Agenda item

Finance– (C-009-2021-22) – review of quarter 4 for 2021/22.

1.         The Cabinet noted the  General Fund revenue position at the end of Quarter 4 (Outturn) for 2021/22.

2.         The Cabinet noted the General Fund capital position at the end of Quarter 4 (Outturn) for 2021/22.

3.         The Cabinet noted the Housing Revenue Account revenue position at the end of Quarter 4 (Outturn) for 2021/22; and

4.         The Cabinet noted the Housing Revenue Account capital position at the end of Quarter 4 (Outturn) for 2021/22.

The Finance Portfolio Holder introduced the quarter 4 budget monitoring report for 2021/22. The good news was that the Council did not have to use any of its reserves. The meeting noted that the report set out the 2021/22 General Fund and Housing Revenue Account positions for both revenue and capital, as at 31st March 2022, which represented the Quarter 4 (Outturn) for the 2021/22 financial year.

The figures included within the report were still subject to external audit so should still be considered provisional at this stage.

In terms of General Fund revenue expenditure – at the Quarter 4 (Outturn) stage – a budget underspend of £0.992 million had been recorded, with net expenditure of £15.877 million against an overall budget provision of £16.869 million.

This was a significantly stronger position than anticipated at the Quarter 3 stage and reflected a substantial improvement in the budget performance of key lines of expenditure including (especially) Waste Management (which improved by £532,609 in Quarter 4). The income position also improved with the Council eventually collecting Court Costs of £719,267 (Council Tax £668,762, Business Rates £50,505) compared to zero in 2020/21 (when the magistrates’ courts were closed due to the pandemic).

Councillor Heap asked about the £161k that was to address historic revenue items, could he have some detail on this. He was told that the previous processes in place did not allocate into the revenue account at pre-closure time; they were in the accounting but not in a budget. This was those adjustments.

Councillor Murray noted that about 20% of the budget for Community and Wellbeing had not been spent and noted that a large part of the underspend was due to staff vacancies. Why was this, as staffing was essential in delivering projects on the ground. Councillor Philip would like to defer this to the appropriate Portfolio Holder for Community and Wellbeing who would look at the projects being delivered. He suspected that any drop-off would have been highlighted at an appropriate Scrutiny Committee. Councillor C Whitbread reminded everyone that at this time we were still in the pandemic with some periods of lockdown which would have contributed to the underspends along with supply chain issues. Now we have a very high level of inflation,  rising to double digits, which poses more challenges, and any underspends would be very helpful in these new circumstances.

Decision:

1.         The Cabinet noted the General Fund revenue position at the end of Quarter 4 (Outturn) for 2021/22.

2.         The Cabinet noted the General Fund capital position at the end of Quarter 4 (Outturn) for 2021/22.

3.         The Cabinet noted the Housing Revenue Account revenue position at the end of Quarter 4 (Outturn) for 2021/22; and

4.         The Cabinet noted the Housing Revenue Account capital position at the end of Quarter 4 (Outturn) for 2021/22.

Reason for Decision:

This report facilitates the scrutiny of the Council’s financial position for 2021/22.

In terms of General Fund revenue, overall, it was a more stable picture in 2021/22 compared to the extreme volatility experienced in 2020/21 due to the impact of the pandemic. Quarter 4 was particularly positive, with an anticipated year end deficit at the Quarter 3 stage being reversed with an eventual budget underspend being recorded at the outturn stage. This – combined with funding and other accounting adjustments – eventually negated the need to draw on the General Fund Reserve to support the budget as originally assumed when the budget was set. Consequently, the long-term strategy to retain a minimum General Fund balance of £4.0 million was maintained.

In accordance with the planned transition to the new HRA Business Plan, the HRA revenue budget recorded a substantial surplus, which is to be utilised in funding the 2022/23 budget (as adopted by full Council in February 2022).

Capital spending has been relatively limited in both the General Fund and HRA this year.

Options:

There were no matters for decision in this report. The Cabinet was requested to note the contents but may choose to take further action depending on the matters reported.