Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Finance. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Local Investment and the Director of Finance.

This report seeks to provide an update on the Quarter 2 budget monitoring and Council's financial position.  It will seek approval for any changes to the Council’s revenue or capital budgets required to respond to the changing financial scenario and the delivery of the MTFS.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Local Investment introduced the report which updated Cabinet on the Quarter 2 budget monitoring and Council's financial position. The report sought approval for any changes to the Council’s revenue or capital budgets required to respond to the changing financial scenario and the delivery of the MTFS.

The Cabinet Member highlighted the following:

-       General Fund forecast at Quarter 2 illustrated an overspend of £20.8m, broadly in line with the Quarter 1 figure.

-       Underfunding of Adults Social Care continued to put pressure on the Council budget.

-       The Government’s recent Autumn Statement and its failure to recognise the pressure on Local Authorities and the care services.

-        Focus on reducing the in-year overspend.

In response to questions from Cllr Cawley- Harrison, the following was noted:

-       That the Council had a contingency should it be required as the Council would like to avoid using the main reserves. There were sufficient resources to undertake the approach to manage the potential variation on  net expenditure, without resorting to some of the exceptional measures and interventions that were becoming more prevalent in other Councils.

-       In relation to the Digital Together programme, all packages were being reviewed and the rise of costs such as the licencing fees for software contributed to expenses in this area. The Cabinet was assured that mitigating actions were being taken where possible.

RESOLVED

1. To note the forecast total revenue outturn variance for the General Fund of £20.9m comprising £17.0m base budget and £3.9m (savings delivery challenges and note that Directors are developing actions to bring the forecast down before the end of the year. (Section 6, Table 1, Table 2 and Appendices 1 & 3).

2. To note the net DSG forecast of £2.5m overspend. (Section 6 and Appendix 1).

3. To note the net Housing Revenue Account (HRA) forecast is £1.7m lower than the budgeted surplus. (Section 6 and Appendices 1 and 2).

4. To note the forecast GF and HRA Capital expenditure of £353.458m in 2023/24 (including enabling budgets) which equates to 72% of the revised capital budget (Section 8 and Appendix 4).

5. To note the debt write-offs approved in Quarter 2 2023/24 (Appendix 7a).

6. To approve the debt write-offs in Quarter 2 2023/24 (Appendix 7b).

7. To approve the revenue budget virements and receipt of grants as set out in Appendix 6.

8. To approve the proposed budget adjustments and virements to the capital programme as set out in Table 3 and Appendices 5 and 6.

Reasons for decision

A strong financial management framework, including oversight by Members and senior management, is an essential part of delivering the Council’s priorities and statutory duties. This is made more critically important than ever because of the uncertainties surrounding the wider economic outlook.

Alternative options considered

The report of the management of the Council’s financial resources is a key

part of the role of the Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer) in helping

members to exercise their role and no other options have therefore been

considered.