Issue - meetings

Revised Budgets 2021/22

Meeting: 25/11/2021 - Audit & Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee (Item 37)

Revised Budgets 2021/22

Minutes:

Committee considered a report provided as a presentation by the Assistant Director - Finance & Resources regarding the Council’s revised budgets for 2021/22.

 

The presentation highlighted the following;

 

General Fund

 

  • Savings made between the February 2021 report and the Q2 monitoring report, i.e. the current position.

 

  • Changes to reflect the new calculations and forecasts – the revised budget

 

  • Savings made to help to prepare the Council for the future.

 

Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

 

  • HRA main changes for Revised Budgets (the main variances on the HRA).

 

Capital Programme

 

As part of the revised budget process the capital projects had been reviewed to estimate what level of spend would occur in 2021/22.

 

Where projects were unlikely to spend in 2021/22, the capital expenditure and matching financing would be moved to 2022/23 to avoid large under spends at 31st March.

 

In Summary for 2021/22, the revised budget estimate for the Housing Revenue Account was a surplus, this would be transferred to the HRA Development Reserve.  Any underspend on General Fund would be transferred to the NNDR Growth Protection Reserve.  The level of reserves was considered to be adequate to fund planned expenditure and potential issues/risks that the Council faced.  The Capital Programme for 2021/22, was fully financed and did not include any borrowing where MRP was payable.

 

In response to a Member’s query, the Assistant Director - Finance & Resources, advised Members that vacancy savings were in relation to the delay between a member of staff leaving and a new member of staff starting.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Finance advised the meeting that Housing were undertaking a piece of work in relation to getting void properties onto the market more quickly.

 

The Assistant Director - Finance & Resources advised the meeting that future years’ budgets would be presented to Members at the February 2022 meeting of this Committee.

 

Members thanked the Assistant Director - Finance & Resources for her presentation and requested their thanks be passed on to the Finance team who had carried out a lot of work to get income in to the Council.

 

Moved by Councillor Tom Munro and seconded by Councillor Graham Parkin

RESOLVED that the presentation be noted.