Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Resources on the Provisional Revenue Outturn for 2022/23 compared with the approved budget and the capital expenditure in the year ended 31 March 2023 with sources of funding.

Mr Mark Golden, Head of Accountancy presented the provisional outturn 2022/2023 to the Board. He outlined the key points from the report which had been considered by the Executive on 12 June 2023 noting that the total overspend for 2022/2023 had been £9.754 million with the largest overspends stemming from Growth and Prosperity and Children’s Social Care. Further demands had been experienced by Adult Social Care adding to the overspend with an underspend in Treasury Management.

It was noted that collection of Council Tax had grown year on year as had the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, with collection of business rates also improved on the previous year. Mr Golden also referred to the re-instatement of working balances and the issues relating to the signing of the statement of accounts. In relation to single person discount on Council Tax, Members queried the potential for fraud and it was reported that the Council had commenced an exercise to encourage residents to ensure the information they had provided was accurate prior to further action potentially being taken against identified instances of fraud. The issue had already been raised through the Audit Committee.

In relation to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, the Board requested further information with regards to the take-up of the scheme and data regarding the bands utilising it most which Mr Golden agreed to provide following the meeting.

The Board noted the underspend relating to vacant posts in Early Help querying if these remained vacant and the impact on service provision. In response, Mr Golden advised that the saving was a one-off saving and that posts would be filled and had been filled when possible. It was expected that vacancies would have a short term impact on service provision, however, it was noted that as a percentage of the overall staffing budget, the underspend was not significant. It was agreed that this issue would be raised through the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee.

Members referred to the £812k bad debt provision within the Adult Services budget. Mr Golden noted that the budget must contain a certain percentage of bad debt provision as a contingency for those not paying fees, he advised that the Council did pursue debts to collect.

In relation to the lower than expected parking income, Mr Golden advised that as a percentage of the total budget the amount discussed was not a significant amount. It was noted that the service did benchmark charges against other authorities and that further parking concerns could be explored directly with the Head of Service.

The Board raised concern in relation to the issue of grant payback and the potential implications on the budget for 2023/2024. Mr Golden advised that grants often had conditions attached to how they could be spent and therefore on occasion it was necessary for the Council to payback part or all of a grant should it not meet those conditions. In the previous few years, this issue had been exacerbated by the grants provided during the Covid pandemic.

Members went on to note that it had been agreed that underspends and overspends from the previous financial year had been written off rather than carried forward. This had been agreed due to the current level of risk and volatility and would allow services to be more flexible. Mr Golden advised that some budgets, notably the Children’s Services budget had been increased due to increased cost pressures and it would therefore be unachievable for that service and others to balance their budget whilst also incorporating an overspend from the previous year. The risk that writing off overspends in this year would potentially cause services to believe they could continue to overspend in future years without consequence was also raised. Mr Golden advised that it was crucial that overspends were managed down and recurrent underspends were offered up as savings via an embedded one-council culture to ensure value for money and efficient use of resources.

The current high interests rates were noted and the known impact on the budget and mitigations put in place queried. In response, Mr Golden advised that the increased interest rates would increase pressures on the 2023/2024 budget and that the Council did have both short term and long term loans. In a move to mitigate the interest rate increases, a number of short term loans had been fixed and changed to long term borrowing with monthly Treasury Management meetings held to monitor the situation.

The impact of factors such as interest rates outside of the Council’s control were noted including increases to staff wages, inflation and a need to deliver statutory services and protect vulnerable people. The upcoming piece of work on asset disposal was also noted.

The Chair requested Mr Golden and the Director of Resources give some consideration to the areas in which scrutiny could add in the most value in regards to finance and ensure effective consideration and challenge going forward.

The Board agreed to:

Receive further information with regards to the take-up of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and data regarding the bands utilising it most.