Agenda and minutes

(Where a Councillor has a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest the Councillor must declare the interest to the meeting and leave the room without participating in any discussion or making a statement on the item, except where a Councillor is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of dispensation.)

There were none.

To set out the current financial position for the Council at the end of the first quarter of 2023/24 (report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) which set out a summary of the current financial position for the Council at the end of the first quarter of 2023/24 for members consideration.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercialisation, UKSPF and Levelling Up presented the report and apologised for needing to consider the report at a special meeting.  This had unfortunately been necessary due to resourcing challenges in PSPS Limited which were in the process of being addressed through recent recruitment processes.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercialisation, UKSPF and Levelling Up advised that the financial environment continued to be extremely volatile and challenging.  In response to this he encouraged all Portfolio Holders to continue with their proactive scrutiny and consideration of their budget areas.

Table 1 on page 11 of the report currently showed a general fund revenue overspend of £353,000.  This had mainly been due to the following factors:

• Homelessness pressures, the relevant Portfolio Holder had been working hard on this with the service to mitigate and address this.
• There were some smaller service overspends where continued focus was required.
• The residual efficiency requirements of this year of £331,000.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercialisation, UKSPF and Levelling Up advised that those pressures had been partially offset by an increase in investment income of £316,000, resulting in a net pressure of £353,000 on the general fund. As it stood, if the situation was not addressed, this would be a further impact on the general fund reserves.

In terms of the HRA revenue position as set out on pages 12/13 this continued to be in a very positive position, with a budgeted revenue surplus of circa £2 million per annum.

With regard to the capital position, the General Fund Capital Programme was currently underspending and would be subject to review. 

In terms of the HRA due to an acceleration in section 106 acquisitions, this programme has been significantly increased.  Looking to the longer term on the HRA Capital Programme, the authority would need to consider longer term funding opportunities as an alternative to direct use of reserve.

With regard to treasury management, the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercialisation, UKSPF and Levelling Up advised that the authority continued to manage the cash of the Council in accordance with the regulations, focusing on security, liquidity and yield, with the current investments set out on page 20 of the report.

The final part of the Appendix attached to the report detailed the current collection of Council Tax, business rates and sundry debts. The authority continued to stay focused on this area in what were difficult economic circumstances currently.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercialisation, UKSPF and Levelling Up advised that in summary, the authority was in a challenging financial environment and would need to work hard over the coming months with services to look at opportunities for efficiency and innovation. 

The following questions and observations were raised:

• It was noted that it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.