The General Fund Revenue Account

Overview

The General Fund Revenue Account is charged with any expenditure incurred on delivering the Council’s services or meeting its day to day expenses that are not covered by legislation relating to the Housing Revenue Account, or can not be treated as capital expenditure.   The majority of Thanet’s expenditure (86%) is charged here.

This expenditure is funded from income that the Council raises through charging for goods and services (except if it relates to council houses or is capital) plus grants and Council Tax. 

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 set out below:

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 (preferably below 4.5%) to avoid the Government’s capping regime, subject to a satisfactory level of Government Grant.
• To maintain the General Fund balances 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 minimising 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.

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 2008/09 and the two 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.

Making the Most of Existing Resources

Realign and Recycle – As a result of undertaking a proactive approach to the 2007/08 General Fund Revenue Budget underspends were able to be taken as they arose and set aside in earmarked reserves for future expenditure.  These will be used to fund costs that arise from programmes of work or initiatives that do not have a regular or predictable expenditure year on year.  It was also possible to identify budgets that for a variety of reasons were no longer needed at the level that they were set at, which allowed them to be redirected to new, emerging expenditure pressures.  By realigning existing budgets in this way it is possible to recycle resources and minimise future pressure on the Council Tax.

Budgetary Growth

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.  The largest increase on pay headings relates to the annual pay award.  In 2007 the Council negotiated a move away from costly formula-driven pay rises which has enabled pay settlements to be agreed at more affordable and realistic levels.  The Council has negotiated a pay deal for its staff of 2.75% for 2008/09; 2.5% of which will be funded as growth and 0.25% which will be offset by withdrawing the staff benefit of the Benenden Health Scheme.  Although the pay settlement is below current inflation rates (as measured by the Retail Price Increase) it does represent an extremely good settlement compared to other public sector pay deals that have been struck for the same period.  The budget and MTFP also provides for other increases in employee related headings which have been estimated for: incremental increases for staff who have not yet reached the top of the grade, as their experience in the job grows; additional costs of employer pension contributions which are calculated as a percentage of salary and therefore increase as a result of the pay award; and other staff related costs such as employee liability insurance cover which has to be increased in accordance with the terms of the contract.  Although the pay settlement is for one year only, the same level of budgetary growth (at 2.5%) has been assumed across the medium term.

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.  Although the Retail Price Increase (RPI) increase to December 2007 was 4% this is only one measure of inflation, with the actual increases being dependent on market forces specific to different industries, this combined with the commitment given by the Treasury to driving inflation down over the medium term means that for the purposes of this medium term plan inflation has been assumed to be 3%. 

Service Improvements and New Demands - As the Council and its services evolve to respond to the demands of Government policies, new statute and public demand, so must the budget change.  Service pressures arise which require funding, some of which are needed to enable change that will later deliver savings.  Over the course of the medium term, budgetary growth is needed to deal to fund new posts as a result of emerging workloads and capacity issues. In some cases this relates to where grants have been used to fund new posts which have then ended, but where the post has proven too valuable to lose.  However it should be noted that later on, in the section on savings, as soon as it is realised that a workload has diminished or ended, posts are also removed and the saving taken.  As a result of this need to continue to reshape the organisation to meet the changing demands, redundancy costs have also been factored into the budget and medium term plan.  Additional budget is also needed to meet the costs of supporting the Local Development Framework and for the Council’s contribution to the new Local Strategic Partnership that is due to be inaugurated in April 2008.

Spend to Save – Invest to save funding is that which is needed for service improvements which will later give rise to future savings. It is fundamental to being able to deliver continually improving services within a cash constrained environment.  The budget for 2008/09 includes a level of growth that relates to efficiency improvements within the Council’s mail room and print facilities.

Reduction in Income – The Council gets income in relation to fees and charges for services plus grants and contributions received from wide range of sources.  When it becomes known that a particular income source will not be available in the future, budgetary growth is needed to be able to reduce the income budget down to the level achievable.  In the budget for 2008/09 this has been the case for the level of income from the Council’s crematoriums, as a result of the fall in mortality rates; a reduction in the Government grant for administering the housing benefit system; the inclusion of the waste performance efficiency grant within the general Government Grant requires the removal of the income target for the specific grant that was previously budgeted for; the ending of an arrangement with Kent County Council for maintaining the verges on the side of the road; plus other much smaller income streams that are expected to reduce.

