Agenda item

Medium Term Financial Plan - Revised Budgets 2019/20

Recommendations on page 120

Decision:

RESOLVED - That Executive approves:

 

(1)          the revised General Fund budget for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 1 and detailed in Appendix 2 to the report.

 

(2)          the revised Housing Revenue Account budget for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 3 to the report.

 

(3)           the revised Capital Programme for 2019/20 as set out within Appendix 4 to the report.

 

Minutes:

Executive considered the report of the Portfolio Holder - Finance & Resources which sought approval of the 2019/20 revised budgets for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account and Capital Programme. 

 

General Fund Revenue Account

 

The original budget showed a funding deficit of £0.083m.  The current budget position was a surplus of £0.261m.  This included the council tax increase £0.112m, the quarter 1 vacancy savings of £0.093m and transformation programme items of £0.139m.

 

Although the General Fund surplus remains unchanged from the current budget figure of £0.261m, lots of movement within the budgets has taken place.  A clear objective in the exercise was not to make any budget changes that would have had a significant adverse impact on the service provision being delivered.

 

The key variances within the revised budget were:

 

 

£000’s

Debt charges/investment income

(167)

Vacancy management quarter 2

(127)

Extra planning fee income and external grants

(153)

Net miscellaneous cost increases/income reduction

29

Savings from revised budget process before transfers to reserves for future use.

(418)

Net transfer to NNDR growth protection reserve

168

Transfer to reserves to finance future expenditure

250

Net movement

0

 

Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

 

Taking account of the proposed budget changes detailed in the report, the HRA was anticipated to deliver a surplus in the current financial year of £0.155m, which was £0.132m higher than the current budget.

 

Capital Programme

 

As part of the revised budget process, officers estimated the likely level of spend in the current financial year.  As a result £1.712m was removed from the current budget and put into 2020/21 as this was when the work was likely to be undertaken.  The proposed estimated outturn for 2019/20 was therefore a budget of £18.057m.

             

There were no issues to report with regard to the financing of the 2019/20 capital programme.

 

Moved by Councillor Clive Moesby and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED - That Executive approves:

 

(1)          the revised General Fund budget for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 1 and detailed in Appendix 2 to the report.

 

(2)          the revised Housing Revenue Account budget for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 3 to the report.

 

(3)           the revised Capital Programme for 2019/20 as set out within Appendix 4 to the report.

 

REASON FOR DECISION:

The purpose of the report was to set revised budgets as early as possible within the financial year to ensure that identified budget savings were realised, that all budget managers were working to the revised budgets and to allow any planned changes to be delivered. The improved position on both the Council’s main revenue budgets reflected a combination of favourable circumstances during the year, together with careful budget management and the ongoing policies of progressing the transformation agenda in order to reduce the underlying level of expenditure in line with the ongoing reductions in the level of government grant. The savings achieved would be used to support service delivery to residents and tenants in future financial years.

 

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

General Fund and Housing Revenue Account

 

The anticipated surplus on the Council’s two main revenue accounts was to result in an increase in financial balances at the year-end which were available to protect services at a time of declining central government support. It was proposed that these additional resources be utilised to mitigate the expected increase in the contribution to the Local Government Pension Scheme over the next three financial years.

 

Capital

 

There were no alternative options being considered with regard to the proposed allocations from the Capital Programme budget as it ensured the Council’s assets met health and safety requirements in that they would be maintained in a fit for purpose state that ensured they remained fully operational.

 

Supporting documents: