Contact: Ejner Knudsen, ext 7403, e-mail: [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 The following decisions were taken:

Approve for submission to Cabinet:

i) The revised budget for 2004/05 (as set out in Appendices 1, 2 and 3), including a request that the Cabinet agree a transfer of £300,000 from savings on the waste management budget for abandoned vehicles to cover additional expenditure on the development of revised proposals for the South Hampshire Rapid Transit project.

ii) The base budget for 2005/06 (as set out in Appendices 4 and 5)

iii) Proposals for growth and redeployment (as set out in Appendix 6)

iv) Proposals for efficiency savings and improvements (as set out in Appendix 7)

v) The annual review of income and charges (as set out in Appendix 8)

vi) The workforce implications of the proposed budget for 2005/06 (Appendix 9)

vii) The summarised trading accounts of business units (as set out in Appendix 10).

viii) Information showing Highways Maintenance Budget levels, both historic and anticipated, in table and graphical format.

2 Reasons

2.1 Cabinet has requested that:

· Service budgets be prepared in consultation with Executive Members within the provisional budget guidelines for consideration by Policy Review Committees, and approved by the Executive Member for submission to the Leader and Cabinet in February 2005

· Executive Members identify cashable efficiency savings of at least 1.25% on the basis that these savings could be used in final decisions to absorb pressures within the service or elsewhere, or to reduce the council tax.

· Executive Members report back on their annual review of charges and maximisation of income.

· Executive Members report back on the workforce implications of their proposed budgets as part of the process of linking workforce and financial planning.

2.2 Decisions on the revenue budget will support all of the aims of the corporate strategy by focusing financial resources in these areas:

1 Maximising life opportunities

2 Stewardship of the environment

3 Achieving economic prosperity

4 Building strong and safe communities

5 Improving services

6 Developing councillors and staff

3 Other options considered and rejected - not applicable

4 Conflicts of interest declared by the decision maker or other Executive member consulted - not applicable

5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - not applicable

6 Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent - not applicable

Approved by: Date:

Councillor K B Estlin