The reasons for urgency were noted.

DECISION

1.    To note the council’s position and consequent forecast outturn as at 30^th June 2023, against General Fund Budget (based on the previous structures), Dedicated Schools Budget, Housing Revenue Account and earmarked reserves for 2023-24. 

2.    To note the actions taken to date to address the demand pressures as set out in Appendix A, Section 3.2 to the report.

3.    To note the progress made against the 2023-24 savings targets, based on forecasts as of 30^th June 2023.

4.    To note the council’s forecast outturn position against General Fund and Housing Revenue Account capital programme approved budgets for 2023-24, based on forecasts as of 30^th June 2023.

5.    To note that there are no equalities implications directly resulting from this report, as set out in Section 4 of the report.

6.    To approve capital investment of £80k in the London Community Credit Union (LCCU) funded from the COVID reserve.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (JULIE LORRAINE)

(Interim Director of Finance, Procurement and Audit (John Harrison)

(Head of Strategic Finance (Chief Accountant) (Ahsan Khan)

The reasons for urgency were agreed.

Councillor Saied Ahmed (Cabinet Member for Resources and the Cost of Living) introduced the report which presented the current forecast year end outturn compared to the budget as at Quarter 1 for the General Fund, Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Housing Revenue Account (HRA), progress against savings targets, the council’s capital programme and provided projections on General Fund earmarked reserves. Councillor Ahmed provided additional details on the causes of overspends and underspends as reflected in the report, for each of the budgets. He explained that unachievable savings would need to be addressed in future updates. Finally, he explained the causes for capital programme variance and how slippages would be carried forward into future years, both for the general fund, and HRA capital programmes

Julie Lorraine, Corporate Director Resources and John Harkin, Interim Director Finance Procurement and Audit, explained the current context of local authority financial challenges. Julie explained that the Council compared favourably to other local councils in respect of managing its budget saving slippages and was already taking measures to address them. Julie also warned that some of the drivers of overspend were likely to continue for the next few years. John explained that the Council would be thorough in ensuring its financial performance did not deteriorate in the way some authorities elsewhere in the country had recently experienced.

The Chief Executive echoed the comments of Julie and John. He stressed the council's financial position could not be compared to other local authorities that were in dire financial circumstances. He stressed that the council was resilient, had robust systems in place, had sufficient reserves and had a high-quality team to deliver balanced budget, savings and growth.

Julie also provided an update to the Mayor and Cabinet on the current position regarding the closure of outstanding accounts. Julie provided assurance that the closure outstanding accounts would be progressed, but asked members to note that there remained risks which would be closely monitored.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the council’s position and consequent forecast outturn as at 30^th June 2023, against General Fund Budget (based on the previous structures), Dedicated Schools Budget, Housing Revenue Account and earmarked reserves for 2023-24. 

2.    To note the actions taken to date to address the demand pressures as set out in Appendix A, Section 3.2 to the report.

3.    To note the progress made against the 2023-24 savings targets, based on forecasts as of 30^th June 2023.

4.    To note the council’s forecast outturn position against General Fund and Housing Revenue Account capital programme approved budgets for 2023-24, based on forecasts as of 30^th June 2023.

5.    To note that there are no equalities implications directly resulting from this report, as set out in Section 4 of the report.

6.    To approve capital investment of £80k in the London Community Credit Union (LCCU) funded from the COVID reserve.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (JULIE LORRAINE)

(Interim Director of Finance, Procurement and Audit (John Harrison)

(Head of Strategic Finance (Chief Accountant) (Ahsan Khan)