Issue - meetings

Report from the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the revenue outturn position.

2.    Note the budgeted transfer to HRA reserves increased by £4.7m following the revenue and capital outturn positions.

3.    Note the carry forward of the combined schools balance of £2.2m in  ...  view the full agenda text for item 19

Consideration was given to the report which outlined the final revenue and capital outturn position of the Council for 2023/24. The Council set a balanced budget position for 2023/24 as part of the Budget and Council Tax Report 2023/24 which was approved at Council 1 March 2023. A Revenue Budget  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19

Report from the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the revenue outturn position.

2.    Note the budgeted transfer to HRA reserves increased by £4.7m following the revenue and capital outturn positions.

3.    Note the carry forward of the combined schools balance of £2.2m in accordance with the Department for Education regulations.

4.    Note the reserves position set out in paragraphs 2.52 to 2.57.

5.    Note the capital outturn, funding position and programme variations as set out in paragraphs 2.58 to 2.97.

6.    Approve the capital budget variations as detailed in section 2.80 of the report.

The Chair invited Councillor Alam, Cabinet Member for Finance and Safe and Clean Communities to introduce the report and provide the relevant context.

The report outlined the financial revenue capital outturn position for the Council for 2023-2024 and described the detail of the reserve balance at the end of the financial year. The Council set a revenue budget of 3.2 million and a four-year Capital Programme with a cost of 6.10 million. The report was the final report in a series of financial monitoring reports to Cabinet and set out the year end revenue budget outturn position, in light of actual costs and income. The Council had an overspend position of 8.8 million before mitigation, this was due to significant pressures, demand on market placements across social care, home to school transport, and inflation remaining high in 2023-2024. It was advised that pressures were forecast to reduce by saving via central services and the use of the corporate budget risk contingency plan of 8.7 million. During 2024 the Council delivered agreed savings to help mitigate some of the forecast pressures which had risen from wider financial impacts and as a result the final outturn improved to 0.1 million from 1.2 million. The Council's final overspend position of 0.1 million had been funded by treasury management savings. Funding uncertainty remained for the local government sector beyond 2024 and the Council would continue to face significant challenges moving forward in social care funding. The Council was in a stable position in comparison to other local authorities.

The Chair invited the Director of Finance and Customer Services and the Assistant Director of Financial Services to present the report.

The Council anticipated potential future budget pressures throughout the budget setting process, this contributed to a positive end outturn. There were pressures in certain parts of the Council and mitigation in place within the budget to account for the ongoing pressures. The main pressure areas were children’s placements and home to school transport, work was on-going to monitor the pressures and to develop a final settled budget for those areas. Treasury management helped and supported the pressures on an on-going basis, via tight management of cash flows and dependency on interest rates.

Councillor Blackham asked officers whether there was any significant pressure building on next year’s budget, as the main part of this year’s mitigation had been the treasury management of 3.7 million, which was dependent on interest rates and cash balances available. The Assistant Director for Financial Services advised that the treasury management savings were expected to be available during the current financial year, interest rates were high and cash balances were still available, therefore a benefit could continue to be generated for the Councils treasury management services, which would help to support the Councils overall position. Treasury management was not a long-term solution to the Councils budget pressures; therefore, recovery plans were being addressed to bring services back into budget.

Councillor Carter queried why the report framed the use of using fewer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15