Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The Leader advised that the proceedings were being audio recorded and live streamed by the Council.

That Cabinet:

a)        note the General Fund projected favourable outturn variance of £0.363m to usable reserves;

b)        note the Housing Revenue Account projected unfavourable outturn variance of £0.390m to the Major Repairs Reserve;

c)        approve the variations to the Capital Programme at Appendix E; and

d)        approve the Capital Programme revised budget and financing of £67.565m.

Members considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive/Director – Resources which provided an update of the forecasted outturn position for the 2022/23 financial year for the Council’s General Fund and Housing Revenue Account, revenue and capital budgets.  The report also provided performance information against the approved estimates of revenue expenditure and income; reported on major variances from planned budget performance; and reported on the variations to the Capital Programme for approval.  The accounts showed a projected favourable outturn variance for the General Fund of £0.363m; a projected unfavourable outturn variance for the HHRA of £0.390m with Members’ approval being sought to approve the variations to the Capital Programme and the revised budget for the Capital Programme of £67.565m. 

In considering the report, a Member suggested that the projected favourable outturn for the General Fund be ringfenced to mitigate the cost of living crisis rather than being allocated to usable reserves.  Officers advised that the figure was only a projection and to ringfence it, as suggested, would negatively impact the medium-term financial plan. 

AGREED      (unanimously) that:

a)            the General Fund projected favourable outturn variance of £0.363m to usable reserves be noted;

b)            the Housing Revenue Account projected unfavourable outturn variance of £0.390m to the Major Repairs Reserve be noted;

c)             the variations to the Capital Programme at Appendix E be approved; and

d)            the Capital Programme revised budget and financing of £67.565m be approved.

AGREED      that the Community Plan Performance Report be noted, with the Cabinet considering the Council’s performance against its objectives and highlighted areas of high performance and areas for improvement.

The Cabinet considered the Community Plan Performance Report for Q4 presented by the Transformation & Service Improvement Officer which provided Members with the opportunity to review the performance information for Q2 and the supplementary documents highlighting customer complaints.  The performance information was assessed against the Council’s Community Plan objectives. 

The Cabinet noted the improvement to the reletting figures for Council housing and that the Starting Well Scheme had been well received by tenants.  It was also noted that the number of days taken to process applications for housing benefit was being considered by the Policy & Performance Improvement Committee with a view to how this may be further reduced.  It was further noted that a report would be presented to a future meeting of the Cabinet to consider the findings of the ASB Working Group and recommendations thereon from the Policy & Performance Improvement Committee.

AGREED      that the Community Plan Performance Report for Q2 be noted.