Agenda item

Adam Oxley, Principal Finance Business Partner:

a)    presented a report to Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee with a summary of the third quarter’s performance (up to 31 December 2023), on the Council’s

·       Housing Revenue Account

·       Housing Repairs Service

·       Housing Investment Programme

b)    provided information on the Council’s

·       Housing Revenue Account –– for 2023/24 the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) net revenue budget was set with a planned contribution from balances of £58,930, resulting in  estimated general balances at year-end of £1,125,517, after allowing for the 2023/24 outturn position, at Q3 the HRA was currently projecting a forecast overspend of £13,787, which would result in HRA balances of £1,111,730 as at the end of 2023/24 (Appendix A provided a forecast Housing Revenue Account summary). Although the forecast position was an overspend there was a number of significant variations in income and expenditure. Full details of the main variances were provided at Appendix B.

·       Housing Repairs Service – For 2023/24 the Council’s Housing Repairs Service (HRS) net budget was set at zero, which reflected its full cost recovery nature. At quarter 3 the HRS was forecasting a deficit of £552,062 in 2023/24. Full details of the main variances were provided at Appendix C.

·       Housing Investment Programme – the revised programme for 2023/24 amounted to £16.862m following the quarter 2 position. At quarter 3 the programme had been decreased by £0.742m to £16.120m as shown at paragraph 6.2 of the report. The overall expenditure on the Housing Investment Programme at the end of quarter 3 was £7.029m, which was 41.85% of the 2023/24 revised programme. This excluded expenditure relating to Western Growth Corridor, which was currently shown on the General Investment Programme (GIP), to be apportioned at year end (current forecast outturn £1.97m) as detailed at Appendix G of the report. A further £0.525m had been spent as at the end of January 2024.

c)    invited Housing Sub-Committees questions and comments.

Members of Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee considered the content of the report in further detail. Comments and questions were responded to by officers as follows:

Question: Why was rental income higher than anticipated?

Response: This was due to a higher than budgeted opening housing stock at the start of the financial year with voids turned around more quickly. The Rookery Lane new build development had been allocated quickly providing higher occupancy and rent levels.

Comment: It would be much preferred if we could carry out our own repairs without having to rely on sub - contractors.

Response: With current inflationary pressures, everything was more expensive. A piece of work was currently ongoing giving far greater allocation of where service vehicles were deployed and reviewing productivity with the workforce. Recruitment for a Maintenance Manager was also in process.

Comment: It would be great to see an increase in the take-up of apprenticeships, which had declined lately.

Response: The Housing service was looking at increased apprenticeships in the form of work experience and succession planning. We would provide practical day to day job experience coupled with a training grade. A meeting would be held with Lincoln College in due course to discuss this further.

RESOLVED that the financial performance for the period 01 April 2023 to 31December 2023 be noted.