Agenda item - Financial Year 2024/25 - Quarter Three Capital Budget Monitoring

To receive a report from the Corporate Director, Resources (S.151 Officer).

Resolved:

Cabinet approves:

a) the addition of £0.800m budget to the capital programme in 2025/26 to be funded from borrowing to complete the Hindon Stagger depot works to conclude the overall Depot Phase 1 capital programme;

b) the grant income applied for and/or received as set out in Appendix C and Appendix D.

c) the budget movements required to fund the anticipated costs and that the Trowbridge Leisure Centre project progresses to construction;

d) delegated authority to the Corporate Director, Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, Public Health, Communities, Leisure and Libraries to execute the contracts required to deliver the Trowbridge Leisure Centre project and authorise spend in accordance with this decision;

Cabinet notes:

e) the resolution made by Cabinet at its meeting on 21 January 2025 relating to City Hall, to repurpose the use of allocated Capital Receipt Enhancement (CRE) budget for Melksham Blue Pool to City Hall, Salisbury and a virement of £0.045m of the 2024/25 budget and £0.255m of the 2025/26 budget from the CRE capital scheme line to the Facilities Management Investment Estate capital scheme line;

f) The additional budgets added to the programme of £0.957m under Chief Finance Officer delegated powers;

g) the budgets brought forward from future years into the 2024/25 programme totalling £5.522m under Chief Finance Officer delegated powers;

h) the budgets reprogrammed from 2024/25 into future years totalling £38.398m under Chief Finance Officer delegated powers;

i) Budget Movements between Schemes as detailed in Appendix A;

j) the revised 2024/25 Capital Programme forecast as at quarter three of £194.436m;

k) the capital spend as of 31 December 2024 of £115.250m

Reason for Decision:

To inform effective decision making and ensure sound financial management as part of the Councils overall control environment.

To inform Cabinet on the financial position of the Council on the 2024/25 capital

programme as at quarter three (31 December 2024).

Cllr Nick Botterill, Cabinet Member for Finance, Development Management, and Strategic Planning, presented a report which provided details of the capital budget monitoring forecast for the third quarter of the financial year 2024/25, based on the position at the end of December 2024.

It was stated that the forecast of capital spending for the year stood at £194.436 as of 31 December 2024, once all the changes detailed in the report had been made. Whilst that level might not be reached due to the complexity of capital forecasting. Improvement continues to be made on the profiling of the programme, and further work has been undertaken with services to reprofile capital held in future years, helping to ensure a more realistic starting budget for 2025/26.

Cllr Botterill also reported that the total capital expenditure as at quarter three is £115.250m an increase on the £92,778m from the previous year and officers were forecasting that schemes will progress and be delivered according to current forecasts in 2024/25.

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities, Leisure and Libraries explained that Leisure is an area which has seen an increase in demand and subsequently providing an increase in income. He reported that the capital projects in Marlborough and Warminster would be delivered in a couple of months.

Cllr Graham Wright, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee and Cllr Pip Ridout, Chairman of the Financial Planning Task Group reported that Task Group considered the report at its meeting on the 30 January 2025. The issues considered included areas in the capital budget where spending had not started and the capital loans to Stone Circle. The Task Group noted that improvements continue to be made on the profiling of the capital programme but had limited time to go into the detail of the report.