Issue - meetings

·         The report on the end of November 2020 review of the Revenue Budget was accepted, and the latest financial situation regarding the budgets of each department / service was considered.

·         The financial impact of Covid-19, which is a combination of additional costs, income losses and a slippage in the savings programme, was noted as the Council had given the utmost priority to safeguarding the health and lives of the people of Gwynedd in response to the crisis.

·         It was noted that there was a significant overspend in the Adults, Health and Well-being Department and the Children and Families Department this year. The work of gaining a better understanding of these matters is ongoing.

·         The following recommendations and financial virements (as outlined in Appendix 2) were approved.

·         On Corporate budgets, that:

¾     An underspend of (£613k) relating to capital costs was transferred to the capital programme fund.

¾     The net underspend of (£1,177k) on Corporate budgets will go towards the Council's general balances to assist in facing the financial challenge ahead of the Council at the end of 2020/21, especially in light of the Covid-19 crisis.

·         That grant receipts from the Government to compensate for additional expenditure and loss of income in relation to the Covid-19 crisis will be allocated to the relevant departments in accordance with what is noted in Appendix 1.

The report was submitted by Cllr Ioan Thomas

DECISION

·         The report on the end of November 2020 review of the Revenue Budget was accepted, and the latest financial situation regarding the budgets of each department / service was considered.

·         The financial impact of Covid-19, which is a combination of additional costs, income losses and a slippage in the savings programme, was noted as the Council had given the utmost priority to safeguarding the health and lives of the people of Gwynedd in response to the crisis.

·         It was noted that there was a significant overspend in the Adults, Health and Well-being Department and the Children and Families Department this year. The work of gaining a better understanding of these matters is ongoing.

·         The following recommendations and financial virements (as outlined in Appendix 2) were approved.

·         On Corporate budgets, that:

¾     An underspend of (£478k) relating to capital costs was transferred to the capital programme fund.

¾     The net underspend of (£1,312k) on Corporate budgets will go towards the Council's general balances to assist in facing the financial challenge ahead of the Council at the end of 2020/21, especially in light of the Covid-19 crisis.

That grant receipts from the Government to compensate for additional expenditure and loss of income in relation to the Covid-19 crisis will be allocated to the relevant departments in accordance with what is noted in Appendix 1.

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted, noting that the report detailed the latest review of the Council's revenue budget, along with the projections for the end of the financial year.  It was emphasised that the report highlighted the substantial financial impact of Covid-19 on the Council, noting that it was a combination of additional costs, income losses and a slippage in the savings programme as there were other priorities during the crisis. It was stated that the Council had now received nearly £6 million from the Welsh Government's hardship fund and that monthly claims valued at over £7.1 million had been received.

In terms of the loss of income, it was noted that claims for the first half of the financial year were over £5.1 million, with £4.8 million having already been received from Welsh Government. It was explained that work on quarter 3 had just been completed and had been submitted to Welsh Government.

The pressures that had been on departments this year were highlighted, noting that problems with realising savings had become increasingly prominent this year and a factor that had contributed to the overspend in the Children, Adults and Highways and Municipal fields. Attention was drawn to the summary of the position of all departments with the projections expressed including and excluding the Government's Covid-19 grant.

Attention was drawn to the substantial difficulties in some departments, noting that the Adults Department had had a significant impact as a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10