The Director of Finance will submit a report (Document “CJ”) which provides Members with an update on the forecast financial position of the Council for 2020-21.
It examines the latest spend against revenue and capital budgets and forecasts the financial position at the year end. It states the Council’s current balances and reserves and forecasts school balances for the year.
Recommended –
That the Executive
(1) Note the contents of this report
(2) Approve the £3.1m of additional support for Adult Social Care providers as detailed in section 3.7. to Document “CJ”Funding to derive from Emergency Covid Grants.
(3) Approve £100k of additional support for the Social Care team in Legal Services to help manage increased caseloads. Funding to derive from Emergency Covid Grants.
(4) Approve the following capital expenditure schemes.
· £0.21m for new automated Bradford City Centre Bollards as part of the on-going replacement programme. This will be funded by corporate borrowing from the General Contingency Budget.
· £0.194m for IT Core Infrastructure projects to increase the bandwidth for internet access. The scheme to be funded by using the previously agreed budget in February 2020 from the remaining £0.7m Reserve schemes for IT Capital Projects.
· £0.22m for the purchase and implementation of a new Libraries Management System and self-service machines. The will be funded by a mixture of corporate borrowing and savings on annual maintenance costs.
· £0.655m additional budget to enable the completion of unforeseen works at Ilkley Lido and a new scheme to replace the water filtration system. This will be funded by the additional contingency that was set aside in the 2020-21 Quarter 1 Finance Position Statement for future budget requests within the Capital Investment Plan.
· £1.075m Affordable Housing Programme. This is to be funded by a combination of additional grant income and/or commuted sums.
Note the following has been approved under Section 1.7 of the Financial Regulations:
Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate
(Andrew Cross - 07870 386523)
Minutes:
The Director of Finance submitted a report (Document “CJ”) which provided Members with an update on the forecast financial position of the Council for 2020-21.
It examined the latest spend against revenue and capital budgets and forecasted the financial position at the year end. It stated the Council’s current balances and reserves and forecasted school balances for the year.
The impact of the current pandemic on the Council’s finances was alluded to both in terms of the additional spend that had been required and the loss in service income, however as a result of additional monies that had or were in the process of forthcoming from Central Government, the position of the Council’s finances was now much healthier than had been the situation and reported at the quarter 1 stage.
The Leader stated that financially it had been a difficult year for the Council and that these financial uncertainties would continue into the planning process for the 2021/2022 budget. The Impact of the pandemic had stretched the Council’s finances significantly with unprecedented spend on items such as PPE and ensuring that the Council continues to provide services to the most vulnerable, and she commended staff for their hard work and dedication during this difficult time.
A Conservative Group Councillor was present at the meeting and stated that despite the earlier funding gap, additional monies had now been provided by Central Government and this should be welcomed and acknowledged, however he suggested that in terms of the capital spend, resources should be allocated as a priority to complete the repairs on the Buck Lane bridge.
In response the Leader stated that the Council was eternally grateful and welcomed the additional funding from Government, however Bradford was deserving of this money and this had to be seen in the context of poor funding of the region over many years, however in order to plan for future budgets a sustainable funding model had to be in place going forward.
In response to a question on Buck Lane, the Portfolio Holder stressed that a number of options were being worked through and these would be shared with ward councillors in due course, before proceeding with the repairs.
Resolved -
(1) That the contents of the report be noted.
(2) That the £3.1m of additional support for Adult Social Care providers as detailed in section 3.7. to Document “CJ” be approved. Funding to derive from Emergency Covid Grants.
(3) That the £100k of additional support for the Social Care team in Legal Services be approved to help manage increased caseloads. Funding to derive from Emergency Covid Grants.
(4) That the following capital expenditure schemes be approved:
· £0.21m for new automated Bradford City Centre Bollards as part of the on-going replacement programme. This will be funded by corporate borrowing from the General Contingency Budget.
· £0.194m for IT Core Infrastructure projects to increase the bandwidth for internet access. The scheme to be funded by using the previously agreed budget in February 2020 from the remaining £0.7m Reserve schemes for IT Capital Projects.
· £0.22m for the purchase and implementation of a new Libraries Management System and self-service machines. The will be funded by a mixture of corporate borrowing and savings on annual maintenance costs.
· £0.655m additional budget to enable the completion of unforeseen works at Ilkley Lido and a new scheme to replace the water filtration system. This will be funded by the additional contingency that was set aside in the 2020-21 Quarter 1 Finance Position Statement for future budget requests within the Capital Investment Plan.
· £1.075m Affordable Housing Programme. This is to be funded by a combination of additional grant income and/or commuted sums.
That it be noted that the following has been approved under Section 1.7 of the Financial Regulations:
ACTION: Director of Finance
Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate
Supporting documents:
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