Issue - meetings

To receive a report from the Chief Finance Officer presenting details of the Council’s projected financial performance for 2020/21.

Executive Councillor: J Gray.

The Cabinet has:

(a)  considered and commented upon the financial performance at the end of March 2021 and the register of reviews of Commercial Investment Strategy propositions as detailed in Appendices 1 and 2 of the report;

(b)  considered and approved the proposed budget carry forwards for the revenue outturn as detailed in Appendix 3; and

(c)  considered and approved the proposed budget carry forwards for the capital outturn as detailed in Appendix 1.

A report by the Chief Finance Officer was submitted (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) presenting details of the Council’s financial performance at the end of the 2020/21 financial year. Attention was also drawn to an addendum to the report (a copy of which is also appended in the Minute Book) where an updated covering report and Appendix 1 had been circulated.

The Executive Councillor for Strategic Finance drew the Cabinet’s attention to the highlights within the report, specifically the estimated revenue outturn underspend of £0.064m and estimated capital outturn underspend of £13.415m. Attention was drawn to the summary revenue variances by service as outlined in the table shown at paragraph 3.2 of the updated report together with the main reasons for variances in the capital programme as outlined in paragraph 3.3 of the report.

Having commended the Chief Finance Officer and her team for the production of a comprehensive report and the Executive Councillor for Strategic Finance for his stewardship over the years, and in noting the views of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Performance and Growth), it was

RESOLVED

that the Cabinet has:

(a)  considered and commented upon the financial performance at the end of March 2021 and the register of reviews of Commercial Investment Strategy propositions as detailed in Appendices 1 and 2 of the report;

(b)  considered and approved the proposed budget carry forwards for the revenue outturn as detailed in Appendix 3; and

(c)  considered and approved the proposed budget carry forwards for the capital outturn as detailed in Appendix 1.

The Financial Performance Report 2020/21, Quarter 4 is to be presented to the Panel.

(Report to follow).

With the aid of a report by the Chief Finance Officer (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Financial Performance Report 2020/21 (Quarter 4) was presented to the Panel.

The Executive Leader advised the Panel that when the pandemic started, the Council did not have the benefit of hindsight of where we are now. The need to do the right thing for residents along with supporting local communities took precedence and that the financial support from the Government which followed was unprecedented.

Following a query by Councillor Sanderson, it was confirmed that a one off grant providing funding for the clinically and extremely vulnerable was part of a national support package giving an amount per head on residents identified by local GPs.

It was noted that to ensure recovery, financial strategies were put in place to monitor income streams throughout the pandemic. The significant achievements of the teams involved to not only support local communities but also remain under budget was noted.

The Panel welcomed the report and thanked officers for their hard work and diligence over the course of the challenging year.