which preclude the budgets being set at a level that would be sufficient for upper activity levels, it is prudent to set aside underspends that arise in these areas as a contingency for future years.
• Area Based Grants – Any underspend against the Area Based Grant funding is set aside in an earmarked reserve to be utilised in future years.
• Waste Vehicle Maintenance Reserve - This reserve holds contributions in relation to the refurbishment of the waste vehicles. The reserve will be used to fund a rolling programme of maintenance over the next few years.
• Homelessness Reserve – The unspent grant allocated to the rent deposit scheme has been put into this reserve. The scheme is ongoing and so funding will continue to be drawn down over future years.
• Performance Reward Grant Reserve – Unspent Performance Reward Grant monies were put into this reserve with the intention of being utilised on future East Kent working. The monies held will now be used to minimise the demands on the General Fund, while remaining in line with the original aims of the grant.
• Maritime Reserve – It is anticipated that there will be an underspend within the dredging budget for 2009/10. This will be set aside in a new reserve to meet the future cost of Maritime works.
• Pensions Reserve – The expected underspend against the pension budget in 2009/10 will be set aside in this reserve to meet any future increase in pensions following the 2010 actuarial valuation.
• VAT Reserve – The anticipated receipt of monies in relation to the Council’s Fleming claim will be set aside in an earmarked reserve as there is a possibility that it could be withdrawn from Customs in the first three years of receipt subject to a review.

The General Fund Revenue Budget Requirements

All of the stages in developing the General Fund Revenue Budget that have been described above have been used to calculate the estimated budget requirement for 2010 – 2015 which are presented in summary in Table 8. 

Table 8

The Medium Term General Fund Revenue Budget 2010 - 2015

Funding the Medium Term General Fund Revenue Budget

Local Government Finance Settlement 2008/09 - 2010/11

Formula Grant – In January 2008, the Government announced the first ever three-year settlement for Thanet District Council for its General Fund expenditure requirements.  The settlement included amounts for activities that had previously been funded by way of a specific grant, and as a result appeared at first to be more generous than was actually the case.  After taking account of this change in funding treatment, the actual growth in cash for this Council equated to an increase of 1.1% for each year of the three years. The indicative formula grant figure for 2010/11 announced in January 2008 was confirmed on 26 November 2009. The settlement does not provide figures for 2011/12 but the MTFP has assumed a reduction of 3% for that year based on the view from commentators that future settlements are likely to be extremely tight.  

Area Based Grants – In addition to the Formula Grant, the Finance Settlement announced additional amounts that are paid as Area Based Grants. These include the Working Neighbourhood Fund, the Community Cohesion Grant and the Safer Stronger Communities Fund. These are provided to further the goals that are set out in the Local Area Agreement (LAA).  The grants have been reflected within this medium term plan, shown as offset against an equivalent amount of expenditure, which will be used to deliver Thanet’s contribution to the financial plans of the LAA.  

Specific Grants – Although the Government has stated its commitment to reduce the use of specific grants, preferring to either provide funding through the Formula Grant or on an area basis, for technical reasons a number of specific grants remain.  Thanet receives a specific grant to provide funds to meet increased costs arising from the introduction of the national free bus scheme (The Concessionary Fares Scheme).  It is likely that all of this grant will be required to meet the costs of delivering this new service. Concessionary fares, however, is expected to transfer to Kent County Council from 2011/12.  Specific Grants are also received for services for the homeless and for administering the housing benefit and council tax payment and collection systems on behalf of Government.  Where the level of grant has not yet been announced, it has been assumed to remain at the same level as 2009/10.

Grant Funded Revenue Projects

Aside from the grants from Central Government the Council receives a significant level of grant funding from other sources for a range of projects and initiatives.  Some of the grants are ring-fenced, others are provided without limitation, although the Council always aims to ensure that the grant is used in the spirit in which it is provided. Each of the main grant funding streams which are expected to be received in the medium term are discussed below:

Housing and Planning Delivery Grant – This offers funding to enable local authorities to improve their planning and housing services and to introduce the many changes involved in the Government’s programme for the reform of planning services.

Conservation Grant - Heritage Lottery Funding of £30k is anticipated in 2010/11 for the costs of staff working on the Thanet Heritage Initiative.

East KentLocal Strategic Partnership – Canterbury City Council, Dover District Council and Shepway District Council each make an annual contribution of £25k to this Council towards the East Kent Local Strategic Partnership.

Kent County Council  Interreg Customer Profiling– A sum of £20k is expected in 2010/11 to improve evidence based service planning and customer satisfaction with public services by understanding citizen needs, wants and motivations.

Medway Council Interreg Tudor House – Funding of £30k in 2010/11 towards improving Heritage and Maritime memories in Thanet.

SEEDA – Funding of £90k towards the core team and overheads of the Margate Renewal Partnership.

KentCounty Council – Funding from KCC of £30k towards the core team and overheads of the Margate Renewal Partnership.

English Heritage – the Margate Arts Culture Heritage is part of the Creative Margate 10 year vision and aims to develop new creative work studios in local conservation areas, artist led public realm improvements and animation, potentially leading to a new culture led Community Trust. Funding of £200k will be received in 2010/11, with a further £175k in 2011/12.

Migration Impact Fund – This offers £90k to fund a bi-lingual outreach worker to work closely with the Czech/Roma community. 

Second Homes – Second Homes funding of £60k will be utilised in 2010/11 towards maximising the opportunities arising from the 2012 Olympics and to fund a transport study.

Interreg PATCH Funding – The Council will receive European revenue monies of approximately £260k towards works Maritime projects.

The main funding sources for the Council in the Medium Term are summarised in Table 9.

Table 9

Funding Sources for Thanet for 2008/09 to 2011/12

Council Tax

The Council sets its net budget requirement (after having taken account of increased income from charges and the use of reserves) which is then part funded from Government Grant and part from Council Taxes. The total amount that is needed to be raised by Council Taxes is known as the Precept. This is divided by the total number of equivalent Band D properties (the tax base) in order to calculate the individual Council Tax band amounts.  For medium term planning purposes, the level of growth in the tax base has been assumed to be 0.5%, based on experience in the last 3 years.

The Council’s budget plans, grant predictions and the assumed Council Tax base give the projected levels of Council Tax increases which are shown overleaf in Table 10. 

This shows that with the Council’s planned efforts to keep expenditure levels down, and optimise revenue receipts, despite the low level of financial support from Central Government, Council Tax increases are able to be reduced to 2.5% for each of the years covered by this MTFP.

Table 10

The Medium Term Revenue Funding Summary 2010 - 2015

Next: Housing Revenue Account

Back: Developing Financial Plans

• Introduction
• Executive Summary
• Local Government Finance Environment
• Local Government Act 2007
• Value for Money
• The Local Context
• Developing Financial Plans
• General Fund Revenue Account
• Housing Revenue Account
• Capital Programme
• Treasury Management

Financial Services

E-mail:

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thanet.gov.uk

Tel: 01843 577000