Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Resources seeking to present the Council’s final General Fund Revenue and Capital Outturn positions against agreed budgets for the 2023-24 financial year, and report on performance against certain key financial performance indicators.

RESOLVED that:

(1)       it is noted that:

i.               the year-end position for the financial year 2023-24 is currently a decrease to the General Fund balance of £288k against a budgeted decrease of £104k;

ii.              the General Fund balance has decreased from £849k to £561k at the end of 2023-24;

iii.             that the level of earmarked reserves has decreased by £0.322m from £4.264 to £3.942m;

iv.       the current level of Capital expenditure is as shown in Appendix 1 of the report;

(2)    the transfers to and from earmarked reserves as detailed in the table in section 6 of the report are approved.

8.1      Cabinet considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Resources presenting the Council’s General Fund Revenue and capital outturn positions against the agreed budgets for the financial year, and outlining the final outturn position in 2023-24.

8.2      Councillor Wilson advised Cabinet that the financial position had improved from the previous quarter. He confirmed that the year-end position for the financial year 2023-24 was a decrease to the General Fund balance of £288k against a budgeted decrease of £104k, noting that this was a more positive position than the prediction at Q3 and the 2024-25 Money Plan.

8.3      Councillor Wilson summarised the key pressures facing the Council as set out in 4.4 of the report. He referred Cabinet to 4.1 in the report which outlined the forecast outturn position by Cabinet portfolio and noted that the Corporate and Funding portfolio area was £1.8m better than the prediction in Q3, due to the Council receiving £1.2m in business rates and an extra £500k in Council Tax income. This said, Councillor Wilson noted that the Council should not expect such income flurries to happen regularly and the Council should continue to manage finances carefully. Councillor Wilson further updated Cabinet on capital spending and explained that Members were being asked to approve movements to and from earmarked reserves as well as the recommendations as set out in 2.1 of the report.

8.4      Councillor Hilton felt that Officers ought to be thanked for their hard work in mitigating budget pressures over the past few months, noting that the overspend was previously expected to be considerably more. Referring to the figures set out at 5.3 in the report, he observed that commercial property in particular was an area Cabinet was keen to strengthen and would continue to explore ways to generate more commercial income in the future.

8.5      The Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Shervey, reflected on the actions taken to address key pressures facing the Council, particularly around acquiring temporary accommodation. He expressed the view that Officers’ work to mitigate these key pressures was impressive.

8.6      Referring to the Environment portfolio area, Councillor Field noted that this area was averse to budget by £94k. He felt that it was important to note that there continued to be value in obtaining income from recycling materials and that it was important to continue to encourage residents to keep recycling as much as possible.

RESOLVED that:

(1)       it is noted that:

i.               the year-end position for the financial year 2023-24 is currently a decrease to the General Fund balance of £288k against a budgeted decrease of £104k;

ii.              the General Fund balance has decreased from £849k to £561k at the end of 2023-24;

iii.             that the level of earmarked reserves has decreased by £0.322m from £4.264 to £3.942m;

iv.       the current level of Capital expenditure is as shown in Appendix 1 of the report;

(2) the transfers to and from earmarked reserves as detailed in the table in section 6 of the report are approved.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member of Resources updating Members on the Financial Outturn Report 2023-24.

TO FOLLOW.

8.1      Councillor Wilson introduced the report and advised Members that the outturn position had improved since the previous quarter. He highlighted that the year-end position for the financial year 2023-24 was a decrease to the General Fund balance of £288k against a budgeted decrease of £104k, noting that this was an improvement on the previous quarter’s prediction and £60k better than the 50-year money plan approved by Council in February.

8.2      Councillor Wilson noted that the Council continued to see key pressures which were outlined in the report at 4.4. He confirmed that the Council would continue to monitor the pressures carefully.

8.3      Councillor S. Chambers reminded Members that if they wanted to scrutinise portfolio areas outside of the Resources portfolio, they needed to ensure that the relevant Cabinet Members were invited to Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings.

8.4      Councillor Castle asked whether the delay in moving the library into the former Debenhams building was likely to have any impact on the Council’s financial situation. The Head of Finance and Resources confirmed that this should not have an impact as the library was a County Council owned asset, and the Debenhams site was in the ownership of the University of Gloucestershire.

8.5      Councillor Conder asked how many properties had been purchased by the Council for the purpose of providing temporary accommodation. The Financial Services Manager responded that the Council had purchased 6 properties.

8.6      Councillor Conder asked for clarification as to what SWRDA (South West of England Regional Development Agency) related to. The Financial Services Manager advised that SWRDA was a historic agency, and properties formally owned by the agency had been handed into the Council’s ownership. He informed Members that net income from those properties was ringfenced into a regeneration reserve.

8.7      In response to a question from Councillor Conder as to whether the Council faced financial pressure in circumstances where residents did not have assets to fund funerals, the Financial Services Manager confirmed that this was not a common occurrence however there was a national assistance programme to help cover funeral costs in these circumstances.

8.8      In response to an additional query from Councillor Conder as to what was meant by the EPOS system acronym, the Financial Services Manager advised that this referred to the Electronic Point of Sale.

8.9      Councillor Conder asked how the Council distinguished income from Planning Policy from other Planning income streams. The Financial Services Manager explained that Planning Policy was linked to the overarching City Plans and Joint Core Strategy as part of broader county working. He noted that Development Planning included income from planning applications.

8.10    Councillor Radley asked whether the Council had considered offering any alternatives to traditional cremations. The Financial Services Manager confirmed that the Council were considering other options.

8.11    The Chair noted that the deficit had reduced since earlier financial monitoring reports and paid tribute to Officers in their Finance Team for their work in reducing this deficit. He highlighted that an important role of the Overview  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8