Decision details

As part of the Council’s closure of its 2021/22 accounts consideration to be given to the earmarking of reserves for the purposes stated in the report to be received at Executive Board.

The Chief Officer (Financial Services) submitted a report presenting the Council’s final outturn position for the 2021/22 financial year in respect of both the revenue and capital budgets and also the Housing Revenue Account. The report also included expenditure on schools. In addition, the report also sought approval of proposals regarding the creation of earmarked reserves and injections into the Capital Programme.

In introducing the report, the Executive Member extended her thanks on behalf of the Board to the Chief Officer Financial Services and her team for the work which had been undertaken in getting the Council to its outturn position, given the range and scale of challenges which continued to be faced, with it being noted that the final position on the General Fund shows an underspend of £1.5m.

In response to a Member’s specific enquiry, the Board received further detail on the financial implications for the Council should any potential pay settlement in the current financial year be above what had already been budgeted for.

Responding to a Member’s comments, the Board received an update on the current position in relation directorate budget reviews and the delivery of directorate budget action plans.  Further to this, whilst acknowledging the financial support that the Council had received from Government during the pandemic, it was noted that the Authority had not been allocated further resource to deal with related backlogs, which had been the case in some other sectors. It was also noted that dialogue continued with the Government on such matters, however, when considering the significant financial challenges that continued to be faced by the Council, it was emphasised that all directorates would need to undertake financial reviews moving forward.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the Council’s outturn position for the 2021/22 financial year, as detailed within the submitted report, be noted;

(b)  That the creation of earmarked reserves, as detailed within Appendix 1 to the submitted report, be agreed, and that the release of such reserves be delegated to the Chief Officer Financial Services;

(c)  That it be noted that the Chief Officer Financial Services will be responsible for the implementation of the actions (detailed above/below) following the conclusion of the “Call In” period;

(d)  That the following injections into the Capital Programme be approved, as detailed at Appendix 5A (iii) to the submitted report:-

·  £63,116.9k of Basic Need and High Needs Provision Capital Allocation (HNPCA) Grants for Schools;

·  £27,743.7k of external contributions for the Connecting Leeds / Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme;

·  £2,499.3k of external contributions for Leeds Playhouse; and

·  £3,746.5k of other external contributions;

(e)  That the additional Capital Receipts Incentive Scheme (CRIS) allocations to Wards and Community Committees for the period October 2021 to March 2022 of £262.3k, be noted.