Agenda item

To consider the report of the Interim Chief Finance Officer (copy enclosed).

The Committee considered the report of the Interim Chief Finance Officer providing Members with the provisional Outturn position for the year ended 31 March 2023.  Movements in relation to the Council’s General Fund, Earmarked Reserves and Capital Commitments as at 31 March 2023 were also detailed.

It was noted that the draft Statement of Accounts was published on 31 July 2023 however, the audit of this was yet to commence and therefore the figures detailed in the outturn report were provisional as they were subject to change.  The report provided detailed information regarding:

·                2022 / 23 Final Budget including approved amendments.

·                Provisional Outturn – The report detailed budget variances and Appendix 1 provided a detailed analysis of the major variances attributed to the underspend.  Those underspends carried forward into the next financial year to fund expenditure commitments were set out in Appendix 2.

·                General Fund Balance - It was reported that this would remain above the minimum recommended level of £2.6m.

·                Earmarked Reserves - Appendix 3 to the report provided a breakdown of Earmarked Reserves and it was noted that there had been a net increase of £0.4m from 1 April 2022. 

·                2022 / 23 Provisional Capital Outturn – The Capital Programme outturn with requested carry forwards was set out in Appendix 4 to the report, along with reasons for any slippage during 2022 / 23.

The report advised that business rates income was above that budgeted and it was therefore proposed that the additional income be used in 2023 / 24 to close the budget gap of £421k.

The Chairperson moved the recommendations as set out in the report and these were duly seconded.

A lengthy debate ensued, during which Members raised a number of queries regarding the information detailed in the report and its appendices.  In response, the Interim Chief Finance Officer and Assistant Director provided the following information:

·                The General Fund Balance amount varied between Councils and was based on the size of their budgets and risks.  The budget was reviewed annually as part of the budget setting process and was the responsibility of the Section 151 Officer..

·                There was a clear plan of commitments against the Local Development Plan reserve.

·                The Government had not made any firm commitments as to whether the New Homes Bonus (NHB) would continue in the future.  The Council would be considering NHB as part of its overall funding package from the government.

·                An explanation was provided regarding the variance in the car parking budget, and it was noted this was not due to the service under-performing but the budget being uplifted as part of the Council transformation process.

·                The Council had an agreement with Place Services and through that would ensure that tree surgery work went out to various contractors.  Value for money would be delivered and as a requirement there were a number of local contractors included in the process as previously requested by Members.

·                It was noted that the budget provision for the Burnham-on-Crouch pontoon had not been spent and it was requested that the monies be carried forward into the current financial year.  The Interim Chief Finance Officer advised that there may be additional funding streams supplementing this project, but she would confirm this to Members outside of the meeting.

In response to a question regarding the Committee receiving a report on the Local Development Plan review budget, the Interim Chief Finance Officer suggested that this be brought to a future meeting of the Finance Working Group.

The Chairperson moved the recommendations as set out in the report.  This was duly seconded. 

In accordance with Procedure Rule No. 13 (3) Councillor A S Fluker requested a recorded vote, and this was duly seconded.  The Chairperson then put the recommendations to the Committee and the voting was as follows:

For the recommendation:

Councillors R H Siddall and M E Thompson.

Against the recommendation:

Councillors A S Fluker, A M Lay, W Stamp and S White.

Abstention:

Councillors T Fittock, D O Bown and J Driver.

Following the vote, the Chairperson advised that the recommendations were therefore not agreed.