Agenda item

RESOLVED:

1.1.          To note the General Fund revenue budget outturn is forecast to underspend by £1.3m at Period 8, after the budgeted utilisation of £63m capitalisation directions requested from DLUHC.

1.2.          To approve within budget the inter-directorate virement of £2.1m non-pay inflation budget from the Adult Social Care & Health directorate to the Housing directorate on a one-off basis in 2023-24, as set out in paragraph 4.12.

1.3.          To note the progress in MTFS savings achievement as set out in paragraph 4.103.

1.4.          To note the work that has commenced on the Council’s Transformation Programme as set out from paragraph 4.98.

1.5.          To note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revenue budget outturn is forecast to overspend by £12.0m.

1.6.          To note the General Fund capital programme 2023-24 forecast underspend of £20.7m against the revised capital budget of £127.1m. The 2023-24 General Fund capital budget has been updated to reflect the changes agreed through the Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 report at the Cabinet meeting on 6 December 2023.

1.7.          To note the HRA capital programme 2023-24 forecast overspend of £1.8m against the revised capital budget of £37.2m. The 2023-24 HRA capital budget has been updated to reflect the changes agreed through the Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 report at the Cabinet meeting on 6 December 2023.

1.8.          To note the Council’s historic borrowing and subsequent debt burden continues to be critical to the non-sustainability of the Council’s revenue budget. Dialogue with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) continues, and the Council is seeking further financial support from Government in regard to its level of structural indebtedness to ensure it can deliver sustainable local government services.

1.9.          To note that the Council continues to operate Spend Control Panels to ensure that tight financial control and assurance oversight are maintained.

1.10.       To note that current forecasts are based on the best available information at the time and will be subject to review and change during the financial year.

The Executive Mayor introduced the 2023-24 Period 8 Performance Report, which showed the budget moving into an underspend position.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, shared with Cabinet that there was improvement in every department, which was a great position for the council to be in. The £5 million pound in-year contingency budget was not being used to balance the budget as the council had moved to an underspend position.

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Callton Young, welcomed the report and asked why the adjudication panel ruling regarding the £9.439 million pound payment of the former contractor relating to work dating back to 2011 not mentioned within the report; secondly, why was the £5 million pounds of grant from the Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF) in the context of covid only now allocated for spending.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, responded that there was no in-year impact on the £9.439 million pound in terms of the period monitoring report as it related to a prior accounting year. Relating to the COMF money, the service reviewed and assessed when allocation was to be made at a particular point in time. The impact of covid was still ongoing, and thus the continued use of the money within the time it could be spent was still mitigating the impact of covid and was being used for its original intention. The Director of Finance, Allister Bannin, added that the result of the adjudication related to a contract that finished before 2019/20, and the adjustments in the accounts were being made for 2019/20 as the accounts were still open, as mentioned in three other reports presented within this agenda. Adding to the point on COMF, it was said that every local authority received a lot of money by government during covid and recognised that the effects of covid had a long-term effect, and therefore extended the grant for local authorities to use for a longer period of time. 

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED:

1.1.        To note the General Fund revenue budget outturn is forecast to underspend by £1.3m at Period 8, after the budgeted utilisation of £63m capitalisation directions requested from DLUHC.

1.2.        To approve within budget the inter-directorate virement of £2.1m non-pay inflation budget from the Adult Social Care & Health directorate to the Housing directorate on a one-off basis in 2023-24, as set out in paragraph 4.12.

1.3.        To note the progress in MTFS savings achievement as set out in paragraph 4.103.

1.4.        To note the work that has commenced on the Council’s Transformation Programme as set out from paragraph 4.98.

1.5.        To note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revenue budget outturn is forecast to overspend by £12.0m.

1.6.        To note the General Fund capital programme 2023-24 forecast underspend of £20.7m against the revised capital budget of £127.1m. The 2023-24 General Fund capital budget has been updated to reflect the changes agreed through the Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 report at the Cabinet meeting on 6 December 2023.

1.7.        To note the HRA capital programme 2023-24 forecast overspend of £1.8m against the revised capital budget of £37.2m. The 2023-24 HRA capital budget has been updated to reflect the changes agreed through the Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 report at the Cabinet meeting on 6 December 2023.

1.8.        To note the Council’s historic borrowing and subsequent debt burden continues to be critical to the non-sustainability of the Council’s revenue budget. Dialogue with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) continues, and the Council is seeking further financial support from Government in regard to its level of structural indebtedness to ensure it can deliver sustainable local government services.

1.9.        To note that the Council continues to operate Spend Control Panels to ensure that tight financial control and assurance oversight are maintained.

1.10.    To note that current forecasts are based on the best available information at the time and will be subject to review and change during the financial year.