Other Growth – Occasionally changes in accounting rules or to the method of grant distribution give rise to revenue budget pressures.  In 2008/09 and beyond just over £300k is needed as a result of changes in accounting rules which means that premises maintenance costs are treated as revenue costs rather than capital.   Growth has also been provided for the costs of the next district elections where, by putting a quarter of the costs of the elections aside every year into a reserve, the Council can avoid having to pay the whole amount in one large one-off hit on the budget in a later year.

Where future budgetary pressures are known of, these have been factored into the three-year budget projections.  However, given the pace of change it is likely that there will be pressures that arise between now and the next two years which can not currently be foreseen.  As a result this Medium Term Financial Plan assumes at least £500k growth will be needed in future for day to day business developments.

Corporate Plan Growth

As 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, which fall within three broad categories.

Base Funding for New and Improved Services – The Corporate Plan gives a commitment to a number of priority services that are to be delivered on an ongoing basis.  They include: improvements to beaches, town centres and parks and open spaces so that the Council achieves accreditation for these for the benefit of the local community and the tourist industry; extending cover from the community wardens and CCTV; development of youth diversionary activities; improvements to recycling and waste collection; and additional service provision to Ramsgate through mobile gateway facilities. The costs of these mainly relate to additional staff and therefore it is important that where possible they are funded from ongoing revenue base growth. 

Supported Programmes and New Initiatives – Some items within the Corporate Plan relate to specific projects and initiatives that will run for the full period of the Medium Term Financial Plan and then be reviewed as part of the development of the next Corporate Plan for the years beyond 2010/11.  Included within this category are: the annual Thanet Festival; the preparations for the 2012 Olympics; new out-of-school activities for children; and a range of measures intended to improve the general health and well being of Thanet residents.  In the latter years of the Plan, investment is also intended to take forward opportunities for collaborative working and in improving the Council’s offering to current and future employees to ensure that it continues to attract high calibre staff needed to deliver top quality services.

One-off or short term initiatives – A number of the aspirations of the Corporate Plan can be achieved through the delivery of an individual initiative or event, or the provision of short term funding.  These can make a significant difference and often relate to area regeneration.  Money set aside within this MTFP will pay for improvements to the way the Council manages its assets, including investing in a large number of listed buildings; costs arising from progressing new opportunities presented by the Port of Ramsgate in the light of wind-farm development and the development of the Dreamland and Arlington Square site; investment in improvements to the play areas in Margate and Ramsgate; and preparing for a bid for the Heritage Lottery Fund to support the Theatre Royal.  Also included in here are costs relating to the set up of Ramsgate Parish Council and a range of back-office improvements to improve customer satisfaction.

All of the different sources of budgetary growth that are anticipated over the course of this medium term plan are summarised below in Table 4.

Table 4

Budgetary Growth 2008 - 2011

Budget Reductions

The Council’s last Medium Term Financial Plan, which was published in February 2007, highlighted the need for savings of £2.7m over the three years 2007/08 to 2010/11 even before the costs of the new Corporate Plan had been reflected.  The figure for the savings required was later increased to £6.4m based on delivering all of the aspirations of the Corporate Plan in as short a timeframe as possible.  With the Council facing such a stark financial future, work began in early 2007 to prepare a strategy for taking the Council forward.  This strategy became known as ‘Bridging the Gap’, which included a programme of work which was presented across a number of key strategic themes: 

Efficiency, Effectiveness and Economy

As outlined in the Value for Money 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, such as bringing in-house further services into the waste and recycling service and the implementation of electronic processes within the benefits.  In many cases these efficiencies are able to save staff time and often require different skill sets, this gives the Council an opportunity to review the staffing structures that relate to the processes where efficiencies have been delivered and deliver further savings.  

