Issue - meetings

Purpose of Report

To present the provisional 2022/23 financial outturn position on the Council’s revenue and capital budgets, including General Fund, Housing Revenue Account, Housing Repairs Service and Capital Programmes.

This report provided the Executive with a summary of actual income and expenditure compared to revised budget and how any surpluses had been allocated to reserves.

Executive should note that the financial outturn was still subject to Audit by Mazars, the Council’s external auditors.

Decision

1.           That the provisional 2022/23 financial outturn for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account (HRA), Housing Repairs Service and Capital Programmes as set out in sections 3-7 of the officer’s report, and in particular the reasons for any variances, be noted.

2.           That the proposed transfer to General Fund and HRA earmarked reserves as detailed in paragraphs 3.6 and 4.6 of the officer’s report be noted.

3.           That the General Fund carry forward requests as detailed in paragraph 3.7 of the officer’s report be approved.

4.           That the financial changes to the General Investment Programme and Housing Investment Programme as approved by the Chief Finance Officer detailed in paragraphs, 7.3, and 7.10 of the officer’s report be noted.

5.           That the financial changes to the General Investment Programme and the Housing Investment Programme that were above the limit delegated to the Chief Finance Officer, as detailed in paragraphs 7.4 and 7.11 of the officer’s report, be approved.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The Council approved a balanced budget earlier this year, however, much had changed since that point. Spiralling inflation, soaring energy prices and nationally agreed pay agreements had added significant cost pressures to the Council’s budget. These were in the main part caused by national issues, beyond the Council’s control, and were impacting all Councils. In addition, the current cost of living crisis was creating rising demands for the Council’s services by those who relied on the safety net provided by local government. These unforeseen and unavoidable pressures had seriously impacted the assumptions that underpinned the budget and MTFS. As a result of these pressures, when reporting the forecast position at the end of the first two quarters of the year, the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account and Housing Repairs Service all forecasted significant cost pressures.

In response to this forecast position, the Council began developing a range of mitigation actions as part of a financial recovery programme in order to ensure it retained a sustainable financial position in 2022/23 and also in the medium-term (the impact of these inflationary pressures were not isolated to 2022/23 and had permanently increased the cost base of the Council).

Included within these actions was a review of the Council’s Borrowing, Investment and Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) strategies. This review had resulted in a change to the MRP Policy, which had released significant savings in the medium term, whilst still maintaining a prudent provision. The net saving in 2022/23 was £789,989.

As a result of this proposed reduction in capital financing costs, along  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4