Issue - meetings

2021/22 Quarter 1 Budget Monitoring Report

Meeting: 09/09/2021 - Cabinet (Item 3)

3 2021-22 Financial Monitoring - Forecast Position as at Quarter 1 pdf icon PDF 1 MB

This report outlines forecast financial position of the organisation at the end of 2021/22 based on the information known at the end of the first quarter.

 

Cabinet Portfolio Holder – Councillor Peter Butlin

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Peter Butlin explained to Cabinet that a headline figure of an overspend of £20.995m is misleading. Funding has been put aside for these costs leaving £3.190m to be found. This latter figure is within the threshold variance. Whist the Council is performing well in terms of its finances there are some areas of concern. These include the DSG and placement costs in Children’s Services. Spending is closely monitored but much of it is beyond the control of the Council.

 

Regarding capital projects Cabinet was advised that the Councils programme is very ambitious. It has, however, been impacted on by demands on supplies by the HS2 project and building work associated with the Commonwealth Games.

 

Concerned over DSG spending Cabinet agreed that a further element be added to the resolution. This states,

 

“Asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Education requesting that they urgently review and revise the rules around local authority support to the DSG. The letter to be copied to the Chairs of the Local Government Association and County Councils Network”.

 

Councillor Butlin concluded by stating that financial reserves are healthy.

 

Resolved:

 

That Cabinet:

 

·       Notes the forecast overspend of £3.190m that would need to be funded from Directorate and General Risk Reserves at the end of 2021/22.

 

·       Notes there is a forecast under-delivery of the 2021/22 savings requirement to the value of £0.874m.

 

·       Notes the forecast capital spend for 2021/22 of £218.8m, of which £175.4m is capital payments controllable by the County Council and the balance, of £43.4m, relates to schemes funded by s278 developer contributions where the timing is not directly controllable by the Council.

 

·       Approves the carry forward of the reprofiled spend on the capital programme of £17.656 in 2021/22 into future years and note the carry forward of S278 contributions of £10.043m that is not directly controllable by the Council.

 

·       Approves the creation of a new earmarked reserve within People Directorate relating to the recently received Domestic Abuse Funding, in order to enable appropriate planning to ensure robust targeting of the funds to a realistic spend profile. Based on current estimates c50% (£0.523m) of the funding received would be transferred into the earmarked reserve to be incurred in future years.

 

·       Asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Education requesting that they urgently review and revise the rules around local authority support to the DSG. The letter to be copied to the Chairs of the Local Government Association and County Councils Network.