Staff and Staffing Related Costs

With staffing costs making up a large proportion of the Council’s expenditure this is obviously an area which must feature strongly in any review of costs and budgetary provision.  Measures have been put in place to minimise resource loss due to sickness and we are driving forward technology developments to increase productivity that will, in some cases, lead to structure reviews and post reductions.  All of this will be need to be achieved without any detriment to service delivery, through the use of flexible working and working to keep staff morale as high as possible.

Priorities and Non-Priorities

Members and Officers alike have high aspirations for the Council.  There is much that has been achieved, but there still remains more to do.  The constraints on the budget mean that services and future developments need to be prioritised and the Council is currently working with its External auditors on a prioritisation tool that has been used successfully by other councils.  This will allow for selective service reduction and re-phasing of developments which will support, rather than detract from, the Council’s stated policies and priorities.

Although these improvement areas will continue to be driven forward, moving forward it is now clear that the Council will need to consider its priorities and non-priorities, with particular regard to discretionary spending.  The new challenges presented in the medium term will require the Council to look to areas that have previously not featured as part of any savings programmes, areas where difficult decisions around service priorities will need to be taken if an affordable budget is to be set over the course of this Medium Term Financial Plan.

Key Proposals for Budget Reductions

The principles from the Bridging the Gap programme were taken forward as part of the Thanet Spending Review, which was undertaken as part of the budget developments for 2008/09.  This identified eight key areas where savings could be found that could be used to help ‘Bridge the Gap’.  These have now all been adopted, and an additional two added and have been factored into the financial projections which feature as part of this Medium Term Financial Plan.  They are explained in detail below:

TSR11 Staffing and staff related costs

The budget proposals reflect the financial benefits of careful management of vacant posts.  The Council has factored into its staffing budgets an amount which it expects to save during the time between when an employee leaves and their replacement starts, a vacancy abatement figure in excess of £500k has been built into the budget for 2008/09, the equivalent of 20 full time posts over the course of the year (which is equivalent to 3% of its total salary budget).

This will require a rigorous approach to staffing costs through active vacancy management in order to achieve this level of saving. In addition to this are savings resulting from the deletion of posts that are no longer required.  We will continue to review our systems, processes and staffing levels in comparison to other councils in order to make sure that we are able to take on best practice and demonstrate Value for Money.  It is likely that these reviews will lead to changes being made to staffing structures which will deliver vacant post savings, although it is impossible to say what the outcome of such reviews will be for years two and three of this medium term plan.

TSR12 Cutting the cost of council accommodation

The Council expects to cut its overheads significantly over the next two years by reviewing and reorganising its office accommodation.  This will also generate valuable receipts for reinvestment in services to residents.  It also plans to rationalise and improve the use of civic accommodation in Margate and Ramsgate – retaining its use by Charter Trustees (or their successor bodies), but sharing the use of these ‘civic spaces’ and ensuring that they are well used and take Council and Cabinet meetings and other forums out into the community for better public engagement.

TSR13 Better Asset Management

In line with the approaches proposed by the Department of Communities and Local Government, the Council we will be pursuing better use of its assets.  We will be seeking to identify some assets for disposal in order to fund much needed improvements in other services – particularly the quality of swimming and sports facilities.

Where assets remain in civic and community use, we will seek to maximise their value by shared use, better marketing and income generation; and will look to achieve additional rental income for 2008/09 and future years from commercial lettings.

TSR14 Green Garden Waste Collections

Many Thanet residents love their gardens, but they produce a great amount of recyclable green waste.  Many councils now charge for their service to collect green garden waste and we propose to do likewise.  This will require considerable capital investment and set up costs by the Council but will lead to a cost effective and environmentally-friendly service used by an increasing number of households in the years to come.

Residents who wish to use this service will be asked to make an initial purchase of a green garden waste bin and an annual green bin licence, which will bring in additional income for the Council.  The amount to a householder for one bin for a year is considerably less than the cost of a tank of petrol.

