Agenda item

Dafydd L Edwards and Sian Pugh to provide the North Wales Economic Ambition Board with the final out-turn position for 2020/21 and to obtain approval of the Official Annual Return for 2020/21

Note and accept the Joint Committee’s Revenue Income and Expenditure Account for 2020/21.

Approve the Joint Committee’s Official Annual Return for 2020/21 (subject to External Audit), in line with the statutory deadline of 31 May 2021. The Annual Return has been duly completed and certified by the Responsible Financial Officer, namely Gwynedd Council’s Head of Finance, as the Statutory Finance Officer for the Joint Committee. The Chair was authorised to sign the Annual Return in order to confirm that the Joint Committee has approved the financial statements therein.

Approve the transfer of the £241,023 underspend to the earmarked reserve.

Allocate the £4,853 interest received on the £16m grant against future borrowing costs.

The report was submitted by Dafydd L. Edwards (Statutory Finance Officer - Host Authority) and Sian Pugh (Group Accountant - Corporate and Projects).

RESOLVED

Note and accept the Joint Committee’s Revenue Income and Expenditure Account for 2020/21.

Approve the Joint Committee’s Official Annual Return for 2020/21 (subject to External Audit), in line with the statutory deadline of 31 May 2021. The Annual Return has been duly completed and certified by the Responsible Financial Officer, namely Gwynedd Council’s Head of Finance, as the Statutory Finance Officer for the Joint Committee. The Chair was authorised to sign the Annual Return in order to confirm that the Joint Committee had approved the financial statements therein.

Approve the transfer of the £241,023 underspend to the earmarked reserve.

Allocate the £4,953 interest received on the £16m grant against future borrowing costs.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

The Joint Committee must be aware of its financial position for 2020-21 and comply with the statutory requirements with regard to completing the Official Annual Return of Wales Audit, which is the usual procedure for reporting on Joint Committee accounts and income and expenditure less than £2.5 million.

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted noting that this year would be the final year that the NWEAB would approve the Officer Annual Return as the income and expenditure would increase to over the threshold of £2.5m, therefore more detailed statements would be needed. It was noted that the grant had been received prior to the end of the financial year for 2021/22 and is therefore noted as creditor in the report. It was noted that the report was very similar to the monitoring report received earlier in the year.

It was noted that an underspend of £641k could be seen in the Portfolio Management Office which was a slight increase since the third quarter review, and it was explained that this had been as a result of a reimbursement received from Conwy Council on the Regional Engagement Team contribution and a reduction in the expenditure on the Project Planning, Development and Support heading. It was noted that there was an underspend of £29k on the Support Services heading as a result of a reduction in the expenditure on the support services within the Accountable Body.

The income for 2020/21 included partners' contribution, ESF Grants and other small grants. In addition, it was explained that the Engagement Team reimbursement for 2019-20 had been received and interest on balances which included almost £5k of interest on the capital grant of £16m received in mid-March. It was explained that this capital grant was shown as creditor in the Statement of Balances on the Annual Return, and that it would be available to fund the capital programme in 2021/22 once the final business cases had been approved.

It was noted that this left a final financial position for 2020/21 of a £241k underspend. It was explained that the money had been transferred to the reserve fund to give a balance of £738k. It was added that £415k from the fund had already been earmarked as part of the 2021/22 budget as approved by the NWEAB back in March. It was explained that this would leave a balance of £323k in the reserve fund.

During the discussion, the following matters were raised:-

·         It was asked if the situation was as officers had expected it to be. It was noted that the situation was slightly better, while noting that underspend was as a result of failing to appoint.

·         It was asked if there was a target for the reserve fund, and it response it was noted that there was no specific figure but that would be needed when looking at a medium term plan in order to deal with any risks which could arise.