Agenda item

QTR.3 FINANCE POSITION STATEMENT FOR 2020-21

Meeting of Executive, Tuesday, 2nd February, 2021 10.30 am (Item 203.)

The report of the Director of Finance (Document “DK”) 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 Document “DK”

(2) Approve the £9.5m of continued investment in priority areas as outlined in section 4 of Document “DK”, to be funded from Covid related grant monies.

(3) Approve the following capital expenditure schemes as outlined in section 16.8 of Document “DK”

· £0.975m for the replacement, upgrade and extension of CCTV core network infrastructure for the district. This is a scheme approved by Executive previously and was held in ‘Reserve’ schemes

· £0.483m additional funding for the Alternative Fuel Centre.

· £0.02m to purchase new welder equipment to be funded by the general contingency budget.

· £0.075m for the Ilkley Parking Scheme. This is an invest to save scheme and the additional income will fund the capital financing costs.

(4) Note the following has been approved under Section 1.7 of the Financial Regulations as outlined in section 16.10 of Document “DK”

· £1.2m additional costs for the City Centre Darley Street Market, to be funded by service revenue budget and prudential borrowing.

· £0.3m to enable the purchase of remote cameras and completion of hot spot site prevention works. This is a scheme approved by Executive previously and was held in ‘Reserve’ schemes

· £0.04m for emergency works to replace the decking planks on the Buck Mill Footbridge

· The movement of £0.665m from the Sports Pitches Reserve Scheme to the Wyke Community Sports Hub project.

(Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee)

(Andrew Cross – 07870 386523)

Minutes:

The report of the Director of Finance (Document “DK”) 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 forecasts the financial position at the year end. It stated the Council’s current balances and reserves and forecasts school balances for the year.

The Director of Finance reported a small forecast underspend of £0.4m and congratulated officers on their rigour in a difficult financial environment. He explained that this was because £3m less capital finance was required due to lower interest rates and lower overall borrowing. However, he did point out that there had been some overspends in Children’s Social Care due to high levels of agency staff and an increase in the number of Looked After Children. He added that the Covid financial position had improved since Quarter 2 and that the Government had provided £17.8m additional grant and £18.5m emergency money. He added that the risk of a significant financial shortfall as a result of Covid had reduced.

The Leader thanked the finance team for their work in getting to this position but cautioned that Covid finances were one off which made it difficult to plan ahead. She added that Covid finance would be allocated to the areas of domestic violence, communicable disease control, education attainment and employment and addressing pressures in Children’s and Adult Social Care.

The Healthy People and Places Portfolio Holder reported that there would be investment in Adult Social Care and Learning Disabilities. She added that the alternate fuel centre would reduce carbon emissions and improve the health of people living and working in the district.

The Regeneration, Planning and Transport Portfolio Holder referred to the investment in key regeneration projects which would put the district in a better position coming out of the Covid 19 pandemic.

A member question was asked about the total budget for Darley street Market and how much of it had been spent. The Regeneration, Planning and Transport Portfolio Holder confirmed that a written response would be provided.

A member question was asked whether the Ilkley parking scheme involved creating new parking areas and whether card payments could be made at payment machines without using the app. The Regeneration, Planning and Transport Portfolio Holder responded that the scheme was designed to manage a balance between residential and business parking and to utilise unmanaged spaces not creating new car parks. He added that payments could be made by card or using the app.

A member question was asked about whether CCTV cameras used to detect fly tipping could also detect moorland fires. The Healthy People and Places Portfolio Holder responded that CCTV were specifically for hot spots where fly tipping occurred and she was unsure that they would pick up moor fires.

Resolved -