Agenda item

Dewi Morgan (Host Authority Head of Finance and Statutory Finance Officer) and Sian Pugh (Host Authority Assistant Head of Finance) to present the report.

Noted and accepted:

1.     The Ambition Board's revenue out-turn report for 2023/24 (Appendix 1)
which includes using £561,454 from the North Wales Growth Deal grant to show a neutral position for the year.

2.     The Ambition Board’s reserves situation (Appendix 2).

3.     Capital End of Year Review on 31 March 2024 (Appendix 3).

 

The report was presented by the Host Authority's Head of Finance Department.

 

RESOLVED

 

Noted and accepted:

1.     The Ambition Board's revenue out-turn report for 2023/24 (Appendix 1)
which includes using £561,454 from the North Wales Growth Deal grant to show a neutral position for the year.

2.     The Ambition Board’s reserves position (Appendix 2).

3.     Capital End of Year Review on 31 March 2024 (Appendix 3).

 

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

 

To inform the Ambition Board of its financial position for both revenue and capital in 2023/24.

 

DISCUSSION

 

Members were guided through the report which provided an overview of the revenue and capital out-turn position for 2023/24. Reference was made to Appendix 1 drawing attention to the last column in the table which showed the overspend / underspend for each heading. ⁠It was noted that the final underspend on the Portfolio Management Office heading was £75,000 which was mainly due to staff turnover during the year. It was reported that the Support Services heading showed an underspend of £39,000.

 

It was noted that the final underspend on the CJC heading was £41,000 and was due to underspend on the External Legal Support, External Financial Fees and the Business Delivery Board headings. It was expressed that the final underspend on the Projects heading was £129,000. ⁠ It was explained that the expenditure under the Grants heading included schemes that were funded by certain grants from Welsh Government. It was added that the Transfers to Reserves section showed the partners' interest contributions for 2023/24.

 

Members were referred to the second page of Appendix 1 where the main income streams for 2023/24 were listed and the final net out-turn position for 2023/24 was shown, namely an underspend of £460,000. It was explained that this demonstrated an increase in the underspend from the £341,000 that had been forecast in the end of December review. It was noted that the underspend derived from the success of the Portfolio Management Office with its regional application to the Shared Prosperity Fund along with a reduction in spending on several headings in the budget. 

 

The Board was asked to approve a reduced amount of £561,000, compared with the original budget of £1,000,000 from the Growth Deal grant to be used to fund revenue expenditure in 2023/24 in order to leave a neutral position for the year.

 

Reference was made to Appendix 2 which showed the movements in the funds during the year and the balances on 31 March 2024.  It was noted that the total of the reserve fund on 31 March 2024 was £278,000 and that £67,000 had been allocated for the 2024/25 budget and a further £61,000 for the 2025/26 budget. It was reported that the balance of the projects fund on 31 March 2024 was £152,000 and the balance of the interest fund on 31 March 2024 was £4.7 million. It was noted there had been a significant increase here due to the interest received on the Growth Deal grant during the year.

 

To close, reference was made to the capital position of the Growth Deal Grant for 2023/24. It was noted that the main difference between the Capital budget approved by the Board in March was the expenditure of £0.75m on the Enterprise Engineering and Optics Centre and the budget of 2.15% for revenue funding in 2023/24 had been reduced to £0.56m to reflect the final revenue out-turn figures. It was added that an additional capital grant of £423,000 had been received from Welsh Government for Local Fibre Broadband Upgrades.

 

An observation was made that the Ambition Board had benefited from shared prosperity fund money and it was asked what the outcome would have been for budgets had this money not been received.

·        In response, it was noted that income from the shared prosperity fund had been included in the budget for 2024/25, up to the end of December 2024 and that the budget had been based on these receipts until the end of the calendar year. It was added, in terms of funding resources and staffing, there was certainty here until March 2026; but it was not possible to say any further than that without knowing the future of the fund.

 

Further explanation was requested on the Training and Travelling figures expressing that the Ambition Board should do its best to keep these costs to a minimum by holding as many virtual events as possible.

·        In response it was explained that the Training, Travelling and Subsistence figures related to the Ambition Board staff during the year. It was highlighted that the Ambition Board staff were seeking to travel as little as possible but that sites were located across North Wales and they were required to attend them from time to time.

·        The Portfolio Director added that the Ambition Board was a regional team and that it was expected for the Ambition Board to be visible at events in Cardiff or London meaning they had to travel to these locations.

·        It was believed that it was crucial to represent North Wales and influence the business sector at such events and it was felt that the Ambition Board should be visible outside the region.

 

Reference was made to page 22 of the Agenda asking for further explanation on the Holyhead Port project and its cost of £34.47 million between 2024 and 2027.

·        In response it was explained that the £34.47 million was the expenditure profile for the period noting that there was no full guarantee for this project.

·        In response to the question whether the figure would increase further it was noted that the figures were projections of the spending but that the funding available for the project could not increase. It was noted that should there be an increase in the value of the projects it was expected that the project funders would fund those additional costs.

·        A request was made for copies of the figure if the Ambition Board had committed £34.47 million for the Holyhead Port project. It was noted that every project was subject to submitting and completing a successful business case. It was added that no decisions would be made on spending or finance until a full business case was received.

·        It was explained that the business case had not been received yet for the Holyhead Port project. Nevertheless, it was confirmed that the Portfolio Director would be happy to provide more information to the member.

 

Enquiries were made regarding the Kinmel Studio project referred to in Appendix 3, noting that the situation had now changed. An update was requested via e-mail.

·        It was expressed that the new projects would be discussed as part of the Quarter 4 Performance and Risk Report which was included on the Agenda for this meeting and this project would be discussed under the next item.