Agenda item

The report sets out the Council’s provisional budget outturn for the year ended 31 March 2018.

Frances Palopoli, Head of Finance and Deputy Section 151 Officer introduced the 2017-18 Financial Outturn Report, which set out the provisional budget outturn report for the previous financial year. The report was set out in the agenda pack at pages 27-52. The following arose from the discussion of the report:

a.    In response to a to a question around how Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy money was accounted for in the report, officers acknowledged that there was a bit of lag in the money being drawn down. Officers advised that unspent amounts weren’t specifically itemised in the report, but they were shown on the balance sheet under General Fund earmarked reserves. The Head of Finance and Deputy Section 151 Officer agreed to come back to the Committee with details of how much S106 money was available at present. (Action: Frances Palopoli).

b.    In response to a question on what Priority X entailed, officers advised that it encompassed the Council’s back office functions, such as HR, IT, Finance etcetera.

c.    In response to a question about the nature of the resilience reserve, officers advised that Haringey still had a significant savings programme to achieve; around £9.5 million of previously identified savings had not be delivered yet and there was also a further £6 million of future savings identified. The resilience reserve was a pot of money set aside to cover the eventuality that some of those savings were not implemented.

d.    In response to a question, officers advised that the finance reserve was set up to reduce the level of risk from the eventuality of a reduction in capital receipts from regeneration schemes. The Committee was advised that the previous budget was based on an assumption of generating significant capital receipts from regeneration schemes to fund transformational costs. This reserve was an attempt to de-risk this, particularly in light of the new administration’s increased focus on social housing provision.

e.    The Committee sought assurances about what would happen to underspends within the capital programme in relation to Early Years and Youth Services. In response, officers advised that these would be carried forward to next year’s capital allocation for those services.

f.     In response to concerns raised about the development of Wards Corner and why a number of people were still to receive their Compulsory Purchase Order, officers acknowledged that overall CPO costs had not come in as high as had previously been imagined. The Director of Finance agreed to come back to the Committee with further details of why there had been a reduction in relation to CPO payments and Section 106 money. (Action: Jon Warlow).

g.    The Committee requested that further information on the progress of the Wards Corner scheme, more generally, be provided to the Housing and Regeneration Panel. (Action: Jon Warlow).

h.    The Chair requested that officers arrange an additional information session around the financial outturn for members of the Committee. (Action: Frances Palopoli/Jon Warlow).

RESOLVED

That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

1. Noted the provisional revenue and capital outturn for 2017/18 as detailed in the report;
2. Noted the capital carry forwards totalling £106m at Appendix 3 of the report;
3. Noted the appropriations to/from reserves at Appendix 4 of the report;
4. Noted the permanent capitalisation of £0.8m revenue expenditure and subsequent adjustment to revenue cash limits in 2018/19 as outlined in paragraph 8.10 of the report;
5. Noted the budget virements as set out in Appendix 5 of the report.