Agenda item

Financial Outturn 2019-20

Cabinet Portfolio:                 Corporate Services and Finance

Strategic Directorate:           Finance and Customer Services

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which outlined the final revenue and capital outturn position for 2019-20 that was submitted for pre-decision scrutiny ahead of the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 20 July 2020.

 

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Finance, Assistant Director – Financial Services and Head of Corporate Finance attended the meeting to present the report and to answer members’ questions.

 

The final outturn position was a balanced budget which required £2.0m less use of corporate reserves than planned for.  The original budget was supported by budget contingency reserves of £3.2m. Additional funding received in year, use of earmarked reserves and flexible use of capital receipts resulted in a reduced call on the reserves of £1.2m leaving a balance of £2.0m to support the budget in later years.

 

A summary of the outturn position for each Directorate was detailed in the report, together with the actions and measures taken to deliver a balanced budget.  The Council continues to face demand pressures, in particular in respect of social care.  This coupled with the significant financial challenges the Council’s response to Covid-19 would bring, meant the outlook remained very challenging.

 

The Council’s General Fund minimum balance had been increased to £20.700m as planned and set out within the Council’s Reserves Strategy reported in the Budget and Council Tax Report 2020/21. The reserve was held to protect the Council against unforeseen events and realisation of contingent liabilities.

 

The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was increased by £0.2m. Therefore, the net budgeted use of HRA reserves reduced by £2.7m. The schools’ outturn position, funded by the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant, had an underspend of £1.968m. The capital outturn showed slippage and an underspend of £6.3m against the estimated spend for 2019/20 included within the Capital Programme.

 

Members questioned plans to support and sustain services in Regeneration and Environment as a number of these had been affected significantly by the Covid-19 pandemic.  Officers confirmed that in relation to various aspects they were awaiting the financial position from Government.  Two tranches of funding had been received as shown in the report and although a third tranche for £500m had been announced no details of individual local authority allocations were known.  There had been a shift in how the Government was proposing to compensate for the costs of Covid-19, for additional costs and a separate arrangement regarding lost income. Details for a sharing arrangement  between local authorities and Government would be confirmed.  Regeneration and Environment had lost income, fees and charges; therefore the details of the sharing arrangement were awaited to see what it would mean and what compensation would be available before any other actions were taken.   Budgets had already been amended in light of some over-ambitious targets set previously.

 

More specifically, as Culture, Sport and Tourism had been particularly impacted by the pandemic, officers were asked about plans for recovery for the Civic Theatre, Gulliver’s and the Country Parks.  Services were working on recovery plans and options but several unknowns remained such as when the theatre would re-open.  Some services were still running, others were starting to resume and a schedule would be developed for the remainder for the future.  Waleswood Caravan Park had now re-opened but with reduced capacity.  People who had already made bookings for Waleswood and the theatre had been offered options to rebook or to carry forward their bookings rather than a refund and some had taken up this option.

 

In terms of re-opening libraries, options were under development in liaison with the Cabinet Member and would need to take account of national guidance and the advice from Public Health.  Members were asked to contact the Strategic Director or the Assistant Director about potentially reopening other community buildings to consider on an individual basis and would look at Swinton Civic Hall/Community Café.

 

Concerns were raised about the overspends on Home to School Transport and the costs of residential placements, especially out of borough, in Children and Young People’s Services (CYPS).  The right plans were in place in CYPS but these had been impacted by the pandemic but would be expected to get back on track to reduce costs.

 

The Cabinet Member and officers were thanked for their attendance to present the report.

 

Resolved:-

 

1)    That Cabinet be advised that the recommendations be supported.

 

2)    That the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board hold a dedicated workshop to consider the financial and service implications of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

 

 

Supporting documents: