Issue - meetings

Financial and Performance Management

Meeting: 19/11/2024 - Corporate Overview Group (Item 23)

23 Financial and Performance Management pdf icon PDF 250 KB

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Finance Monitoring

 

The Senior Finance Business Partner presented the Q2 Financial Monitoring report for 2024/25 which informed the Group that the financial climate was beginning to show some signs of improvement, however the recent high inflation has impacted on cost pressures for the Council’s budget.

 

The Senior Finance Business Partner advised the Group that there were predicted net revenue efficiencies and significant variances as highlighted at table 1 and table 2 in the covering report. These represent variances against budgeted Net Service Expenditure, which is proposed to be earmarked for additional cost pressures and financial challenges as discussed in the report.

 

The Group were advised of an underspend of the original Capital Programme and the rephasing of some of the 2024/25 schemes into 2025/26. The Senior Finance Business Partner Explained that the remaining underspend was due to no site being identified for a traveller’s site acquisition and some of this being released back into reservices and reallocated towards Carbon Offsetting. The Group also noted there had also been savings around Rushcliffe Oaks Crematorium and Bingham Leisure Centre.

 

The Senior Finance Business Parter highlighted that the Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG’s) budgets were fully committed and that the Council recognises the need to support dome of the most vulnerable in the community, adding that following on from the discussions at the recent joint Communities and Growth and Development Scrutiny Group meeting it is proposed that £200,000 be committed to DFG’s from the in-year budget efficiencies in the short term.

 

The Group noted that the current projected monitoring means that any borrowing requirement can be met from internal resources with no need for external borrowing in this financial year.

 

In concluding the Senior Finance Business Partner informed the Group that the Council’s revenue position remains relatively healthy largely due to higher interest returns as a result of interest rates remaining higher for longer, whilst emphasising this position can quickly change, as pressures on budgets and challenges around the Council’s environmental objectives and economic growth objectives increase. The Council continues to keep a tight control over its expenditure, identifies changing income streams, maintains progress against its Transformation Strategy and retains a good reserves position to help manage risk.

 

Councillor Plant commented on the traveller’s site, raising concerns that this has moved to a future financial year and asked whether it was a statutory requirement to provide adequate traveller sites and what can be done to achieve this. The Senior Finance Business Partner explained that the Council along with an agent is actively looking for suitable sites to acquire. The Director for Finance and Corporate Services added that the Council, as part of its local plan provision, does have to provide its quota in respect of numbers. An update would be provided to the Group. Councillor Edyvean highlighted that landowners are not interested in providing such sites making it challenging for the Council to acquire land for this purpose, he added that there is provision for traveller pitches at the Fairham development which is progressing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23