Agenda item

A report by the Executive Director – Resources had been circulated.

An amendment had been submitted by the Shadow Executive.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED

That Council Procedure Rules 13.6 (b), 13.6 (c), 13.6 (d), 13.6 (e) and 13.10(b), be temporarily suspended for the duration of the debate to allow one debate on the motion and Shadow Executive amendment.

It was moved and seconded that the Council:

1.      Note the carry forward of underspends set out in paragraphs 1.16 and 1.17 of the report, which are made in line with Financial Regulations.

2.      Note the transfer to reserves of underspends described in paragraphs 1.18 to 1.20 which are made in line with Financial Regulations.

3.      Approve the use of underspend in excess of 1% referred to in paragraph 1.22 as follows:

a.      The transfer of £5.000m to the Development Fund earmarked reserve for local Highways works.

b.      The carry forward of £2.392m of the underspend to be allocated to the Council’s corporate revenue contingency budget 2022/23, to help deal with inflationary pressures.

4.      Note the performance against the Prudential Indicators as shown in Table D

5.      Note the transfers to and from reserves carried out in 2021/22 and note the position of Earmarked Reserves as at 31 March 2022 as shown in Table F of this report.

6.      Note the position of the General Reserves as set out in paragraph 1.26 and Table G.

7.      Note the key financial performance measures in 2021/22 as set out in Table H.

An amendment was moved and seconded on behalf of the Shadow Executive as follows:

Amend the existing Recommendation 3 to read: 

Approve the use of underspend in excess of 1% referred to in paragraph 1.22 as follows:   

a. The transfer of £5.000m £4.000m to the Development Fund earmarked reserve for local Highways works

b. The carry forward of £2.392m £1.892m of the underspend to be allocated to the Council’s corporate revenue contingency budget 2022/23, to help deal with inflationary pressures

c. The transfer of £1.5m to create an immediate ‘Cost of Living Emergency Fund’ for the purpose of co-ordinating urgently with the County’s seven district councils and other relevant public sector bodies and organisations within the voluntary and charitable sectors to organise and:   

Executive Director – Resources/s.151 Officer Commentary

The amendment put forward is viable and presents three items of expenditure that are all one-off in nature.

Two items are adjustments to the Executive's proposals.

The adjustment to the Highways item will result in £1m less investment in local highways projects than the Executive's proposal.

The adjustment to the Inflation contingency item will result in £500k less than the Executive's proposal.  Members should note there is already £6.5m contingency allocated in the 2022/23 budget and any item agreed by this Council meeting would be in addition to this.  The council reported a modest projected overspend of c.£700k at Q1 (6th September 2022 Executive), however Members at that meeting were also advised of the highly volatile inflationary factors that had started to materialise over the summer, which were not included in that report, relating to national pay bargaining, rising energy costs and contract inflation with more accurate forecasts expected at Q2 (6th December 2022 Executive).  There is an increased risk therefore that in reducing the Executive's contingency proposal, there may be insufficient funding in the budget to meet costs that are not yet known.

Andrew Crookham

Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources (s151 Officer)

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was lost.

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was carried.

RESOLVED

That the Council:

1.      Note the carry forward of underspends set out in paragraphs 1.16 and 1.17 of the report, which are made in line with Financial Regulations.

2.      Note the transfer to reserves of underspends described in paragraphs 1.18 to 1.20 which are made in line with Financial Regulations.

3.      That the use of underspend in excess of 1% referred to in paragraph 1.22 be approved as follows:

a.      The transfer of £5.000m to the Development Fund earmarked reserve for local Highways works.

b.      The carry forward of £2.392m of the underspend to be allocated to the Council’s corporate revenue contingency budget 2022/23, to help deal with inflationary pressures.

4.      Note the performance against the Prudential Indicators as shown in Table D

5.      Note the transfers to and from reserves carried out in 2021/22 and note the position of Earmarked Reserves as at 31 March 2022 as shown in Table F of this report.

6.      Note the position of the General Reserves as set out in paragraph 1.26 and Table G.

7.      Note the key financial performance measures in 2021/22 as set out in Table H.