Issue - meetings

The Executive Director for Resources presented the Financial Outturn Report 2020/21 for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). 

The Committee was informed that the HRA had been underspent during the year by £1.9 million.  There were a number of reasons for this underspend, which were mainly related to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.  This included a reduction in expenditure on Repairs and Maintenance during the various lockdowns.  However, it was anticipated that the work that had not been delivered during this period would be undertaken during the 2021/22 financial year.

During consideration of this item, Members were asked to note that there had been a typographical error in the recommendation listed in the report.  The housing rents capital budget would need to increase by £465,000, rather than £436,000.  Furthermore, this would involve a process of reallocation, or the virement of funding, within the overall HRA capital budget rather than an increase to the budget.

Following the presentation of the report, the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Procurement explained that the proposed reallocation of £465,000 in the HRA capital budget would help to support the roll out of the Council’s new Housing IT system.  The new Housing IT system would be replacing the Saffron system that was still being used by the Council but which was not considered to be modern software.  The new system would be introduced in a context of significant change within the Housing Department, following a staff restructure and at a time when rent arrears were increasing due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on tenants’ personal finances.  Training would be provided to staff to enable them to make best use of the new IT system as soon as possible.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling also commented specifically on the report.  Members were asked to note that the funding for the £465,000 that would be reallocated to support the Housing IT system would be provided from the HRA and would not impact on the general fund position.

Reference was made to the backlog in terms of the work of the Repairs and Maintenance team, arising due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and questions were raised about how this work could be addressed in a timely manner.  The Committee was advised that external contractors would be procured to help clear the backlog, although the Council’s Repairs and Maintenance team would continue to undertake work and would be prioritising particular jobs for completion over forthcoming months.

RESOLVED that

1)         the outturn financial position (subject to audit) in relation to the HRA revenue and capital budgets for the year April 2020 – March 2021 as detailed in the report be noted; and

RECOMMENDED that

2)    a total of £465,000 be reallocated in the Housing Rents Capital Budget to the Housing System Capital Budget.