Agenda item

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources which details year-end forecasts and progress made against agreed savings targets for the 1st quarter ended 30^th of June 2020.

10.1    The Cabinet Member for Performance & Resources, Councillor Norman, introduced the report and highlighted key elements. She then invited questions from Committee Members.

10.2    The Cabinet Member for Policy & Resources responded to a number of questions raised by Councillor Wilson. Firstly, she explained that the government was looking to reimburse local authorities for fees and charges in relation to commercial property income which included parking charges.  Thus, the report had been generated on the basis that approximately £1 million would be reimbursed through this scheme. She agreed with Councillor Wilson that the report indicated that the Council was in the “best worst position”. However, she highlighted that it was still only quarter 1 with a lot of the overspends and deficits in budgets related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  As such, it was difficult to predict how quickly income would return due to the precarious nature of the pandemic. She added that as it stood the deficit could be taken from the general fund, however, this could change as the year progressed. Regarding Aspire Trust, she advised that the Head of Policy & Resources and the Head of Communities were having regular meetings with the Chief Executive where they considered detailed cash flow statements. She added that they were seeing increases in business quicker than expected in some areas. The Head of Policy & Resources echoed this and added that the cash flow was also improving as more areas of the business opened up. Nonetheless, it was expected that the Council would have to help the Aspire Trust at some stage, and this was reflected in the returns sent to the government. Lastly, the Head of Policy & Resources explained that the corporate funding included interest payable, retain business rates, and council tax, although this was expected to come in on budget.

10.3   Councillor Hilton noted that the Council ‘s financial position was more promising than anticipated in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cabinet Member for Performance & Resources and the Head of Policy & Resources then responded to several points raised by Councillor Hilton.  On the disposal of the HKP warehouses, they stated that the heads of terms had been negotiated between the Council and the purchaser. The next stage of this process would be negotiations with the Canal & River Trust.  Regarding the capital receipts, they did not believe that this would apply this year. On the topic of retail parks, whilst retail was a challenging industry, a sinking fund has been negotiated in the deal with St Oswalds Retail Park, and there was a positive Council budget of over £400,000 due to commercial income. St Oswald’s Park was therefore doing relatively well. Some retailers were facing financial difficulties, however, there was provision for this in the financial results. In relation to car parking, they explained that the forecasting assumed a tapered return month on month with capacity expected at around 60-70%. Regarding Gloucestershire Airport, they explained that there had been no request for further help from the Council as a result of the pandemic and normal operations were resuming.

10.4    The Cabinet Member for Performance & Resources and the Head of Policy & Resources responded to questions raised by Councillor Stephens as follows. They outlined that further details would be provided with regard to paragraph 10.1 and 10.2 of the report and noted that the majority of the costs were related to the lengthening of the garden and waste scheme. Moreover, they would be happy to share with Group Leaders the COVID-19 returns which are submitted to the government. Additionally, the Head of Policy & Resources stated that the £1 million claim to be submitted to the government as outlined in paragraph 4.5 of the report was a reasonable figure based on detailed work carried out alongside the Accountancy Manager. Finally, he advised that work towards the money plan had already started and the plan was for this to come to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee in December and then to Cabinet in February. He added that there would be some assumptions in the money plan based on the ongoing spending review and the outcome of the local government settlement.

10.5   RESOLVED that:- The Overview & Scrutiny Committee NOTE the report.