Councillor Moore advised that this budget had
been cleverly set anticipating the adverse impact of Covid,
together with a combination of budget efficiencies, Business Rates
and government funding had helped mitigate the financial impact of
income loses. Cabinet was advised that
the position remained volatile, with the reduction in Business
Rates as a result of the power station appeal, additional charity
reliefs and the subsequent reduction in the Business Rates Pool
surplus affecting the Council. The
Council had an outturn surplus of £54k, which considering the
recent difficult times, was pleasing to note.
In respect of the Capital Programme, Councillor
Moore confirmed that the Council currently had an underspend of
£5.1m, which was again largely due to slight delays in
rephasing of work schedules. Cabinet
noted the main items impacting on the current Revenue Budget,
detailed in Table I of the report. In
terms of the timings on Capital Receipts, it was noted that any
borrowing could be met from internal resources.
In conclusion, Councillor Moore drew
Cabinet’s attention to the important information in the
report related to the implications of bringing Streetwise in house
and of the Council’s decision to replenish the Climate Change
Reserve by £200k, to reinstate it to £1m. It was confirmed that all capital schemes would
now be assessed for carbon reduction elements, and that fund would
be used accordingly.
In seconding the recommendation, Councillor
Brennan stated that it was pleasing to receive such a positive
report, which also recognised a number of on-going risks in the
wider operating environment, which the Council need to be mindful
of. Councillor Brennan advised that
just as the Council had quickly anticipated an improvement in
circumstances following Covid, given recent international
instability, it was pleasing that the budget efficiencies had
enabled the Council to have a robust buffer in place to counter
such eventualities, and that it continued to support and invest in
key initiatives for the Borough.
It is RESOLVED that Cabinet approves the
attached report both noting and agreeing to:
a)the expected revenue budget efficiency for the year
of £0.054m inclusive of committed reserves;
b)the planned use of reserves totalling £4.140m
(detailed in Appendix A of the report);
c)the capital underspend of £5.1m;
and
d)the expected outturn position for Special Expenses
of £15.7k deficit.