Decision details

Executive Board will be asked to note the financial position of the Authority and to agree any release of reserves as necessary.

The Chief Officer (Financial Services) submitted a report which presented the Council’s provisional financial outturn position for the 2019/20 financial year and which sought approval to use the Council’s General Reserve to fund any overspend when compared to budgeted assumptions once the final position is known.

The Executive Member for Resources provided an update on the current position regarding the financial outturn for 2019/20, and with regard to 2020/21, it was emphasised that actions were being taken to record the financial impact of the pandemic, to manage the Council’s resources during this period and in the longer term the Council would seek to recover and receive as much of the resource it required as possible.

Members highlighted that the report which will cover the beginning of the 2020/21 financial year would begin to illustrate the true extent of the financial implications of the pandemic on the Council.

A Member welcomed the intention to submit proposals to address the currently projected overspend against the Children Looked After budget for 2020/21 to the June Board meeting.

Responding to a Member’s comments regarding the potential provision of information to the Executive on the relevant budgetary impact for partner organisations arising from the pandemic and the implications arising for the Council, the comments made were acknowledged and it was highlighted that this analysis would form part of the Council’s ‘response and recovery’ processes.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the projected provisional 2019/20 outturn for the Authority, as detailed within the submitted report, be noted;

(b)  That, in regard to the projected outturn position projected in the submitted report, approval be given for the use of the Council’s general reserve to fund any overspend when compared to budgeted assumptions once the final position is known, with any amount required from the general reserve being confirmed in the final outturn Financial Health report, which is timetabled to be received at June’s Executive Board. It was noted that the officer responsible for the implementation of this resolution is the Chief Officer, Financial Services;

(c)  That it be noted that financial pressures arising as a consequence of Coronavirus (COVID-19) will be met from the Government’s COVID-19 support grant allocation to the authority;

(d)  That, noting that the Children and Families directorate projects a variance of £3.8m against the Children Looked After (CLA) budget for 2020/21 based on projections of CLA numbers, the Director of Children and Families be requested to identify proposals to address the projected overspend and that these proposals be incorporated into the next Financial Health Monitoring report to be received at Executive Board.

This is a factual report and is not subject to consultation

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