Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2023/24
Case reference FOI2023/00352
Published 15 March 2023
Request
On 19th December 2022 the Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities released details of the provisional local government finance settlement for 2023/24.
I would therefore like to request:
• The change to your Core Spending Power (CSP) for 2023/4 over 2022/3 as a result of the local government finance settlement.
• The impact of inflation on the council's 2022/3 budget, as measured against the original 2022/3 budget.
• The estimated impact of inflation on the council's budget for 2023/24
• How much you had originally forecast the inflationary increase in costs to be for a) 2022-3 and b) 2023-4 in percentage and actual terms.
• Details of any loans (PWLB or money market) taken out by the council after 30/9/22 and the loan provider, terms and time period for these loans. I would like to request that the above information to be provided to me as both as paper and electronic copies.
Response
• The change to your Core Spending Power (CSP) for 2023/4 over 2022/3 as a result of the local government finance settlement.
A: The increase in CSP is £15.3 million from £181.9 million in 2022/23 to £197.2 million in 2023/24.
• The impact of inflation on the council's 2022/3 budget, as measured against the original 2022/3 budget.
A: The budgeted impact of inflation on the council's 2022/23 budget was reported in the Budget Setting Report approved by Council on 11 February 2022. This showed a budgeted impact of £7.468 million in respect of inflation and other contractual increases. Financial monitoring in 2022/23 reports the council's performance against the agreed budget and service expenditure type and not by pressure type. More information can be found at: Report Template Cabinet (herefordshire.gov.uk)
• The estimated impact of inflation on the council's budget for 2023/24
A: The budgeted impact of inflation on the council's 2023/24 budget was reported in the Budget Setting Report approved by Council on 10 February 2023. This showed a budgeted impact of £11.930 million in respect of inflation and other contractual increases. More information can be found at: Report Template Cabinet (herefordshire.gov.uk)
• How much you had originally forecast the inflationary increase in costs to be for a) 2022-3 and b) 2023-4 in percentage and actual terms.
A: Forecast inflationary increases for 2022/23 and 2023/24 are noted above. For 2023/24, assumptions are included in the Medium Term Financial Strategy approved by Council on 10 February 2023. Inflation is assumed at the contract specific rate or a blend of indices appropriate to the expenditure. Pay inflation is assumed at 5% in 2023/24. More information can be found at:
Appendix A Medium Term Financial Strategy 202324 to 202627.pdf (herefordshire.gov.uk)
• Details of any loans (PWLB or money market) taken out by the council after 30/9/22 and the loan provider, terms and time period for these loans.
A: None
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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