Issue - meetings

The report was accepted and the final financial position of the Council’s departments for 2023/24 was considered:

It was noted that there was significant overspend in the Adults, Health and Well-being Department, the Children and Families Department, the Highways, Engineering and YGC Department, the Environment Department and the Housing and Property Department this year (See column A in the table above). To approve the following financial virements (as outlined in Appendix 2):

The departments that are over-spending to receive one-off partial financial assistance to limit the overspend that will be carried forward by the Department to £100k (see column B in the table above).

It was confirmed to provide financial support of £308k above the contracted payment to Byw'n Iach (see column C in the table above).

On Corporate budgets:

-      Use the remaining balance in the Covid Fund of £4,402k to assist the departments that have overspent in 2023/24.

-      Use (£2,091k) of the corporate net underspend to assist the departments that have overspent in 2023/24.

-      The remainder of the net underspend of (£495k) on corporate budgets to be transferred to the Financial Strategy Support Fund.

The amounts to be carried forward were approved (the “Revised Over/(Under) Spend” in column D above and in Appendix 1.

The financial virements from the specific reserves were approved as outlined in Appendix 3 following a review of the reserves:

-      Harvesting (£1,703k) from reserves to be used in its entirety to assist the departments that have overspent in 2023/24.

-      To use £2,975k to fund one-off bids in 2024/25 following the removal of £1,113k from the Transformation Fund and transfer £1,862k from the Financial Strategy Support Fund.

The report was submitted by Cllr. Paul Rowlinson

DECISION

The report was accepted and the final financial position of the Council’s departments for 2023/24 was considered:

It was noted that there was significant overspend in the Adults, Health and Well-being Department, the Children and Families Department, the Highways, Engineering and YGC Department, the Environment Department and the Housing and Property Department this year (See column A in the table above). To approve the following financial virements (as outlined in Appendix 2):

The departments that are over-spending to receive one-off financial assistance and to limit the overspend that will be carried forward by the Department to £100k (See column B in the above table).

It was confirmed that financial support of £308k would be provided above the contracted payment to Byw'n Iach (see column C in the above table).

On Corporate budgets:

-      Use the remaining balance in the Covid Fund of £4,402k to assist the departments that have overspent in 2023/24.

-      Use (£2,091k) of the corporate net underspend to assist the departments that have overspent in 2023/24.

-      The remainder of the net underspend of (£495k) on corporate budgets to be transferred to the Financial Strategy Support Fund.

The amounts to be carried forward were approved (the “Revised Over/(Under) Spend” in column D above and in Appendix 1.

The financial virements from the specific reserves were approved as outlined in Appendix 3 following a review of the reserves:

-      Harvesting (£1,703k) from reserves to be used in its entirety to assist the departments that have overspent in 2023/24.

-      To use £2,975k to fund one-off bids in 2024/25 following the release of £1,113k from the Transformation Fund and transfer of £1,862k from the Financial Strategy Support Fund.

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted and it was noted that there was an overspend of around £9 million amongst Council departments within the 2023-24 financial year. An update on the position of each department was provided by drawing attention to the main matters and fields where there were significant variances such as: ⁠

·       Adults, Health and Well-being Department - It was noted that the November 2023 forecasts suggested that there would be £5.4 million overspend within the Department. It was confirmed that the Department's actual overspend at the end of the financial year was £3.9 million following receiving additional grants and income. It was elaborated that £1.8 million of the overspend was due to the increasing pressure and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7