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Agenda item

Revenue Budget Outturn 2018/19

Minutes:

The Leader presented the report which set out the year-end position on the 2018/19 revenue budget.  

 

The Leader acknowledged the effort of the whole organisation in achieving the outturn in a timely fashion which had resulted in the accounts being closed in record time in order to ensure earlier publishing of the statutory annual accounts, which will provide the ability to consider the position and make decisions earlier than in past years.

 

The report confirmed an underspend of c£2.3m, this represents a small variance of just 1.3% on the net budget.  The figure is slightly more than the £1.6m forecast due in part to late grants received from Welsh Government and some lower spend in a few areas (as detailed in the table in paragraph 1.2 of the report).  The table also confirms c£1.8m of one-off, unexpected, non-service income from VAT and rate refunds which when taken into account produced a balanced position at year-end.

 

The report showed a pattern of overspending in the key demand led areas and underspending in the non-service budget areas, which is as a result of better income and use of contingencies.  In addition, there were some issues to be resolved in a very small number of schools which are being addressed.  The Leader confirmed the vast majority of the Council’s activities are spending close to budget and the challenges are in a very small number of areas which are common to nearly all Councils across the UK.

 

Overspending in the demand led areas amounted to approximately £5m and investment similar to that amount has been put in for the current year in line with the administration’s priorities. 

 

Regarding the underspend of £2.3m - the report recommended how the underspend could be allocated – referred to in paragraph 6.1, of the report.  A few items to highlight were:

 

(i)               Cabinet, having previously considered the Chartist Tower re-development and the need to provide further support to ensure the re-development is a success in terms of how the city centre looks, had agreed to use £950k from the underspend in order for cladding to be installed to enhance the look of the building;

 

(ii)              Commitment to support the regional SENCOM service whilst it is reviewed this year and the £250k funding recommended allows funding to continue at previous levels whilst that review is carried out.  However, the Leader drew Cabinet’s attention to the news that the Council’s contribution has reduced this year, compared to last year, and this amount can now be reduced to £190k.  The Leader recommended to put the £60k this releases into the Invest to Save Reserve. 

 

(iii)            In order to keep up the momentum on attracting and hosting national and regional events in the city, such as the Marathon, the report recommended investing £150k into a reserve to spend on this kind of activity in the future. 

 

The Leader congratulated the Deputy Leader for his achievements in the 10k race and raising £1K for charity.

 

The underspend from last year is being used as additional spend this year, for the benefit of the city and the services the Council provides.

Cabinet welcomed the report.  It was noted that whilst the vast majority of demand is outside the Council’s control and the huge financial significance attached to that, this report demonstrates good financial management when faced with enormous demand pressures whilst still managing to set out one of the lowest council tax rates in the UK.   

 

The Leader once again thanked the officers for delivering good financial management in a challenging year.

 

Cabinet was asked to:

 

a)     Note the out-turn position, which is subject to audit and the major variances for the year (Section 1-3 of the report); whilst noting the slight change of reducing the SENCOM reserve to £190k and putting a further £60k into the Invest to Save;

b)     To approve the use of the underspend as set out in Section 6 of the report and note the resulting level of the Council’s general and earmarked reserves;

c)     Note the school’s outturn and the position on the individual and total school reserves and note/comment on the next steps in this area in section 3 of the report;

d)     Note the other areas of budget pressures and challenges in section 1 and 2 of the report and note/comment on the actions currently in place to manage these.

 

Decision:

Cabinet agreed to accept officers recommendations and transfer the underspend into specific earmarked reserves.

 

Supporting documents: