Issue - meetings

To consider the Spalding Special Expenses 2022/23 Quarter 1 Forecast Outturn (report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate Development) and S151 which considered the Spalding Special Expenses Outturn for 2021-22 and Quarter 1 Forecast for 2022-23.

The Chairman expressed concern around the terminology used within the report and requested that future reports included further commentary to explain the function of each area of the Spalding Special Expenses budget.

The Assistant Director – Finance attended the meeting and confirmed that further narrative would be given under each budget heading within the next report to explain the functions they performed. The following points were noted within the report:

• The outturn presented was for the financial year ending on 31^st March 2022 and included a £26,000 contribution towards Spalding Cemetery improvements.
• The Q1 position for the current financial year was relatively unchanged from the set budget as work was ongoing to assess the impact of the inflationary cost of living on future budgets.
• Commentary included within future reports would contain any assumptions that had been made over cost pressures.

Members raised the following points:

• The Christmas decorations budget was of concern as to whether it was sufficient and where additional funds could be accessed if required.
  • Officers responded to confirm that the Spalding Special Recreation budget line included an £800 Chairman’s contingency budget which could be transferred to the decorations budget if needed.
  • A written response would be requested of the manager responsible for the Christmas decorations budget to clarify the budget setting and maintenance for Christmas decorations.

• What did the unused £6,000 agency budget within Ayscoughfee Leisure refer to and did this money get carried over into the 2022/23 budget?
  • Officers confirmed that the £6,000 referred to a budget provision that had not been used by 31^st March 2022 and was moved into the Spalding Special Expenses reserves budget line.

• Members agreed with the Chairman’s comments regarding the language used within the report and the need for further commentary to be included in future reports.

• What did the budget lines included within the ‘Subjective Analysis’ column refer to?
  • Officer explained that the terminology used within that column of the report were generic finance terms for classifications of financial expenditure and that further commentary pertaining to this terminology would be included within future reports.