Minutes:
The Lead Councillor for Finance and Property introduced the item. With reference to the three finance items on the Committee’s agenda, he referred to improvements in financial reporting at the Council, the start of the budget planning process for the next year with the Medium Term Financial Plan, and upcoming challenge board sessions with services.
The Assistant Director, Finance, advised the Committee that in previous years separate reports had been prepared for revenue and capital outturn, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) outturn, and treasury management. She indicated that the report submitted to the Committee dealt with revenue and capital outturn, including the HRA, and was part of a wider approach to simplifying and making key information more accessible. The Assistant Director, Finance, confirmed that an external audit of accounts was underway and the figures within the report were therefore provisional. She indicated that the draft statement of accounts had been published by the statutory deadline of 31 May and, despite the deadline moving to 30 June, the intention was to continue to publish unaudited accounts by the end of May in future years.
The Assistant Director, Finance, advised that the Council’s General Fund was balanced in 2023-24, with a transfer of £3.62m to reserves funded by an underspend. The Committee was informed that the HRA for 2023-24 was balanced, and while it had included a transfer to reserves of £6.5m this was £2.5m less than forecast. The meeting was advised of a significant underspend in capital, which saw a variance of £114.52m from a forecast spend of £176.42m and an approved spend of £61.90m. The Assistant Director, Finance, told the Committee this underspend was due to delays and reprofiling of project-spend, rather than a reduction in the cost of projects.
The Assistant Director, Finance, informed the Committee that the Council had usable reserves of £17.4m and ring-fenced reserves of £17.5m, and that the HRA reserves were £85.6m.
A member questioned the red rating assigned to the Weyside Urban Village project within the report submitted to the Committee. In response, the Assistant Director, Finance, advised that a lengthy explanation for the rating had been obtained from the capital accountant and this could be circulated to Committee members.
In response to a query about an apparent red rating for the Ash Road Bridge Project and the benefits of improving project visibility and information sharing, the Assistant Director, Finance, advised that a lengthy explanation for the rating could be circulated to Committee members. In addition, she spoke of the need for ensuing good project visibility and project governance.
In response to a query, the Assistant Director, Finance, indicated that explanations for unusual and unexplained variances could be included in subsequent versions of the report.
In reply to a query about the General Fund’s surplus of £4.56m, the Assistant Director, Finance, advised that the figure was a combination of underspends and achieving incomes higher than forecast.
In response to a concern raised about the £8.1m overspend in the HRA in 2023-24, the Assistant Director, Finance, advised the meeting of monthly monitoring of the HRA and indicated that the overspend occurred in repairs and maintenance. She told the Committee that there was currently a forecast overspend in the HRA for 2024-25 of £200k.
In answer to a question about the implications of the significant capital underspend, the Assistant Director, Finance, told the meeting that traditionally the Council had not profiled its project spending, rather it had assigned most of the funding for a project to its first year. She indicated that the capital budgets were currently being revised as projects were profiled more accurately.
With reference to the HRA Income and Expenditure Statement and the revaluation of dwellings, the Assistant Director, Finance, advised the Committee of the process for valuing the housing stock and the decreases in the housing market within both Guildford and Surrey.
RESOLVED: (I) That the General Fund revenue outturn for 2023/24 as a balanced position after a transfer of the yearend surplus of £3.62mm to reserves as detailed in section 10 and Appendix 1 of the report submitted to the Committee be agreed.
(II) That the HRA revenue outturn for 2023/24 as outlined in section 11 and Appendix 2 of the report submitted to the Committee be agreed.
(III) That the yearend Capital position as outlined in section 12 and Appendix3 of the report submitted to the Committee be agreed.
(IV) That the yearend Reserves position as detailed in section 13 of the report submitted to the Committee be noted.
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