13 Housing Revenue Account: Final Accounts 2018-19 PDF 216 KB
Additional documents:
Decision:
Decision:
That the final outturn position on the Housing Revenue Account for 2018-19 be noted and that the decision, taken under delegated authority, to transfer £2.5 million to the reserve for future capital programmes, and £7.85 million to the new build reserve from the revenue surplus of £10.35 million in 2018-19, be endorsed.
Reason:
To allow the Statutory Statement of Accounts to be finalised and subject to external audit, prior to approval by the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee, on behalf of the Council.
Alternative options considered and rejected by the Executive:
None
Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:
None
Minutes:
The Executive received a report setting out the final position on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for the 2018-19 financial year. The HRA recorded all the income and expenditure associated with the provision and management of Council owned residential dwellings in the Borough.
The report had set out the actual level of revenue spending on day-to-day services provided to tenants recorded in the HRA in 2018-19.
Rental income from dwellings had been £80,070 below the estimate. The actual net cost of revenue services in 2018-19 had been £369,394 lower than the budget of £14,406,490. This variation represented 1.15% of the total turnover of £31.991 million. The final outturn (subject to audit) had shown a surplus for the year of £10.35 million, compared to a budgeted surplus of £9.746 million, after taking into account various accounting adjustments. The HRA working balance at year-end remained at £2.5 million.
In accordance with the authority delegated to the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Lead Councillors with responsibility for Housing and Finance, the surplus had been used to make a transfer of £2.5 million to the reserve for future capital programmes, with the balance of £7.85 million being transferred to the new build reserve.
During consideration of this matter, Mr Alex Stuart asked the following question:
“The Government has recently announced changes to Section 21 of the Housing Act which currently allows landlords to evict tenants without any just cause just simply give two months’ notice to evict them. Will the Council commit to not using this procedure against its own tenants and will they commit to enforcing this against private landlords ensuring they don’t use this measure in the future?”
The Chairman indicated that a written response to Mr Stuart’s question would be sent to him in due course.
Having noted that the report had also been considered by the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee at its meeting on 13 June 2019, and that Committee had supported the adoption of the recommendation in the report, the Executive
RESOLVED: That the final outturn position on the Housing Revenue Account for 2018-19 be noted and that the decision, taken under delegated authority, to transfer £2.5 million to the reserve for future capital programmes, and £7.85 million to the new build reserve from the revenue surplus of £10.35 million in 2018-19, be endorsed.
Reason:
To allow the Statutory Statement of Accounts to be finalised and subject to external audit, prior to approval by the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee, on behalf of the Council.