Issue - meetings

To provide a general update and overview of the Council’s financial position against the 2023/24 budget and looking ahead to 2024/25 and beyond.

RESOLVED that Cabinet -

(a)    notes the Council’s in-year financial position at the end of July 2023 along with the updated financial forecast for 2024/25 and beyond;

(b)    approves the proposed adjustments to the 2023/24 budget, as set out in Section 1 of Appendix 1H to the Report of the Leader of the Council/Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder and requests Officers to review the potential on-going impact in 2024/25 and beyond, where necessary, as part of developing the forecast and detailed estimates for further consideration by Cabinet later in the financial year;

(c)    notes the outcome of the review of carry forwards from 2022/23 approved under delegation to the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance as set out in Table 1 of the aforesaid report and -

i)    approves items 1 and 2 set out in Section 2 of Appendix 1H to the aforementioned report;

ii)   requests Officers to provide additional information relating to items 3 to 6 set out in Section 2 of Appendix 1H to the above mentioned report for inclusion in the Financial Performance Report for Quarter 2 that is scheduled to be presented to Cabinet in November 2023;

(d)    notes the treasury transactions with Birmingham City Council set out in the report and request Officers to provide an update in Quarter 2 setting out the response of Members at the Full Council meeting at Birmingham City Council to their Section 151 Officer’s recent Section 114 reports;

(e)    the Council continues to be a member of the Essex Business Rates Pool and Council Tax Sharing Agreement with Essex County Council in 2024/25 if it remains financially advantageous to do so;

(f)     notes the updated financial forecast set out in the report and requests Officers, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holders, to further develop the financial forecast proposals alongside the development of the Council’s priorities, as part of the wider framework within which to identify the necessary budget reductions to support the Council’s long-term financial sustainability; and

(g)    requests that the Resources and Service Overview and Scrutiny Committee be consulted on the latest financial position of the Council, as set out in the report.

Cabinet considered a report of the Leader of the Council & Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance (A.5), which provided it with a general update and overview of the Council’s financial position against the 2023/24 budget and looking ahead to 2024/25 and beyond.

That report was split over two distinct sections as follows:

1)  The Council’s in-year financial position against the budget at the end of July 2023; and

2)  An updated long term financial forecast

Members were reminded that previously an additional section had been included within these reports that had undertook a detailed view of items that would have an impact on the in-year position but also an on-going impact on the later years of the forecast. Although this report set out a number of adjustments to the in-year budget, any longer term impacts remained under review at present. However, they would be revisited as part of developing the forecast for 2024/25 and beyond, and they would be reported within future financial performance reports.

SECTION 1 - In respect of the in-year financial position at the end of July 2023:

It was reported that the position to the end of July 2023, as set out in more detail within the appendices, showed that, overall, the General Fund Revenue Account was underspent against the profiled budget by £1.747m.

Cabinet recalled that, as part of developing the budget for 2023/24, which had been agreed by Full Council in February 2023, a number of adjustments had been made to reflect emerging and/or on-going issues. Therefore, only a limited number of variances had developed during the first four months of this financial year. Where variances had been highlighted, those broadly reflected known issues where further review / consideration might be necessary or reflected the timing of general expenditure and/or income budgets. It was acknowledged that other expenditure or income trends might still emerge / develop over the remainder of the financial year.

Members were made aware that this report also set out a number of further potential issues although no adjustments had been made to the budget at the present time as they remained subject to ongoing review and / or reporting separately later in the year.

It was reported that, in respect of other areas of the budget such as the Housing Revenue Account, capital programme, collection performance and treasury activity, apart from additional details set out in this report, there were no other major issues that had been identified to date. In respect of treasury activity, the transactions undertaken with Birmingham City Council were highlighted in the report along with the commitment to report to Cabinet the outcome of the Birmingham City Council meeting when its Members had considered their Section 151 Officer’s Section 114 report. 

Members were reassured that any emerging issues would be monitored and updates provided in future reports, which would include their consideration as part of updating the long-term financial forecast.

Cabinet was advised that a number of in-year budget adjustments were proposed as set out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37