Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor G Alexander.

There were no items of urgent business received.

There were no declarations of interest received.

There were no public questions received.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 10^th February 2022 are attached for approval.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 10^th February 2022 be approved as a correct record.

The Committee considered the Council’s Performance Report for December 202, which was presented by the Director of Finance.

The Council’s corporate performance report monitored delivery against the Covid-19 Recovery Strategy. The Committee was informed that 90% of actions within the recovery strategy were on track for completion within the specified period or had already been completed. 66% of updated targeted measures were performing on or above target. The Council Senior Management Team would continue to closely monitor all actions, risks and other measures introduced that supported the successful delivery of the Covid-19 Recovery Strategy which was a key priority for the Council. The Committee’s report provided Members with a breakdown by work area and themes and further details on exceptions were also included in the report.

The report highlighted the following actions/measures that were coded red (unlikely to achieve a positive outcome in the specified timescale), for which portfolio holders and lead officers were requested to be accountable.

a.    Safeguarding and supporting the Borough’s most vulnerable residents

b.    Working with communities to improve health and wellbeing

c.    Reducing poverty and helping people get back on their feet

In considering these ‘red coded’ areas of work, the Committee sought assurances from Officers that remedial action was in place to attempt to rectify the various problems that had been highlighted in the report.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Committee scrutinised a report of the Director of Finance which provided Members with an update on the Council’s 2021/22 forecast revenue budget position at Annex 1 and the financial position of the 2021/22 capital programme as at 31 December 2021 (Month 9 - Quarter 3) together with the revised capital programme 2022/23 to 2026/27, as outlined in section two of Annex 2. An opportunity was taken to update the forecasts and grant detail in the report where information had been received more recently and has an impact on the financial projections included in the report.

In terms of the revenue position, the current forecast outturn position for 2021/22 was a projected surplus variance of £2.680m after allowing for approved and pending transfers to and from reserves. The position included additional costs and pressures that had been identified by the Authority in the current financial year as a direct result of the COVID pandemic. The additional pressures included forecasts of both income shortfalls and additional expenditure that had impacted on the Authority’s budgets. The pandemic continued to affect nearly all aspects of the Council service delivery. The most significant areas of concern remained the People and Place, Children’s Services and Community Health & Adult Social Care Portfolios. Action was being taken and would continue right up to the end of the financial year to address variances and take mitigating action as detailed in the report.

Information on the Month 9 - Quarter 3 position of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Collection Fund was also outlined in the report. There were currently no significant issues of concern in relation to the HRA. The Collection Fund position had improved in-year and the deficit of £12.159m remained unchanged from the previous month; the Councils share of the deficit was £11.785m. Government grant compensation of £13.092m would offset this to produce a forecast surplus of £1.307m which would be available to support the 2022/23 budget. Whilst the DSG continued to be an area which was facing a financial challenge, recent funding announcements in particular had contributed to an improved position, reducing the cumulative deficit, and bringing the DSG towards an enhanced balanced position in 2023/24.

In terms of the Capital Position, the report outlined the most up to date capital position for 2021/22 to 2026/27 for approved schemes. The revised capital programme budget for 2021/22 was £38.709m which was considerable movement from the month 8 forecast of £52.588m and a net decrease of £47.293m from the original budget of £86.002m. Actual expenditure to 31 December 2021 was £29.304m (75.7% of the forecast outturn). It was anticipated that the forecast capital outturn would be close to the final position, however further reprofiling up to the year-end may be done.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

RESOLVED that the report be deferred to a future meeting on the Committee.

RESOLVED that the Key Decision Document be noted.

RESOLVED that the Performance Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme be noted.