Issue - meetings

To enable Cabinet to consider the updated financial forecast and proposed position for 2022/23 for consultation with the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)   approves the updated Financial Forecast and proposed position for 2022/23 as set out in the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder’s report and the appendices thereto; and

(b)   requests the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s comments on this latest financial forecast and proposed position for 2022/23.

Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder (A.4) which sought its approval for the updated financial forecast and proposed budget position for 2022/23 to be submitted for consultation with the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which was required under the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules within the Council’s Constitution.

Members were aware that a ‘live’ 10-year financial forecast was maintained and reported to them throughout the year.  The most up-to-date position in December each year was translated into the detailed budget for the following year for consultation with the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

As part of maintaining a ‘live’ forecast, this current report ‘built’ on the last position that had been presented to Cabinet on 12 November 2021.

It was reported that, despite the challenging financial and economic environment, confidence in the long term approach to the forecast remained, which was supported by the forecast risk fund. The Council had maintained a prudent and sustainable approach to its long term plan and had continued to ‘live within its means’, which had to date enabled it to respond to exceptional issues such as the COVID 19 pandemic without the need to make short term / adverse decisions that could have affected the provision of front-line services.

Cabinet was made aware that there were a number of emerging cost pressures that were currently reflected in the forecast, and that this report also highlighted a number of items that were planned to be mitigated via one-off funding or via the use of existing reserves / budgets to underwrite their overall risk to the forecast.

Members were informed that cost pressures to date largely reflected unavoidable items. Given the pressures on the ‘base’ budget, it was proposed to consider ‘optional’ cost pressures via a separate process that would include the development of a Corporate Investment Plan that would seek to prioritise further investment from available funding such as the reprioritisation of existing budgets or from additional funding that might become available from the Government.

Cabinet was advised that on-going savings of just over £0.200m had been identified as part of the early phase of developing a zero based approach to budget setting. This was behind the target of £0.450m, which highlighted the importance of quickly developing this framework during 2022 in order to identify the required level of savings over the remaining life of the forecast.

Members were further advised that, at this stage of the budget process, there was a net deficit of £1.488mforecast in 2022/23, an improvement of £0.154m compared with the £1.642m deficit reported to Cabinet on 12 November 2021. Therefore, the forecast remained within the financial boundaries set out in the long-term plan.

It was envisaged that, although subject to potential changes over the remaining budget-setting period, the current forecasted deficit of £1.488m would be met by drawing money down from the Forecast Risk Fund.

It was reported that a review of reserves had also been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99