Issue - meetings

The Committee considered the latest financial monitoring report, which summarised the projected outturn position for the Council’s general fund revenue account, based on actual and accrued data for the period April to July 2021.

Officers were projecting an increase in net expenditure on the general fund revenue account of £3,043,550.

Covid-19 continued to impact the Council.  The direct expenditure incurred by the Council in the current financial year currently stood at £236,022.  The Council had received a grant of £622,690 to finance direct Covid-19 costs for 2021-22.  

The indirect costs of Covid-19, particularly the loss of income, were reflected in the services forecasting.  Estimates for losses in income and increased costs had been made with the best information available, which were subject to change as the year progressed. The Council would be able to make a claim for some of the income loss for the 3 months of April to June, under the Sales, Fees and Charges (SFC) compensation scheme; however, officers were waiting for the government to issue guidance on this scheme for 2021-22. An estimated claim of £300,000 was included within the projection.  Officers were currently projecting a loss of income for the full year of around £4.2 million.  At present the Government did not appear to have any plans to extend the SFC compensation scheme beyond June 2021.The report considered the expenditure and income forecasted up to 31 July 2021 and would potentially be subject to substantial movement depending on the success of the Government’s roadmap for lifting all Covid restrictions. 

There was a reduction (£217,940) in the statutory Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) charge to the general fund to make provision for the repayment of past capital debt reflecting a re-profiling of capital schemes. 

A surplus on the Housing Revenue Account would enable a projected transfer of £7.9 million to the new build reserve and £2.5 million to the reserve for future capital at year-end.  The transfer to the New Build reserve was £501,000 lower than budgeted due to a forecast reduction in rental income.

Progress against significant capital projects on the approved programme as outlined in section 7 of the report was underway.  The Council expected to spend £116.573 million on its capital schemes by the end of the financial year. 

The Council’s underlying need to borrow to finance the capital programme was expected to be £71.686 million by 31 March 2022, against an estimated position of £94.59 million. The lower underlying need to borrow was a result of slippage on both the approved and provisional capital programme as detailed in paragraphs 7.3 to 7.6 of the report.

The Council held £190 million of investments and £348 million of external borrowing on 31 July 2021, which included £193 million of HRA loans.  Officers confirmed that the Council had complied with its Prudential indicators in the period, which had been set in February 2021 as part of the Council’s Capital Strategy.

In considering this report, the Committee made the following comments:

·       In response to concerns  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33