Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources seeking Members to note the year-end forecasts, and the financial pressures on the Council during the 11 months ended 28^th February 2023.

RESOLVED that it is noted that the:

                    (1)         forecast year-end position for the financial year is currently a decrease to the General Fund balance of £287k against a budgeted net zero position;

                    (2)         details of specific budgetary issues identified by officers and the actions being taken to address those issues;

                    (3)         current level of Capital expenditure as shown in Appendix 1 to the report;

                    (4)         work to reconstitute the large volume of data from the manual transactions processed following the cyber incident in December 2021 into the system is in progress. The volume of manual data being analysed and reconciled means that there will be movements between the outturns forecast for the detailed categories, and that the figures provided are the best estimates based on current analyses.

Cabinet considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources that sought Members to note the year-end forecasts, and the financial pressures on the Council during the 11 months ended 28^th February 2023.

The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources placed the report in the context of wider financial pressures such as cost inflation.  She commented on the need to consider it before the outturn report comes before Cabinet.  The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources thanked the Finance Team for their hard work to get into a position to report despite the challenges of the past year.

The Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure stated that he believed the services within his portfolio had started to turn a corner on their journey to becoming profitable.  He highlighted recent positive developments such as Gloucester Guildhall’s achievement of National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status and awards won by Blackfriars Priory.  The Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure thanked staff for their hard work.  The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources reminded Members that although the refurbishment of the Guildhall had created an adverse budget variance in the short term (5.13), it had placed it in a good position for the longer term.  The Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy pointed to the government consultation reviewing planning processes (5.16) and hoped that it would eventually enable the Council to cover its costs.

RESOLVED that it is noted that the:

       (1)               forecast year-end position for the financial year is currently a decrease to the General Fund balance of £287k against a budgeted net zero position;

       (2)               details of specific budgetary issues identified by officers and the actions being taken to address those issues;

       (3)               current level of Capital expenditure as shown in Appendix 1 to the report;

       (4)               work to reconstitute the large volume of data from the manual transactions processed following the cyber incident in December 2021 into the system is in progress. The volume of manual data being analysed and reconciled means that there will be movements between the outturns forecast for the detailed categories, and that the figures provided are the best estimates based on current analyses.