Agenda item

DECISION   To accept the report and consider the final financial position of the Council’s departments for 2024/25:     Column A Column B Column C Column CH Column D   ⁠Gross Over/(Under) Spend 2025/25 Recommended Adjustments Adjusted Over/(Under) Spend 2024/25   £ ‘000 £ ‘000 £ ‘000 £ ‘000 £ ‘000   Adults, Health and Well-being   857     (757) 100 Children and Families   3,805     (3,705) 100 Business and Care Commissioning Service (15) 15     0 Education   (191) 191     0 Economy and Community   281   (281)   0 Highways, Engineering and YGC   656     (556) 100 Environment   1,349   (1,100) (149) 100 Housing and Property   (3) 3     0 Corporate and Legal Management Team (48) 48     0 Corporate Services   (42) 42     0 Finance (5) 5     0     Noting that there is significant overspend by the Adults, Health and Well-being Department, the  Children and Families Department, the Highways, Engineering and YGC Department, and the Environment Department in 2024/25 (please see column A in the table above), Approve the following financial virements (which are explained in Appendix 2 to the report) -  ·         In line with the Cabinet decision of 21 January 2025, to not allow departments to carry any underspend into the next financial year by excluding clause 16.3.1. (C) of the Financial Regulations (See column B in the table above). ·         Confirm the financial support of £281k above the contractual payment to Cwmni Byw'n Iach, and use £1.1m from the Parc Adfer Contributory Earnings Recovery fund to fund the overspend in the Waste field (See column C in the table above). ·         The departments that are overspending to receive one-off financial support, limiting the level of overspend to be carried forward by the Department to £100k (See column CH in the table above). ·         On Corporate budgets: -       use (£5.144 million) of the underspend on corporate budgets to assist the departments that have overspent in 2024/25. -       the remainder of the underspend of (£1.548 million) on Corporate budgets to be transferred to the Transformation Fund, to be used for the Council's priorities.   Approve the amounts to be carried forward (the “Adjusted Over/(Under) Spend” column 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: -       harvest £1.275 million from various funds and transfer it to the Transformation Fund. -       De-commit £375k of historical or non-committed schemes in the Transformation Fund. -       Move £2.5 million from the Financial Strategy Support fund to the Transformation Fund so that they are available for the Council's priorities and to fund one-off bids into the future.

 

The report was submitted by Cllr Huw Wyn Jones.

 

DECISION

 

To accept the report and consider the final financial position of the Council’s departments for 2024/25:  

  

	Column   A	Column B	Column C	Column CH	Column D
	⁠Gross Over/(Under) Spend 2025/25	Recommended Adjustments			Adjusted Over/(Under) Spend 2024/25
	£ ‘000	£ ‘000	£ ‘000	£ ‘000	£ ‘000
Adults, Health and Well-being	857			(757)	100
Children and Families	3,805			(3,705)	100
Business and Care Commissioning Service	(15)	15			0
Education	(191)	191			0
Economy and Community	281		(281)		0
Highways, Engineering and YGC	656			(556)	100
Environment	1,349		(1,100)	(149)	100
Housing and Property	(3)	3			0
Corporate and Legal Management Team	(48)	48			0
Corporate Services	(42)	42			0
Finance	(5)	5			0

 

It was noted that there was significant overspend by the Adults, Health and Well-being Department, the Children and Families Department, the Highways, Engineering and YGC Department, and the Environment Department in 2024/25 (please see column A in the table above). The following financial virements (which were explained in Appendix 2 to the report) were approved -   

·         In line with the Cabinet's decision on 21 January 2025, to not allow departments to carry any underspend into the next financial year by excluding clause 16.3.1.(C) of the Financial Regulations (See column B in the table above).  

·         Confirm the financial support of £281k above the contractual payment to Cwmni Byw'n Iach, and use £1.1 million from the Parc Adfer Contributory Earnings Recovery fund to fund the overspend in the field of Waste (See column C in the table above).  

·         The departments that were overspending to receive one-off financial support, limiting the level of overspend to be carried forward by the Department to £100k (See column CH in the table above).  

