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The Scrutiny Committee - Monday, 8th September, 2025 6.30 pm
September 8, 2025 View on council website Watch video of meetingSummary
The Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and General Fund outturn reports for 2024/2025, as well as the Q1 Finance & Performance Monitoring report. The committee also considered a work request from Councillor Brian Laming regarding the Planning Enforcement Service, and reviewed the committee's work programme and forward plan of key decisions. The committee made recommendations to the cabinet regarding all of these topics.
Housing Revenue Account Outturn 2024/2025
The committee scrutinised and commented on the draft cabinet report CAB3516 regarding the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Outturn for 2024/2025, which is to be considered by the cabinet at its meeting on 10 September 2025. The HRA is a separate account that local authorities use to manage income and expenditure related to their social housing stock1.
General Fund Outturn 2024/2025
The committee scrutinised and commented on the draft cabinet report CAB3514 regarding the General Fund Outturn for 2024/2025, which is to be considered by the cabinet at its meeting on 10 September 2025. The General Fund is the main revenue fund of the council, which pays for the majority of council services2. The report also contained an exempt appendix (appendix 7), and the committee considered whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.
Q1 Finance & Performance Monitoring
The Scrutiny Committee reviewed the Q1 Finance & Performance Monitoring report, ref CAB3513, which is being presented to Cabinet on 10 September 2025. The committee was asked to raise any issues arising from the information in this report with the Deputy Leader or relevant Cabinet member, and to consider whether there are any items of significance to resolve or to be drawn to the attention of Cabinet.
Work Request: The Planning Enforcement Service
Following a request from Councillor Brian Laming, the committee considered a work programme request to conduct a focused review of Winchester City Council's Planning Enforcement Service. The committee was asked to consider the request and, if supported, to establish a time-limited Task & Finish Group to conduct the review.
Other Business
The committee noted its current work programme and the latest Forward Plan of Key Decisions.
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The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is a ring-fenced account that local authorities use to manage the income and expenditure relating to their social housing. This ensures that council tenants' rents are used for the provision and maintenance of social housing. ↩
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The General Fund is the main revenue account of a local authority. It is used to pay for the majority of council services, such as social care, education, waste management, and leisure services. The General Fund is funded by council tax, business rates, and government grants. ↩
Attendees
Topics
No topics have been identified for this meeting yet.