Issue - meetings

To consider Financial Outturn & Rollover Report 2024/25 incorporating

General Fund Revenue, Housing Revenue Account, Capital and Treasury Management.

Wards affected: all

Contact: James Anderson, Head of Accountancy

RESOLVED – That the report be referred to Council with a recommendation that;

General Fund

1)    Note the improved revenue outturn position of +£5.6m overspend for 2024/25 (+£9.9m at Q3);

2)    Note the year end position on reserves and balances of £61.0m (excluding Statutory Reserves), particularly that the level of general reserve remains unchanged at £25m (paragraphs 3.2.19- 22);

3)    Approve the creation of the Strategic Budget Contingency reserve (paragraph 3.2.21), with a balance of £3.5m at 31/3/25; funded from the Voluntary Revenue Provision Reserve;

4)    Note the application of the Councils flexible capital receipts strategy to the value of £5.5m applied against eligible transformation costs in 2024/25 thereby reducing revenue expenditure, in accordance with the agreed budget (paragraph 3.2.32);

5)    Note the regular monitoring and review of corporate reserves in 2025/26 to be reported to Cabinet as part of the Quarterly financial monitoring cycle;

6)    Note the year end deficit position on the Collection Fund of £10.2m;

HRA

7)    Note the HRA revenue outturn position for 2024/25 as an underspend of £1.3m reducing the contribution to capital in 24/25 by £1.3m. Note the year end reserves balance of £30.6m compared to £33.9m in 23/24;

Capital

8)    Note the Council capital outturn position at £140.6m for 2024/25

9)    Approve the £13.7m capital slippage from 2024/25 to 2025/26 and removal of £0.4m uncommitted rollover from the Capital Plan (paragraph 3.2.33);

10) Note the revised capital plan for the period 2025/26 onwards after taking into account the re-phasing of schemes and additional grant funding assumptions (Appendix 4a: Summary Capital Plan and Appendix 4b: Detailed Capital Plan); Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)

11)Note the cumulative deficit on the DSG of £63.8m, an increase of £20.1m from the previous year, and that this deficit was excluded from the Council’s balance sheet as a result of the Statutory Override as set out in the Local Authority Capital Finance and Accounting Regulations. Also to note the recent two year extension to Statutory Override, which now ends in March 2028 pending further consultation updates from Government expected in Autumn 2025.

Treasury Management

12)Note the Review of Treasury Management activity for 2024/25 (Appendix 5)

(Under the provision of Council Procedure Rule 36(1), Cabinet received a representation from Councillors Scott and Taylor).

Cabinet gave consideration to a report, prior to its submission to Council, which set out information on the Council’s 2024/25 financial outturn position for General Fund Revenue, Housing Revenue Account (HRA), and Capital Plan, including proposals for revenue and capital rollover from 2024/25 to 2025/26.

The report advised that the outturn position had improved significantly to a £5.6 million overspend, compared to a projected overspend of £13 million at Quarter 3. This improvement was attributed to tighter financial controls, including recruitment restrictions, maximisation of external funding, and underspends in central budgets. The year-end position on reserves and balances stood at £61.1 million, with the general reserve maintained at £25 million. The HRA reported an operational underspend of £1.3 million, although a £4.6 million revenue contribution to capital required a £3.3 million drawdown from reserves.

The slides contained within the considered report provided a detailed breakdown of the outturn financial monitoring position in relation to (i) General Fund revenue outturn by service area, (ii) General Fund reserves and balances movements in-year, (iii) HRA revenue outturn and reserve movements, (iv) Capital outturn position of £140.6 million, (v) the Council’s Collection Fund deficit of £10.2 million, and (vi) Treasury Management activity and prudential indicators. It was noted that, subject to approval, capital slippage of £13.7 million and the update of the multi-year capital plan (now totalling £1.273 billion) would be incorporated into in-year financial monitoring in 2025/26 and reported quarterly to Cabinet from Quarter 1 onwards.

RESOLVED -

General Fund

1)    Note the improved revenue outturn position of +£5.6m overspend for 2024/25 (+£9.9m at Q3);

2)    Note the year end position on reserves and balances of £61.0m (excluding Statutory Reserves), particularly that the level of general reserve remains unchanged at £25m (paragraphs 3.2.19- 22);

3)    Approve the creation of the Strategic Budget Contingency reserve (paragraph 3.2.21), with a balance of £3.5m at 31/3/25; funded from the Voluntary Revenue Provision Reserve;

4)    Note the application of the Councils flexible capital receipts strategy to the value of £5.5m applied against eligible transformation costs in 2024/25 thereby reducing revenue expenditure, in accordance with the agreed budget (paragraph 3.2.32);

5)    Note the regular monitoring and review of corporate reserves in 2025/26 to be reported to Cabinet as part of the Quarterly financial monitoring cycle;

6)    Note the year end deficit position on the Collection Fund of £10.2m;

HRA

7)    Note the HRA revenue outturn position for 2024/25 as an underspend of £1.3m reducing the contribution to capital in 24/25 by £1.3m. Note the year end reserves balance of £30.6m compared to £33.9m in 23/24;

Capital

8)    Note the Council capital outturn position at £140.6m for 2024/25

9)    Approve the £13.7m capital slippage from 2024/25 to 2025/26 and removal of £0.4m uncommitted rollover from the Capital Plan (paragraph 3.2.33);

10) Note the revised capital plan for the period 2025/26 onwards after taking into account the re-phasing of schemes and additional grant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20