Issue - meetings

To consider the Budget 2021/22 Forecast Outturn Quarter 2 report.

RESOLVED to:

I. Note the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account and Capital Programme forecast outturn positions

II. Approve the updated use of reserves and requested slippage for the Capital Programme.

The Chair presented the Budget 2021/22 Forecast Outturn Quarter 2 report to Cabinet, which detailed the financial performance of the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account, Treasury Management and the Capital Programme. He highlighted the variances to the General Fund resulting in a overspend of £648,000 and the continuing work arising from the pandemic. Furthermore, he outlined the change to General Fund reserves with the primary movement being the £3,130,000 due to the business rate reliefs awarded. He referred to the position on the Housing Revenue Account and Capital Programme, where he highlighted the £78,271,000 overspend relating to commercial investments, and that the £1,727,000 slippage for Walden Place had been reallocated to support the purchase of affordable homes to meet the Council’s right to buy requirements. He noted the terms of borrowing and interest rates outlined in the Treasury Management section. He proposed the recommendation set out in the report.

Councillor Jones had registered to speak on the item and was invited to address Cabinet. He said the report showed that there was an underspend of £200,000 for the Local Highways Panel and that in the previous two financial years the Council had made an additional £100,000 available to the Highways Panel. He said there were projects in the district that would benefit from such funding but the reality was that the Highways Authority had not requested this additional funding in the previous two years. He said the minutes of the Highways Panel meeting on 5 July 2021 showed that the matter had been discussed and members had been informed that due to timing and limited resources it would be difficult to implement additional highways schemes. However, the foundations could be put in place for further schemes in 2022/23. While he appreciated that the budget would be set by Council in February, he asked Cabinet to consider recommending additional funding for the Highways Panel in 2022/23.  

In response, the Chair said this matter was being considered along with all other budgetary requests as part of the budget setting process that would be considered by Full Council. He said concerns remained that the funding which had previously been made available had gone unutilised, although it would be in the interest of residents if further highway projects could be undertaken in the district.

Councillor Isham asked a series of detailed questions regarding changes to the CIPFA Code and what impact this would have on the Council’s Commercial Strategy.

The questions were as follows:

• What would the possible revisions to the CIPFA Code mean for the Council’s longer-term investments and to what extent would the Commercial Investment Strategy be impacted?
• Had the UDC borrowing been prudent investments in terms of CPFA guidelines?
• Had UDC investments departed from the guidance and code?
• If yes, were Cabinet, the Investment Board and all Members fully informed of the Council’s departure from the guidance and code? Were all the groups mentioned, fully aware of the implications and risks of departure from the guidance and code? Were all members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8