Agenda item

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Finance and Commercial Services on the Council’s provisional revenue outturn for 2009/10, which is subject to final accounting entries. 

The provisional General Fund position shows a net underspend of £4.4m against a net revenue budget of £151.2m (2.9%), improving the balance position from £3.7m at the start of the year to £8.1m.  This represents a significantly improved position to that anticipated over the course of the year and has primarily been achieved as a result of the impact of expenditure controls introduced in October 2009, the focussed use of earmarked and other specific reserves and the receipt of a one-off VAT refund of approximately £1m.  Also noted that capital expenditure for 2009/10 was £97.1m against the revised capital budget of £96.7m (100.4%) and the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) generated a surplus of £2.6m, bringing the ring-fenced HRA balance from £0.762m at the start of the year to £3.38m.

The Strategic Finance Controller also advised on the proposed allocation of funding from the contingency budget for 2010/11 and agreed to provide Members with a briefing paper on the reduction in the non-HRA Private Sector Households budget for 2010/11 which reflects the spending brought forward to 2009/10.

Agreed, as a matter of good financial practice, to:-

  (i)  Note the outturn and balances position of the Councils General Fund revenue budgets for 2009/10;

  (ii)  Approve the transfer of earmarked and specific reserves to and from the General Fund balances as detailed in paragraph 2.3 of the report;

  (iii)  Approve the final in-year budget adjustments as set out in paragraph 3.4 of the report;

  (iv)  Note the outturn and balances position of the Housing Revenue Account as set out in paragraph 5 of the report;

  (v)  Note the outturn position for the 2009/10 Financial Health Indicators as set out in paragraph 6 and Appendix B of the report;

  (vi)  Note the outturn position of the Council’s Capital Programme as set out in paragraph 7 of the report;

  (vii)  Approve the capital budget adjustments as set out in paragraph 7.8 of the report;

  (viii)  Approve the carry forward items from the 2009/10 Capital Programme to be incorporated into the 2010/11 and future years capital programme subject to a final review by the Corporate Director of Finance and Commercial Services as detailed in Appendix D of the report;

  (ix)  Approve the roll back of 2010/11 funding to meet 2009/10 Capital Programme costs incurred ahead of schedule as detailed in Appendix E of the report;

  (x)  Approve the appropriate rephasing of 2010/11 to 2012/13 capital budgets where expenditure is out of line with actuals;

  (xi)  Note the outturn position for the 2009/10 Prudential Indicators as set out in paragraph 8 and Appendix F of the report; and

  (xii)  Approve the 2010/11 budget virements from contingency as detailed in paragraph 4.1 of the report as follows:

Adult & Community Services department

a)  the increased costs of concessionary fares (£1m).

b)  Free access to leisure for pensioners (£130,000)

Children’s Services

c)  Youth access card (£150,000)

d)  Legal costs of safeguarding children (£300,000)

Customer Services

e)  Increased cost of Revenues and Benefits service (£1m)

Finance & Commercial Services

f)  Unachievable income expected from LHC (£250,000)

Resources/ Finance & Commercial Services

g)  Regeneration and Asset Management income targets not achievable due to market conditions (£500,000)

Resources

h)  The war memorial (£150,000).