Agenda item

The Committee received a report setting out the final position on the General Fund and the Collection Fund revenue accounts, for the 2018-19 financial year. 

Overall, the outturn on the General Fund had been £1,851,116 less than originally budgeted, which reflected the Council’s continued sound financial management.

The report had set out the major reasons for the variance.  At service level after adjustment for movements to and from reserve, the projected outturn was £168,000 higher than the latest estimate.

Net income from interest receipts had been £1,641,694 more than estimated and the minimum revenue provision (MRP) for debt repayment had been £405,453 lower than estimated.

In accordance with the authority delegated to the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Lead Councillor for Finance and Asset Management, the underspent balance had been used to make a transfer to the Invest to Save Reserve to support the transformation agenda.

Details of the closing balance on all the Council reserves were set out in the report, together with the ongoing policy for each.

The Committee noted that 2018-19 had been the fourth year of the Business Rates Retention Scheme (BRRS) and it had continued to cause volatility in the Council’s accounts.  The Business Rates balance on the Collection Fund was particularly susceptible to movements in the number and value of appeals that businesses had made against their rateable values.  The Council had no control over these appeals, and had limited information from the Valuation Office to help assess the potential impact. 

The Committee was advised that there was an overall deficit on the Collection Fund of £4.9 million, as detailed in the report.

The outturn position had been included in the Statement of Accounts signed by the Chief Finance Officer on 31 May 2019, which would be subsequently audited by the Council’s external auditor, Grant Thornton.  The Committee noted that the draft Statement of Accounts had been posted on the Council’s website, and that the audited accounts would be reviewed by the Committee at its next meeting on 25 July 2019.

During the debate, the Committee noted the following points:

(a)   The Collection Fund prudently made appropriate provision for business rates appeals.

(b)   The reason for the increased provision for bad debt of £984,000 had been due partly to a change in accounting standards during the year, which introduced stricter rules on how provision for bad debt was calculated.

(c)   The decrease in off-street meter income of £412,000 had been due in part to closure of Bright Hill Car Park due to health and safety issues.

(d)   There was an error in the heading to the table in Appendix 3 (List of Earmarked Reserve Balances) in that the references to “£000” should be omitted.

Having noted that this matter would be considered by the Executive on 18 June 2019, the Committee

RESOLVED: That the following recommendations to the Executive be supported:

(1)   That the Council’s final revenue outturn position for 2018-19 be noted.

(2)   That the decision, taken under delegated authority, to transfer £1.85 million to the Invest to Save Reserve to support the transformation agenda, be endorsed.

Reasons:

·        To note the final outturn position and delegated decisions taken by the Chief Finance Officer, which have been included within the statutory accounts the Chief Finance Officer signed at the end of May.

·        To facilitate the on-going financial management of the Council.