Issue - meetings

To consider the position at Quarter 3 (Period 9) of the 2024/25 financial year including General Fund (GF) Revenue, Capital, Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) budgets. The report focuses on significant budget variances including those arising from the forecast non-achievement of approved Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) savings. 

To follow.

Cllr Dana Carlin, Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services, introduced the report on the finance update for Quarter 3 noting that there wasn’t a substantial difference to the situation for Quarter 2, although there had been a slight deterioration in terms of the demand for and the cost of adult social care services and temporary accommodation. The Council was continuing with the measures previously put in place to reduce non-essential spending. Additional funds had been added to the Adult Social Care budget for 2024/25 but, due to the increase in demand, this money had not been sufficient. In addition, some savings had not been achieved over the course of the year and the detail of this was set out in the agenda papers.

Cllr Carlin, Taryn Eves, Director of Finance, other Council officers and Cabinet Members then responded to questions from the Committee:

• Cllr White commented that there appeared to have been some success in a number of areas but that the efforts to improve the financial situation had been more than offset by further deterioration in the adult social care position. Cllr Carlin responded that almost all local authorities had experienced increased pressures in Adult services, Children’s services and temporary accommodation. Taryn Eves explained that the position in the report was from December 2024 and that the impact of some of the spending controls might not be seen until Quarter 4 and would then have the biggest impact in the 2025/26 financial year as they became fully embedded. However, she added that there were still some areas of risk, including a rise in the figures for some demand-led services and for bad debt provision. The position set out in the report was before the use of corporate contingency and it was highly likely that it would be necessary to use Exceptional Financial Support from the government to balance the position for 2024/25.
• Cllr White commented that there could be further pressures caused by the increased global financial instability. Taryn Eves responded that the rates of inflation, interest rates and the cost of services were particularly relevant, particularly in relation to construction costs which could impact on the capital programme.
• Asked by Cllr White how much of the Exceptional Financial Support was likely to be needed, Taryn Eves said that it was not possible to put a precise figure on this until the outturn report had been produced, but acknowledged that it was highly likely that some Exceptional Financial Support would be required for 2024/25.
• Cllr Gunes requested an explanation of why a younger cohort of people required support from adult social care services. Cllr Lucia das Neves, Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing, explained that a higher incidence of conditions such as autistic spectrum disorders had been seen in the Borough for some time and that some service development, such as the Autism Hub, had been in response to this trend. Other associated health conditions could add to complexity with recent estimates that there were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39