Cyflwynwyd gan:Cllr. Ioan Thomas
Decision:
1.1 To note the
final financial position of the Council’s departments for 2020/21.
1.2 To approve the
amounts to be carried forward (the “Revised Over/ (Under) Spend” column of the
summary in Appendix 1), namely -
DEPARTMENT |
£’000 |
Adults, Health and Well-being |
(100) |
Children and Families |
0 |
Education |
(100) |
Economy and Community |
(100) |
Highways and Municipal |
0 |
Environment |
(100) |
Gwynedd Consultancy |
(64) |
Housing and Property |
(75) |
Corporate Management Team and Legal |
(100) |
Finance |
(86) |
Corporate Support |
(100) |
1.3 To approve the
following recommendations and financial virements (as outlined in Appendix 2) -
·
The Children and Families
Department to receive one-off financial assistance of £1,261k to cancel the
overspend entirely, given the exceptional circumstances involving the crisis
this year.
To allow
the department to move on to face the challenges of 2021/22.
·
In accordance with the
Financial Regulations, it is recommended that the usual practice is adhered to
in order to allow the Education Department to keep (£100k) of its underspend,
and to move (£159k) which is the sum above (£100k), to be used to support the
department that has overspent in 2020/21.
·
To allow the Housing and
Property Department to transfer (£848k) relating to corporate maintenance to
the repair and maintenance fund to fund the expenditure in future.
·
In accordance with the
Financial Regulations, it is recommended that the usual practice is adhered to
in order to allow the Corporate Management Team to keep (£100k) of its
underspend, and to move (£6k) which is the sum above (£100k), to be used to support
the department that has overspent in 2020/21.
·
On Corporate budgets:
¾
use (£926k) of the
Corporate net underspend to assist the Children Department that has overspent
in 2020/21.
¾
that (£2,047k) of capital schemes that are to be funded from revenue to be
transferred to a fund to allow the reprofiling of the resource.
¾
that £600k is released from the Council’s General Balances.
¾
That (£4,000k) is allocated to the Council's Transformation fund to
support transformational and one-off work.
¾
That (£2,519k) is allocated to a fund for recovery arrangements post
Covid19.
1.4 To approve the
virements from the specific reserves as outlined in
Appendix 4 following
a review of the funds, harvesting (£170k) from funds to assist the Children
Department that has overspent in 2020/21.
Minutes:
The report was submitted by Cllr Ioan Thomas.
DECISION
1.1 To note the final financial position of the Council’s departments for 2020/21.
1.2 To approve the amounts to be carried forward (the “Revised Over/ (Under) Spend” column
of the summary in Appendix 1), namely -
DEPARTMENT |
£’000 |
Adults, Health and Well-being |
(100) |
Children and Families |
0 |
Education |
(100) |
Economy and Community |
(100) |
Highways and Municipal |
0 |
Environment |
(100) |
Gwynedd Consultancy |
(64) |
Housing and Property |
(75) |
Corporate Management Team and Legal
|
(100) |
Finance |
(86) |
Corporate Support |
(100) |
1.3 To approve the following recommendations and financial virements (as outlined in Appendix
2) -
The Children and Families
Department to receive one-off financial assistance of £1,261k to cancel
the overspend entirely, given the exceptional circumstances involving the crisis this year.To
allow the department to move on to face
the challenges of 2021/22.
1.4 To approve the virements from the specific reserves as outlined in
Appendix 4 following a review of the funds, harvesting (£170k) from funds to assist the Children Department that has overspent
in 2020/21.
DISCUSSION
The report was submitted,
noting that the report elaborated on the Council's expenditure in 2020/21. Attention was drawn to a summary
of the final position of
all departments seen in the report with
the amounts to be carried forward at the end of the financial year in the “Revised Over/ (Under) Spend”
column.
The main matters and
fields where signficant differences were seen were
highlighted. It was noted that the financial impact of Covid had been substantial for the Council, with £20m claimed from the hardship fund and Furlough
by the end of the year. It
was explained that, as a result of receiving numerous other substantial grants associated with Covid-19 late in the financial
year, this meant that the financial position of 2020/21 had
been transformed by the end of the year. It was noted that five
departments had been overspending before allocating the compensation grants for Covid-19 from Welsh Government, but after the allocation
of grants, it was only the Children and Supporting
Families Department that was overspending finally. Nevertheless, it was noted that a reduction
in the overspend to £1.3 million was due to savings worth £688k that would not have been possible to achieve being deleted
as well as receiving a Covid
grant.
It was explained that there was a substantial improvement in the Adults Department's
situation following savings that would
not have been possible to achieve being deleted and
slipped as well as general
grant receipts in the final months of the year. It was noted that the effect of Covid-19 had had a substantial impact on the Adults,
Health and Well-being Department, worth over £4.5 million by the end of the year.
In terms
of the Highways and
Municipal Department, it was noted
that the increase was a combination of reducing expenditure, covid grant and general grants
received and savings deleted. It was stressed that the waste field remained
the main pressure on the department. It was detailed that the department had faced substantial additional costs relating to complying with regulations as a result of Covid-19 as well as loss
of income in the commercial waste field.
It was noted that,
with regards to schools balances, that there had been an increase
from £4.3m in 2019/20 to
£10.7m in 2020/21 as a result
of the impact of Covid-19 and
various grants received. It was explained that, as a result of a review of the adequacy of the Council's specific reserves at the closure of accounts, £170k of resources had been collected. The decision was noted.
The Head of Finance Department thanked the staff for ensuring that
the accounts were closed in a timely
manner and whilst working from home. It was stressed that the underspend situation seen across the departments was also seen across other
Welsh authorities. It was noted
that, last year, the Council had been fortunate of the funds it had in reserve to fund schemes during the pandemic without certainty about grant funding. However, following the grant funding received, it was now possible for the Council to prioritise schemes from the transformation fund in order to make
a difference to the services
and citizens of Gwynedd.
Observations arising from the discussion
¾
The
staff of the Department were
thanked for their work in
ensuring financial stability in Gwynedd.
Awdur:Ffion Madog Evans
Supporting documents: