This meeting included for discussion the Council's Statement of Accounts 2023/24, the adoption of changes to the Capital Programme, a review of Treasury Management, proposed amendments to the Council’s ethical standards framework, and a motion on violence against women and girls.

Statement of Accounts 2023/24

The report pack included for discussion the Council's Statement of Accounts for 2023/24.

The Statement of Accounts says that the Council employed 1,675 people on 1st October 2023. It says that there is a projected budget gap of £16.6m in 2025/26 rising to £38.7m per annum in 2027/28, as well as an average annual Dedicated Schools Grant¹ deficit of £5.3m for the same period. It says that the projections assume mitigation and transformation savings of £38.1m in 2024/25 rising to £65.3m by 2027/28.

The Statement of Accounts says that capital expenditure totalled £50.2m against a final estimate of £60.0m and that the council generated £41.9m in capital receipts. It also says that the net assets of the Pension Fund decreased by £49.0m (3.6%) during 2023/24, a result of net losses on disposals of investments and reductions in the value of investments.

The Statement of Accounts lists the Council's key strategic risks as including:

Failure to deliver a sustainable Financial Strategy which meets with Making Bromley Even Better priorities and failure of individual departments to meet budget

The Statement of Accounts also identifies six areas that require further work to monitor how the key risks facing the Council are being managed.

The Statement of Accounts includes the following comment about housing and homelessness in Bromley:

The numbers of households approaching as homeless are rising steadily year on year despite proactive prevention and partnership work to address this.

It also says:

Continuing uncertainty in the housing market means that at the present time procuring private sector accommodation has become more costly and difficult... The fall out rate is harder because there is increased competition from private renters. We are unable to procure the level that we need to meet demand. This puts an increased reliance on the provision of temporary accommodation, which is increasingly volitile; with prices escalating and supply drying up.

The document says:

The majority of out of borough placements are in other parts of London or Kent, but Bromley, along with all other London authorities, are being forced to secure homes further and further away from the borough boundaries (such as West Bromwich, Worthing and Leicester) to ensure that we are able to meet our statutory obligations in respect of Housing.

The Statement of Accounts lists the following as options being undertaken to address the budget gap:

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)² – came into effect in June 2021 with additional income of around £1.25m in 2024/25, rising to around £1.9m compared with the 2023/24 budget. Operational Property Review/Property Disposals – the acquisition and development of new Civic Offices, a major operational property rationalisation and refurbishment programme, and identifying properties for disposal and/or used to develop housing to help fund the capital programme and mitigate significant housing growth pressures.

Capital Programme Monitoring - Quarter 2, 2024/25

The report pack included for discussion changes to the Capital Programme. The Capital Programme was initially agreed at a meeting on 27 February 2024. The report pack includes an updated Capital Programme that reflects the decisions made at meetings held on 10 July 2024 and 27 November 2024.

The report pack says that the addition of £29m for the Bellegrove Housing Development scheme to the capital programme was included for discussion. The report pack says that this scheme will create a total of 68 units with a mix of 1 to 3 bedroom properties.

It says that the addition of £2,125k to the capital programme for the purchase of a new Children's Home was included for discussion.

The report pack says that the total capital expenditure budget is £313.8m over the period 2024/25 to 2028/29, funded by capital grants and capital receipts, external borrowing and earmarked revenue reserves.

Treasury Management - Quarter 2 performance 2024/25 and Mid-Year Review

The report pack includes a report on the Council's Treasury Management performance for the second quarter of 2024/25. The report says that the Council had £321.2m of investments at 30 September 2024.

The report includes details of a loan made by the Council to Project Beckenham³ for the acquisition, refurbishment and management of affordable housing. The report says that the council loaned Project Beckenham £2.45m in 2020/21 and £1.2m in 2021/22, on top of a £2.3m loan made in 2017/18. It says that repayments of £0.96m, £0.91m and £0.91m were made in 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24, leaving an outstanding balance of £2.17m.

The report says that the Council made two investments of £10m in UK Government bonds⁴. The first was made on 30 November 2021 for two years at a rate of 1.84%. The second was made on 1 August 2023 for two years at a rate of 6.61%.

The report says that the Council has invested in the following pooled investment funds:

• CCLA Local Authorities' Property Fund
• Fidelity Multi-Asset Income Fund
• Schroders Global Diversified Income Fund

The report says that the Council's budget for interest on investments in 2024/25 is £12.041m and that the current projection is that the outturn will be £12.441m.

Recommendations from the Standards Committee

The report pack includes for discussion proposed changes to the Council's Code of Conduct.

The report pack says that the following addition to the Code of Conduct was included for discussion:

The right to free speech under the law is the basis of democracy and will be upheld at all times and there is no right to be offended by any lawful speech.

Motion: Violence Against Women and Girls

The report pack includes for discussion a motion on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), which says that the Council has been unable to explain a drop in reporting of domestic violence of 25%. The motion calls on the Safer Bromley Partnership ⁵ to seek White Ribbon accreditation ⁶.