TSR15 Car Park charges

Car parking charges continue to be an important source of income in Thanet, as in most coastal areas.  A package of changes to parking income is planned in 2008/09 which represents a 16% increase overall but results in new charges for parking which are still comparable, if not lower than, many of our neighbouring councils. 

The Council is hopeful that it will not need to increase fees further over the two later years of this medium term plan and will also seek to agree additional and regulated areas of on-street parking, which will help improve on-street parking space in busy areas, help residents and ensure that visitors make a reasonable contribution during their time in Thanet.

TSR16 Public Toilet charges

Thanet has a significantly higher number of toilets than neighbours districts.  Public toilets are costly to operate and prone to vandalism and we want Thanet to have good, clean toilets which reflect well on the Council and the area.  To achieve this, we intend to invest in toilet upgrades and refurbishment and incorporate daily repairs and maintenance works within the overall contract price, as well as levy a small charge for use of some toilets in the summer in our high-footfall areas to pay for an attendant, which will improve service to customers and reduce the potential for vandalism.

We also plan on closing two or three toilets which are prone to vandalism or are within close proximity to other services and explore options for more local management by Town or Parish Councils.

TSR17 Moorings within the Royal Harbour

The Royal Harbour in Ramsgate is home to around 600 active yachts.  Around 43% of yacht owners are not Thanet residents.  We propose to increase the cost of yacht moorings by around 5.1%. 

The Council currently grant aids the East Kent Maritime Trust, who provide museum services and supervise collections at Margate and Ramsgate.  Sadly the council grant of around £80,000 a year supports services that are used by only around 10,000 visitors each year – equating to a subsidy of around £10 per visitor.  This is not sustainable in the current financial climate and as a result it is planned to terminate this grant with effect from 2008/09. 

TSR19 Levels of Council Subsidies

The Council makes voluntary payments to a range of charities and other not-for-profit organisations, as well as assisting with statutory charges through the provision of discretionary rates relief.  It is appropriate, during these tight financial times to review the levels of grants paid to ensure that they remain consistent with the aims of the Council and reflect the benefits that they bring to the wider community, against other demands on the Council’s budget.  Where appropriate, the Council will work together with officers of the organisations affected to try to keep any adverse impact of such action to a minimum.  Discussions have already been initiated with Thanet Leisure Force, the providers of a leisure and entertainment services on behalf of the Council, to work together in reducing costs in a way that is acceptable to both parties.

TSR20 Efficiency Improvements

The Council has been able to make a number of budget reductions as a result of further efficiency improvements; securing better contract prices; obtaining better returns on its investments; and generally tightening up on discretionary spending. 

Future Savings Targets

The tight financial environment and the need for continued investment and improvement in Council services means that the identification and delivery of savings is an ongoing task.   This Council has given a commitment as part of its Budget Strategy to keep Council Tax increases to a minimum, below 4.5% where possible, in this respect an amount has been reflected within this Medium Term Financial Plan for savings targets which will deliver this strategy. 

Detailed plans exist to deliver all of the targeted savings for the first year of this plan; and although plans are not at such an advanced stage for the last two years of this plan the processes that have been put in place to take forward the principles of the Value for Money Strategy and to continue the work started by the Bridging the Gap Programme mean that the Council is confident that it will be able to achieve these savings targets in the timescale available.

Presented below in Table 5 are the budget reductions that have been estimated for the medium term.

Table 5

Budgetary Reductions 2008 - 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 three 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 below in Table 6.

Table 6 - Planned Changes to the Permanent Staffing Establishment

The table above 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. 

As a result of this exercise the Council has set its optimal level of general reserves at 10% of the net revenue budget, which is felt to be a sufficient level of contingency.  The balances that are forecast to be available at the end of 2007/08 are in excess of this level, and so the budget proposals over the medium term are to reduce this down until a level of 10% is obtained.

Earmarked Reserves in 2008 – 2011

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 or the equivalent amount of funding from the earmarked reserves are reflected.