·         On Corporate budgets:  

·         use (£5.144 million) of the underspend on corporate budgets to support departments that had overspent in 2024/25. The remainder of the underspend of (£1.548 million) on Corporate budgets to be transferred to the Transformation Fund, to be used for the Council's priorities.  

 

Amounts had been approved to be carried forward (the "Over/(Under) Adjusted Expenditure" column 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:  

·         harvest £1.275 million from various funds and transfer it to the Transformation Fund.  

·         De-commit £375k of historical or non-committed schemes in the Transformation Fund.  

·         Move £2.5 million from the Financial Strategy Support fund to the Transformation Fund so that they are available for the Council's priorities and to fund one-off bids into the future. 

 

DISCUSSION

 

The report detailing the final financial position of the Council departments was submitted outlining the reasons for the overspending or underspending. It was highlighted that the situation had improved since the August and November reviews. It was noted that overspending continued in the out-of-county care areas of the Children and Supporting Families Department, the Derwen Service, Domiciliary Care Service and the field of Waste. It was explained that significant grant receipts and a favourable position on a number of corporate budgets were helping to alleviate the financial situation for the Council as a whole by the end of the financial year.

 

Attention was drawn to some departments individually to provide a rationale for the budgets.

 

An overspend of £857k by the Adults Department was highlighted as a reduction from the £3m forecast earlier in the year. It was explained that this was due to the department receiving substantial grants and income near the end of the financial year. It was emphasised that significant pressures remained in the field of Domiciliary Care, with higher staffing costs and high sickness levels and non-contact hour rates, while there were also significant pressures on the budget of private domiciliary care providers. It was expressed that the use of agency staff was one of the issues in in-house residential care.

 

It was explained that the overspend of the Children and Supporting Families Department was higher than anticipated and now stood at £3.8m. It was explained that this was due to an increase in the costs of out-of-county placements due to package complexities and the recent increased use of non-registered placements that were more costly. It was expressed that pressures were also seen on the budget of the Derwen Service and on the support of support plans and field workers.

 

In terms of the Education Department, it was noted that the field of school transport had received an additional budget allocation this year and, as a result of this, additional grants had been received along with a reduction in expenditure that the department was underspending (£191k) at the end of the year.

 

It was explained that Cwmni Byw'n Iach in recent years had received financial support from the Council which was in excess of the contractual payment of the provision contract, to enable them to maintain their services. It was expressed that the need for financial support would continue in 2024/25 with the required amount having increased to £281k by the end of the year.

 

Overspending was highlighted in the Highways, Engineering and YGC Department explaining, in relation to the municipal field, that a combination of factors was the reason for this, including additional pressure on the budgets of street cleaning staff and public toilets cleaning.

 

It was emphasised that an annual trend of overspending in the field of waste collection continued and was responsible for the overspending of the Environment Department. It was further explained that the lack of parking income was also evident this year and had increased by the end of the year.

 

While significant pressure on the emergency accommodation service within the Housing and Property Department remained, an additional budget allocated from a council tax premium, an additional one-off budget and an additional grant from the Welsh Government had assisted with the additional pressure.

 

Projections on the state of school budgets highlighted a significant reduction in school budgets, but following the receipt of a grant from the Welsh Government at the end of the year, it was noted that balance levels had been maintained.

 

The adequacy of the Council's specific funds was reviewed again by the Head of Finance at the closure of the accounts this year, in line with the policy approved some years ago. This review had been successful in harvesting £1.275 million of resources which had been transferred to the Transformation fund for use for the Council's priorities. 

 

Observations arising from the discussion:

·         The Welsh Government had been called upon to rethink the way they allocated their grants, as receiving last-minute grants in the financial year made it very difficult to plan for the long term.

·         Pride was expressed that the Adults Department's overspend had been significantly reduced. It was noted that it was important to remember that a large amount of the money the Council had received was one-off funding and, therefore, there was no guarantee that it would be available in the future. The Cabinet was therefore asked to be alert to the constant pressure on the Adults Department and to be prepared for that in the future. Finance Department staff were thanked for their support in significantly reducing spending.