Issue - meetings

This report is due to be pre-scrutinised at a meeting of the Budget Scrutiny Working Group scheduled to take place on Monday 10^th January 2022.  Any recommendations on this subject will be reported for the consideration of the Executive Committee in a supplementary pack.

The Executive Director of Resources presented the Financial Outturn Report 2020/21.  Members were asked to note that in total an underspend of £373,000 had been identified by the end of the financial year.  The underspend would be reinvested in the general fund position for the 2021/22 financial year.  This underspend had a number of causes which included the following:

·            Borrowing costs had been £183,000 lower than anticipated.  This was due to low interest rates as well as to the short-term benefits arising from Government business grant funding being placed in the Council’s accounts, though this grant funding had subsequently been distributed amongst eligible local companies.

·            In total £330,000 savings had been achieved in respect of management of Council assets and properties.  During the Covid-19 pandemic, Redditch Town Hall and other Council buildings had been closed to the public, with most staff working from home, and this had resulted in savings on utilities, particularly heating.

Following the presentation of the report, the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling welcomed the underspend that had been achieved in the 2020/21 financial year.  However, the Committee was advised that there remained significant financial pressures for the Council and difficult decisions would need to be taken to address these pressures. 

The action that had been taken to achieve savings with respect to management of Council assets was praised, and the Corporate Management Team (CMT) were urged to consider further action that could be taken to achieve savings in future through management of Council assets.  Officers confirmed that use of Redditch Town Hall was in the process of being reviewed.  CMT were aiming to reduce footfall at the Town Hall and to enable an agile working model at the Council.

Reference was also made specifically to the savings that had been achieved in relation to heating the Town Hall and other Council buildings and the beneficial impact of new windows in the building on heating costs.  The Committee was advised that further measures that could be adopted to address heating in Council buildings were being considered.  However, Members were asked to note that any action might only be sufficient to offset anticipated increases to utilities costs, which were likely to increase by over 5 per cent in the 2022/23 financial year.

RESOLVED that

1)         the current financial position in relation to the revenue budgets for the year April 2020 – March 2021 as detailed in the report is noted; and

2)         the additional £120k of general covid grant that will be paid to Rubicon Leisure Limited to balance the year end position, as agreed by the S 151 Officer under delegated authority, be noted.