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

• Information Technology Fund – This will be used to continue the developments in workflow that have been underway for some years. It is likely to be used in 2008/09.
• Environmental Action Plan Fund – This holds funds that have been set aside to meet future expenditure on improvements to the appearance of Thanet and the general environment.   
• 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.
• Planning Delivery Grant (PDG) Reserve – All PDG that is not used in the year received is rolled forward in this reserve for future years.
• Cremator Works Fund – Each year an amount is set aside in this reserve which is being saved to fund the replacement burners which are estimated to cost in excess of £900k.
• Decriminalisation Account – 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 costs of replacement meters.
• Priority Improvement Fund – 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 Fund – This is a saving account for the elections which occur every four years.
• Corporate Plan Fund – This is used to roll-forward budget that was originally set aside to progress projects within the Corporate Plan that remains unspent due to delays.
• Youth Work Fund – This is money set aside for projects and initiatives for youth work, which do not need a regular source of funding.
• Best Value Survey Fund - This is a saving account for the production costs of the best value survey which occurs every four years.

Local Authority Business Growth Incentive (LABGI) Grant - The LABGI grant scheme was introduced to encourage Local Authorities to increase business growth in their areas.  It ran for three years from 2005/06 to 2007/08 and to date the Council has received £2.22 million, with a further grant due at the end of 2007/08; although the exact amount receivable will not be known for some time.  Money not spent by the end of the financial year will be carried forward within an earmarked reserve for use in future years. 

The budget proposals over the medium term provide for the use of the LABGI grant for one-off or fixed term initiatives that are likely to bring socio-economic improvements to the area, which in the main part are captured within the Corporate Plan, where a total £832k is planned to be used over the three years.

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 2008 – 2011, which are presented in summary in Table 7 overleaf.   The figures for 2008/09 have formed the basis of the approved budget for 2008/09 and are indicative for the following two years.

Table 7

The Medium Term General Fund Revenue Budget 2008 - 2011

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 introduction of three-year settlements means that the Council can plan on a sensible timescale and be able to look further to the future than has been possible previously, however with a grant that is so significantly below the current level of inflation it means that the pressure to identify and make savings is even greater in the last two years of this Medium Term Financial Plan.

Area Based Grants – In addition to the Formula Grant, the Finance Settlement announced additional amounts that will be paid as Area Based Grants, which will be provided to further the goals that are set out in the Local Area Agreement (LAA).  This amount has 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 is due to receive a new specific grant in 2008/09 which will 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.  Specific Grants will also be 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 2007/08.

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.

Building Safer Communities Grants – funding provided by Kent County Council for initiatives intended to improve local community safety and reduce the impact of anti-social behaviour on the lives of Thanet residents.

Parent Practitioner - Home Office funds have been obtained to cover the costs of a Parent Practitioner to assist with people who have difficulty in their role as parents.

Planning Delivery Grant – A Central Government Grant to assist in covering costs incurred by processing planning applications.

Conservation Grant - Heritage Lottery Funding for the costs of staff working on the Thanet Heritage Initiative.

Sports Disability Officer – Funding from Sports England for a dedicated staff resource to develop initiatives and programmes to assist disabled Thanet residents gain access to different sporting activities.

Children's Play - The BIG Lottery Fund is helping to develop two Multi-Use Games Areas in areas in need of play provision and engage young people in an eight-week, school holiday period Beach Play initiative.

MargateRenewal Partnership – The Council is to receive a European Regional Development Funding grant to contribute towards the salary costs of the Renewal Partnership team, with additional funding also being made available by the South East England Development Agency.

The main funding sources for the Council in the Medium Term are summarised below in Table 8.

Table 8

Thanet’s Finance Settlement for 2007/08 to 2010/11

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 1.0%, 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 below in Table 9.  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 held at a steady 4.5% over the medium term. 

Table 9 - The Medium Term Revenue Funding Summary 2008 - 2011

Next: Housing Revenue Account

Back: Developing Financial Plans

• Introduction
• Executive Summary
• Local Government Finance Environment
• Local Government Act 2007
• Comprehensive Spending Review
• Value for Money
• The Local Context
• Developing Financial Plans
• General Fund Revenue Account
• Housing Revenue Account
• Capital Programme
• Managing the Financial Risks

Financial Services

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