Issue - meetings

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS AS REQUIRED BY LAW

(Papers relied on to write the report, which do not contain exempt information, and which are not published elsewhere)

Cllr T Adams – Council Leader introduced the report and informed Members that inflationary pressures had made a significant contribution to the forecast overspend. He added that mitigation measures had been implemented in response to fuel and energy inflation, such as switching to LED lighting. It was noted that some costs would be recovered from service charges and rent. Cllr T Adams stated that Members would also be aware of the impact of staff inflation, which had been partly mitigated through vacant posts. He added that building and maintenance costs had also been challenging, but materials were purchased in advance where possible. It was noted that vandalism had also contributed to the overspend, with repair costs in the region of £30k. Cllr T Adams stated that work to identify further savings would form an essential part of financial planning going forward, but the Council remained in a relatively good position to deal with the current level of inflation.

Questions and Discussion

      i.        The DFR noted that the current year-end deficit was approximately £600k, however the previous year’s underspend of £616k had been placed into reserves to offset this figure.

     ii.        Cllr C Cushing referred to redundancy payments outlined in the report and asked whether any redundancies had been made, given the number of vacancies. The DFR replied that these were for fixed-term contracts where employees had accrued over two years service, and would therefore be entitled to redundancy pay.

    iii.        Cllr N Housden referred a unbudgeted variance of £355k within the Communities Directorate, and asked for further details. The CE replied that this was the result of payments made in advance for programmes such as the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which would be spent in due course.

   iv.        The recommendations were proposed by Cllr L Withington and seconded by Cllr P Heinrich.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the contents of the report and the current budget monitoring position.

2.    To recommend to Full Council that any outturn deficit is funded by using the General Fund Reserve.

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS AS REQUIRED BY LAW

(Papers relied on to write the report, which do not contain exempt information, and which are not published elsewhere)

Contact Officer, telephone number and email:  Tina Stankley 01263 516439 Tina.Stankley@north-norfolk.gov.uk

Decision

Resolved to

1)    Recommend to full Council that any outturn deficit is funded by using the General Fund Reserve.

Reason for the decision:

To update Members on the current budget monitoring position for the Council.

The Chairman introduced this item. Hesaid that there was a forecast full year overspend of £0.603m, mainly due to inflationary pressures. However, this had been offset to some extent by the recruitment freeze which had resulted in some savings.

The S151 Officer added that officers been asked to underspend on essential items up until the end of the financial year to try and reduce the deficit further. It was hoped by year end it would be lower than forecast.

It was proposed by Cllr T Adams, seconded by Cllr L Shires and

Resolved to

1)    Recommend to Full Council that any outturn deficit is funded by using the General Fund Reserve.

Reason for the decision:

To update Members on the current budget monitoring position for the Council.