287 2020/21 Finance Update Quarter 1 PDF 1 MB
[Report of the Director of Finance. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategic Regeneration.]
This will report will provide an update on the Quarter 1 budget monitoring and will seek approval for any budget changes required to respond to the changing financial scenario and the delivery of the MTFS.
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategic Regeneration introduced the report which covered the Council’s financial position at Quarter 1 (Period 3) of the 2020/21 financial year, include General Fund Revenue, Capital, Housing Revenue Account and Dedicated Schools Grant budgets. The Cabinet Member drew the Cabinet’s attention particularly to paragraphs 1.3, 1.4, 2.2, 4.1, 5.1, 6.11, 7, 9 and 10. He added that it was critical to maintain strong financial management in the current economic climate and pandemic.
The Cabinet Member highlighted the continued and increasing pressure that the Council were facing from underfunding of the High Needs Block of the DSG since the Government’s expansion of the age for Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) eligibility. The Council, like many other authorities across the country, had been left in a position where, despite best efforts, were unable to meet the needs of these young people within the budget that had been allocated. The Cabinet Member underlined that the additional funds provided for 2020/21 to date in no way went far enough and do not provide the sustainable solution that these young people and their families needed as was evidenced by the forecast £4.5m overspend included in the report.
The outcome of the Government’s SEND review was still waiting publication and in the interim the Cabinet Member emphasised the need for the Council to continue to vocally lobby for additional resources.