Issue - meetings

Financial Outturn 2020-21

Meeting: 19/07/2021 - Executive (Item 17)

17 Financial Outturn 2020-21 pdf icon PDF 473 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED that –

 

1) the outturn position in respect of the 2020/21 financial year be noted.

 

2) the transfers to various earmarked reserves of £0.906m as outlined in detail in paragraph 2.3 of the report be approved.

 

3) the proposed carry forward of capital budgets detailed in Appendix A totalling £5.447m be approved.     

Minutes:

Executive considered the report of the Portfolio Holder – Finance which informed Members of the outturn position of the Council for the 2020/21 financial year.

 

It was noted that the draft Statement of Accounts had been published on 14 June 2021.  The draft Statement of Accounts was subject to the independent audit from the Council’s external auditors, Mazars.

 

The report set out the position in respect of the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Capital Investment Programme outturns, which were detailed in the appendices to the report.

 

In respect of the General Fund balances, the level was considered to be at an acceptable level for a district council.  The General Fund balance had to be considered against the background of ongoing changes to the level of Government funding together with the range of risks facing the Council.  With only a limited level of General Fund reserves it was considered crucial that the Council continued to maintain robust budgetary control whilst securing its ongoing savings targets in order to safeguard both its reserves and financial sustainability. 

 

The main feature of the 2020/21 financial year was that the Council had transferred £0.906m to Earmarked Reserves in preparation for future expenditure.

 

With regard to the underlying favourable variance on the General Fund in 2020/21, this was to be reviewed as usual during the budget process for 2021/22 – 2025/26, from October 2021 onwards.

 

The outturn position of the Housing Revenue account and the position of the Capital Programme were outlined in the report. Carry forward amounts in relation to the Capital Programme were proposed due to individual schemes that were still in progress, where there were outstanding commitments or where the schemes had been delayed.  The proposed carry forward was £5.447m.

 

The Council’s treasury management activity for 2020/21 was also summarised in the report.

 

Moved by Councillor Clive Moesby and seconded by Councillor Liz Smyth

RESOLVED that –

 

1) the outturn position in respect of the 2020/21 financial year be noted.

 

2) the transfers to various earmarked reserves of £0.906m as outlined in detail in paragraph 2.3 of the report be approved.

 

3) the proposed carry forward of capital budgets detailed in Appendix A totalling £5.447m be approved.

 

(Head of Finance and Resources)

REASON FOR DECISION:

To consider the financial outturn position of the Council for 2020/21 and its implications for future years’ budgets.

 

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

As the financial outturn report was fundamentally a factual report giving details of the outcome of previously approved budgets there were no alternative options that were considered.

 

The allocation of resources to earmarked reserve accounts had been undertaken in line with the Council’s policy and service delivery framework and in the light of the risks and issues facing the Council over the period of the current MTFP.  If there risks were not to materialise or were settled at a lower cost than anticipated then the earmarked reserves would be reassessed and returned to balances where appropriate.