Agenda item

1.1 To note the final financial position of the Council’s departments for 2022/23.

 

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	76
Education	(96)
Economy and Community	0
Highways and Municipal	100
Environment	6
Gwynedd Consultancy	0
Housing and Property	0
Corporate Management Team and Legal	(17)
Finance	(10)
Corporate Support	(16)

 

1.3 To approve the following recommendations and financial virements (as outlined in Appendix 2):

 

·       In the Education Department, that £1,304k of additional electricity inflation and salaries of school assistants and administrative staff costs that is above the budget is funded from the balances of individual schools.

 

·       In the Housing and Property Department, that £2,482k of the Council Tax Premium Fund is used to fund the additional pressure in the Homelessness field.

 

·       Financial assistance of £550k to the Economy and Community Department as the effects of Covid have affected the income levels of Cwmni Byw'n Iach.

 

·       The following 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:

a.    £3,785K - Adults, Health and Well-being

b.    £2,434k – Highways and Municipal

 

·       On Corporate budgets:

a.    Use (£2,851k) of the Corporate net underspend to assist the departments that have overspent in 2022/23.

b.    That (£3,899k) relating to capital costs allocated to a capital programme fund.

c.     With the remainder of the net underspend of (£952k) on Corporate budgets being transferred to the Transformational Fund to fund the Council's priorities.

 

1.4 Approve the financial virements from specific funds as outlined in Appendix 3 following a review of the reserves, harvesting (£3,918k) from reserves to be used in its entirety to assist the departments that have overspent in 2022/23.

 

The report was submitted by Cllr Ioan Thomas.

 

DECISION

 

1.1 To note the final financial position of the Council’s departments for 2022/23.

 

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	76
Education	(96)
Economy and Community	0
Highways and Municipal	100
Environment	6
Gwynedd Consultancy	0
Housing and Property	0
Corporate Management Team and Legal	(17)
Finance	(10)
Corporate Support	(16)

 

1.3 To approve the following recommendations and financial virements (as outlined in Appendix 2):

 

·       In the Education Department, that £1,304k of additional electricity inflation and salaries of school assistants and administrative staff costs that is above the budget is funded from the balances of individual schools.

 

·       In the Housing and Property Department, that £2,482k of the Council Tax Premium Fund is used to fund the additional pressure in the Homelessness field.

 

·       Financial assistance of £550k to the Economy and Community Department as the effects of Covid have affected the income levels of Cwmni Byw'n Iach.

 

·       The following 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:

a.    £3,785K - Adults, Health and Well-being

b.    £2,434k – Highways and Municipal

 

 

·       On Corporate budgets:

a.    Use (£2,851k) of the Corporate net underspend to assist the departments that have overspent in 2022/23.

b.    That (£3,899k) relating to capital costs allocated to a capital programme fund.

c.     With the remainder of the net underspend of (£952k) on Corporate budgets being transferred to the Transformational Fund to fund the Council's priorities.

 

1.4 To approve the financial virements from specific funds as outlined in Appendix 3 following a review of the reserves, harvesting (£3,918k) from reserves to be used in its entirety to assist the departments that have overspent in 2022/23.

 

DISCUSSION

 

It was explained that the report elaborated on the Council's expenditure in the 2022/23 financial year, as well as the out-turn position of the underspend or overspend.

 

It was confirmed that 7 departments had an overspend at the end of the 2022/23 financial year. It was elaborated that several factors had contributed to this, including increasing energy prices, failures to realise savings and salary inflation. Details were provided about the most prominent overspend in 5 departments:

 

·       Adults, Health and Well-being Department - it was explained that there was a £3.9 million overspend due to the department's staffing costs and use of agency staff. In addition, there were pressures on supported accommodation and direct payment packages in the Older People's Services. It was confirmed that the department had experienced difficulties to realise savings.

 

·       Education Department - it was explained that there was a £1.2m overspend following inflation on the salaries of assistants and administrative staff, as well a higher electricity prices. Despite this, it was confirmed that the department had been able to use savings from the Covid lockdown periods to assist with the financial pressures.

 

·       Economy and Community Department / Byw'n Iach - It was confirmed that Byw'n Iach had experienced the side-effects of the pandemic throughout the 2022/23 financial year. The Cabinet was reminded that the company received £1.4 million from the Welsh Government in 2021/22 and the Council had extended the financial assurance period to support the company until the end of the 2022/23 year. It was explained that the company needed the Council's assistance to fund £550,000. It was a source of pride that the public had returned to use leisure centres following the pandemic.

 

·       Highways and Municipal Department - It was reported that there was £2.5 million overspend within the department and that waste collection and recycling services contributed towards this figure. It was also emphasised that there had been one-off spending by the department within the relevant financial year and that it had faced difficulties in realising savings.

 

·       Housing and Property Department - It was explained that the department had received £1.5 million from the Council's post-Covid arrangements fund. Despite this, the impact of the Homelessness act had led to substantial financial pressure for the department, causing an overspend of £2.5 million. It was recommended that the Council Tax Premium Fund was used to meet the overspend.

 

It was ensured that plans had been put in place to address these matters of overspend in future financial plans.

 

It was recognised that departments faced pressures to provide the best service for Gwynedd residents and staff of the departments were thanked for their work.  All staff of the Finance Department were also thanked for their work to collate the figures for the final accounts.