Barnet’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) details at a high level how we will deliver our financial objectives and manage our financial risks. The key principles within the strategy are:

• To maintain general fund balances at least at the level recommended by the Chief Finance Officer and to establish earmarked reserves for known financial risks at the earliest opportunity
• To continue to deliver efficiency savings of at least three per cent every year and provide services that represent value for money
• To continually review services being delivered to residents and local businesses and re-direct resources from lower to higher priority services
• To take decisions to re-direct resources in support of the Corporate Plan at any time during the financial year, rather than wait for the start of the next financial year
• To continually review the use of council assets so as to reduce the cost of accommodation year on year and to obtain best consideration for any surplus assets to maximise funds for capital investment and/or the repayment of capital debt.

The MTFS supports the council to:

• Deliver high quality services while maintaining Council Tax increases below the rate of inflation
• Achieve the vision of “a smaller entity with a smaller, but more efficient corporate support function and a greater concentration of resources on outcomes”
• Effectively link policy and service development and performance management with financial planning, aligning resources with corporate priorities and away from non-priority areas
• Manage the financial implications of unforeseen events, due to the maintenance of balances at a sensible level.

This is the first year that a formal strategy has been in place to guide the 2008/9 budget and forward plan process. The budget headlines accord to the principles laid down in the strategy and deliver the objectives of the council.  The council is commited to further improvements by delivering both two year budgets from 2009/10 to enhance service and financial planning, stabilty and value for money.

2008 - 09 Approved Budget:

2008/09 Council Tax

£1,082.78

2008/09 Council Tax increase

3.50%

All figures shown in the headlines represent year on year movements of revenue costs and income.

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