Purpose

The report provides the Executive
with details of the actual revenue expenditure for 2023/24 for the General Fund
and Housing Revenue and Repairs Account.

 

The revised budget set by the
Executive for the General Fund in February was predicting a small
underspend of £58,800. Although budget monitoring had been indicating some
pressure points during the year the outturn position is still an underspend, of
£35,841, which will be added to the Council’s reserves.

 

The main reasons for this was some unexpected 
income in some areas, such as leisure centre grant income, recycling
credits and the garden waste service where the take up of the services
continues to remain high. However, there have still been pressures on the budgets
in the year, in particular for bed and breakfast
expenses for the homelessness service and also vehicle costs for the waste
collection and street cleansing services.

 

This small contribution to
reserves will help protect the council’s financial position going forward. Some
trends in increased expenditure such as fuel prices and materials costs have
continued during 2023/24 and the levels of Government’s financial support
remain uncertain with a further delay to the Fair Funding Review. There also
remains uncertainty to income generated by council services as in 2023/24 we
have seen reductions in planning income and the town centre parking income is
still well below the pre-covid levels. The Council’s underlying financial
position remains a concern as was highlighted in the Medium-Term Finance
Strategy, albeit actions taken in the year have delayed the problem by a year.
The new Opportunities Plan will continue to attempt to identify areas where
spending can be reduced or where additional income can be generated to help
bridge the forecasted funding gap in 2026/27.

 

There are a number of
pressures on the Housing Revenue and Repairs Account (HRA). This is due
to the responsive repairs costs remaining high as well
as the planned maintenance and other capital costs. The account has also been
impacted by the government cap on rents. The Council has therefore made use of
favourable loan rates to increase the borrowing for the HRA by £3.254 million
and protect the HRA reserves position which have now increased by £0.096
million. Work is also underway to implement an Opportunities Plan specifically
for the HRA.

Decision

RESOLVED that the Executive notes the content of the report.