65 Revenue Management Report - Quarter 2 PDF 253 KB
To consider and decide on the recommendations as set out in the attached report.
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED –
1. That at Quarter 2 net expenditure on services year to date was £11,685,000, £2,608,000 more than budget be noted;
2. That by year end the Council anticipated net expenditure of £18,760,000 on services, £6,343,000 over budget and a further £537,000 since Quarter 1, be noted;
3. That by year end the Council anticipated receiving an increase in funding of £4,127,000, a further £177,000 since Quarter 1 reducing the deficit to £2,216,000 over budget, be noted; and
4. That write offs as set out in Paragraph 2.27 of the report and detailed in Appendix J to the report be approved.
REASON FOR DECISION: To show the actual expenditure on services compared to the revised budget for the period ending 30 September 2020, and the forecast outturn position, highlighting significant variances from the revised annual budget.
Minutes:
Jane Fineman, Head of Finance, Procurement and Parking introduced the report that showed actual expenditure on services compared to the revised budget for the period ending 30 September 2020.
Discussion and responses to Members questions included the following:
- Actual expenditure to the end of September 2020 was £11.685m, £2.6m over budget.
- This consisted of a shortfall in income of £4m less a saving in cost of £1.4m.
- The forecast outturn for the year was £2.2m over budget. An increase since quarter 1 of £360k.
- At quarter 1, the income from sales, fees and charges was forecast to be £6.8m under achieved for the year due to the impact of Covid-19. This had increased by £145k in quarter 2 to £6.9m. This was mainly due to the underachievement of £289k from the Fusion Leisure Centre management fee, a reduction in Court income of £80k and a further reduction in planning income of £25k.
- This was offset by additional income of £249k for the Assembly Hall Theatre. However, as the Theatre had now closed again, this would be taken account of in quarter 3.
- Government had offered some compensation to help with income losses. The Council must bear the cost of the first 5% of the lost budgeted income, but Government would then compensate for 0.75p in every £1 thereafter.
- The Council had estimated that this compensation would be around £3.725m.
- This was an increase of £177k from quarter 1 from the loss of income from the sports centres.
- Forecast cost savings were anticipated to be £602k for the year. A decrease of £392k this quarter. The main contributor was £420k for additional financial support for the sports centres.
- Also, costs of £233k had been forecast back into the budget for the Assembly Hall Theatre.
- The remaining savings of £261k mainly consisted of savings from staff vacancies.
- The Council had also estimated a lower collection of Council Tax and Housing Rents of £825K.
- Council Tax recovery had fallen which meant the level of bad debt was likely to increase. In addition the eligibility for the Council Tax Support System was increasing, which meant the Council would recover less.
- It was also projected there would be a decrease in investment and bank interest of £187k this year due to the drop in interest rates to 0/1%.
- It was also forecast that the £85k rent for the property on Monson Road would not be collected.
- To date, 3 tranches of Government Support Grants had been received by the Council. The money received, along with a new Burdens Grant of £170k had all been included in the forecast.
- Cabinet approved the use of Council ear-marked reserves to fund the balance of £1.856m forecast in quarter 1 and would now be asked to fund the additional £360k.
- The Council had £21.2m of usable reserves as at 31 March 2020 which included £4.09m in the General Fund and £11.26m ... view the full minutes text for item 65
13 Revenue Management Report - Quarter 2 PDF 254 KB
To consider and provide a recommendation to Cabinet on the proposals set out in the attached report.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Jane Fineman, Head of Finance, Procurement and Parking introduced the report that showed actual expenditure on services compared to the revised budget for the period ending 30 September 2020.
Discussion and responses to Members questions included the following:
- Actual expenditure to the end of September was £11.685m, £2.6m over budget.
- This consisted of a shortfall in income of £4m less a saving in cost of £1.4m.
- The forecast outturn for the year was £2.2m over budget. An increase since quarter 1 of £360k.
- At quarter 1, the income from sales, fees and charges was forecast to be £6.8m under achieved for the year due to the impact of Covid-19. This increased by £145k in quarter 2 to £6.945m. This was mainly due to the under achievement of £289k for the Fusion Leisure Centre management fee income, a reduction in Court income, £80k from revenues and benefits and a further reduction in planning income of £25k. This was offset by additional income of £249k for the Assembly Hall Theatre.
- Government had offered some compensation to help with income losses. The Council must bare the cost of the first 5% of the lost income, but then Government would then compensate for 0.75p in every £1 thereafter.
- The Council had estimated that the level of compensation would be around £3.725m and this had been provided for in the forecast.
- This was an increase of £177k from quarter 1 from the loss of income for the sports centres.
- Forecast cost savings were anticipated to be £602k for the year. A decrease of £392k this quarter. The main contributor was £420k for additional financial support for the sports centres. Also, costs of £233k had been forecast back into the budget for the Assembly Hall as it had now reopened.
- The remaining saving of £261k mainly consisted of savings from staff vacancies.
- A lower collection of £825k for Council Tax and Housing Rents had also been estimated.
- It was anticipated that the level of bad debt would increase and the eligibility for Council Tax support would also increase.
- It was also projected that there would be a decrease in investment and bank interest of £187k this year due to the drop in interest rates to 0.1%.
- It was also forecast that the £85k rent for the property in Monson Road would not be collected.
- The Government had allocated some Covid-19 Support Grants through 3 tranches of funding so far. This funding, along with a new Burdens Grant of £170k to meet delivery costs associated with grant funding schemes had all been included in the forecast.
- Cabinet approved the use of Council ear-marked reserves to fund the balance of £1.856m forecast at quarter 1. It would now be asked to fund the additional £360k.
- The Council had £21.2m of usable reserves as at 31 March 2020. This included £4.09m in the General Fund and £11.26m in ear-marked reserves.
- The reserves ... view the full minutes text for item 13