Issue - meetings

Report of the Chief Executive.

Cllr Pauline Church, Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement, Commissioning, IT, Digital and Commercialisation presented the report which provided detail about the Revenue Budget Monitoring position 2021/22 Quarter 2 (30 September 2021) for the financial year 2021/22 with suggested actions. The report also commented on the latest assumptions for the 2022/23 budget and the updating of the Medium Term Financial Strategy since the position was reported on in September 2021.

Cllr Church reported that the net budget set by Full Council for 2021/22 is £412.562m, being set as a one year holding position which recognised the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on funding and income generating services. It was noted that included within the budget is the planned earmarked reserve drawdowns totalling £8.444m from the Budget Equalisation and Collection Fund Volatility reserve. The budget is also supported by £20.301m one off Hardship and Emergency Funding Grant from Government in 2021/22. The quarter 2 position forecasts the Council will be underspent by £10.776m at the year end. Cllr Church thanked the finance team and Directors for their commitment in achieving the outcomes detailed in the report.

Cllr Pip Ridout, Chair of the Financial Planning Task Group, informed Cabinet that the Task Group had considered the report at its meeting held on 26 November 2021. Cllr Ridout reported that the Task Group had considered the current budget gap and noted the additional pressures, they discussed the continuing impact of the pandemic and noted that the local economy was recovering. The Task Group also considered the removal of some government business relief and the impact on council income. The Task Group were satisfied that this was being closely monitored.

Cllr Ian Thorn echoed the comments of Cllr Ridout in thanking Cllr Church and the finance team for their commitment in achieving a positive financial position at this stage of the year. In light of the current positive budget position Cllr Thorn highlighted a concern about the underspends and whether this was due to the expected latent demand not materialising or residents not accessing services to the same degree prior to the pandemic. Cllr Church confirmed that, although residents were continuing to access services, the underspends had been achieved through a combination of many factors, which include the financial rigor adopted by the Council, and additional funding from other sources, for instance CCG contributions towards Adult Social Care. Cllr Thorn also commented on the potential for latent demand building over the coming months, its impact on future budgets and whether any modelling was being undertaken in this area. The Leader, Cllr Church and officers confirmed that budgets were constantly monitored and appropriate assumptions on the impact of these types of issue were taken into account.

Cllr Thorn further commented on an increase in the level of planning appeals compared to this time in the last financial year, and the forecast budget overspend. He was concerned that the overspend was being offset by an underspend in staffing budgets across the service and felt this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81