Agenda item

The following recommendations to Full Council were made by Cabinet at the meeting held on 7^th July:

 

Please note that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting took place after the Full Council agenda was published. The Chairman will provide a verbal update at the meeting of any recommendations made in relation to any of the items listed below.

 

1.    Cabinet Agenda Item 8: Outturn report 2024/2025

 

RESOLVED to recommend the following to Full Council:

 

a)  The provisional outturn position for the General Fund revenue account for 2024/25 (as shown in Appendix A);

b)  The transfers to and from reserves as detailed within the report (and Appendix C);

c) The surplus of £0.622m be transferred to the General reserve to mitigate future funding shortfalls.

d) The balance on the General Reserve of £2.825m following the transfer outlined above.

e) The surplus of £0.384m relating to retained business rates be transferred to the Business Rates reserve.

f) The financing of the 2024/25 capital programme as detailed within the report and at Appendix D.

g) The updated capital programme for 2025/26 to 2030/31 and scheme financing as outlined within the report and detailed at Appendix E;

h) Approval of additional funding to cover capital project overspends of £10,816 as detailed in paragraph 5.7.

i) The roll-forward of existing capital project funding from 2024/25 into 2025/26 as detailed in paragraph 5.9.

j). To note the addition of £55,000 towards the New Play Area (Sheringham, The Lees) to be funded from the Asset Management Reserve in 2025/26 for a total project budget of £120,000

k) The addition of £6,081 towards the Cromer Offices LED Lighting in the Capital Programme to be funded from Capital Receipts in 2025/26 for a total project budget of £178,796.

l) The addition of £20,000 towards the Public Conveniences (Sheringham & North Walsham) project in the Capital Programme to be funded from Capital Receipts in 2025/26 for a total project budget of £565,514.

m) The addition of the Holt Eco Learning Space scheme for £100,000 into the 2025/26 Capital Programme to be funded by an external contribution.

 

 

2.    Cabinet Agenda item 9 – Treasury Management Outturn Report 2024/2025

 

RESOLVED to recommend the Treasury Management outturn position to Full Council for approval

 

 

3.    Cabinet Agenda Item 10 – Debt Recovery 2024/2025

 

RESOLVED to recommend that Full Council

1. approves the annual report which details the Council’s write-offs, in accordance with the Council’s Debt Write-Off Policy and performance in relation to revenues collection.

 

2. approves the continued delegated authority as shown in appendix 2 for write offs.

 

 

4.  Cabinet Agenda Item 11 - Housing Benefit Debt Recovery Report – 2024/2025

 

RESOLVED to recommend that Full Council

 

Approves the annual report giving details of Housing Benefit Overpayment debt recovery in accordance with the Council’s Debt Recovery Policy, Write-Off Policy, and Housing Benefit Overpayment Recovery Policy.

 

 

 

1.     Cabinet Agenda Item 8: Outturn report 2024/2025

 

Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Estates & Property Services, introduced this item. She highlighted improvements that had been made to the financial management and monitoring processes in the last year and said that the year end position was now projected every time budget performance was monitored and this provided clearer visibility and control over outcomes. Cllr Shires said that the Period 4 Budget Monitoring report last year had forecast a large deficit and through a combination of financial planning and cost control throughout the Council, the gap had been closed and the year had ended with a General Fund surplus of just over £600k. She then outlined the ‘standout’ figures, including an underspend on employee-related costs, tight controls on supplies and services and the generation of £2m in income due to planning, car parking and housing related grants.

Cllr Shires said that the initial plan had been to draw down approximately £4m from reserves and this had now been significantly reduced due to the surplus to just over £2m. This left £24m in reserves which would help with managing future pressures. Investment in local communities had continued through the last financial year, including capital projects such as coastal protection, public conveniences, solar panel installation at Victory leisure centre and supporting affordable housing.

 

Cllr Shires said that the Overview & Scrutiny Committee had identified a reporting error on page 91 table 3.2 which should state £36k not £26k in the second column. This had been updated for the Full Council agenda. She then referred to page 99 s5.6(a) and said that she wished to propose that the underspend of £28,476 in the Purchase of Bins capital budget be put towards the cost of providing food waste caddies and moved to an additional capital budget.  This was seconded by Cllr Ringer.

 

In conclusion, Cllr Shires said that the next budget would be extremely challenging. Early indications from central government regarding funding were not positive. However, this outturn report showed that the choices that been made had been effective and service delivery had been maintained and the reliance on the use of reserves reduced.

 

Cllr V Holliday, Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee said that the Committee had supported the recommendations, including the transfer of the purchase of bins underspend to a reserve to be used towards the cost of delivering food waste caddies.

 

The Chair invited members to speak:

 

Cllr C Cushing said that he welcomed the surplus, however, in October 2024, a deficit of £1m had been forecast and he highlighted variances in tables A and B on pages 90 and 91 of the report. He asked Cllr Shires whether she still had confidence in future budget forecasts, given a possible variance of up to £5m. Cllr Shires replied that previously there had been criticism for having a deficit at the Outturn stage and the budget monitoring process had been changed to ensure that adjustments could be made in-year and everything possible had been done. She added that there was a full and comprehensive explanation for the variances and this demonstrated complete transparency and honesty about the current and projected financial position.

 

Cllr P Porter asked if there was any capital spend planned east of North Walsham. Cllr Shires replied that the outturn report reflected the budget set in February 2024 for 2024/2025. She mentioned the sandscaping scheme in Bacton and Walcott. She invited members to submit suggestions for the 2026/2027 budget.

 

Cllr T FitzPatrick referred to the capital budget roll-forward at section 5.9 of the report. He sought assurance that any projects that weren’t contractually committed were being reviewed to assess whether they were still needed or if costs could be reduced. Cllr L Shires replied that officers were undertaking work to understand delivery times for these projects. She said that all the projects listed were being put forward to roll-over. Savings would be taken where possible and the figures listed were a maximum.

 

Cllr V Holliday asked about the implications of the budget surplus on the next round of council tax setting and whether it would be taken into account. Cllr Shires replied that everything was taken into account when the budget was set, however, the Council had no control over funding from central government and the delivery of key services such as tackling homelessness and the collection of food waste cost more than the Government believed them to. She assured Cllr Holliday that officers worked hard to ensure that everything was fully assessed and taken into consideration.

 

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

 

RESOLVED to approve the following, with the additional recommendation (as agreed above)

 

a)  The provisional outturn position for the General Fund revenue account for 2024/25 (as shown in Appendix A);

b)  The transfers to and from reserves as detailed within the report (and Appendix C);

c) The surplus of £0.622m be transferred to the General reserve to mitigate future funding shortfalls.

d) The balance on the General Reserve of £2.825m following the transfer outlined above.

e) The surplus of £0.384m relating to retained business rates be transferred to the Business Rates reserve.

f) The financing of the 2024/25 capital programme as detailed within the report and at Appendix D.

g) The updated capital programme for 2025/26 to 2030/31 and scheme financing as outlined within the report and detailed at Appendix E;

h) Approval of additional funding to cover capital project overspends of £10,816 as detailed in paragraph 5.7.

i) The roll-forward of existing capital project funding from 2024/25 into 2025/26 as detailed in paragraph 5.9.

j). To note the addition of £55,000 towards the New Play Area (Sheringham, The Lees) to be funded from the Asset Management Reserve in 2025/26 for a total project budget of £120,000

k) The addition of £6,081 towards the Cromer Offices LED Lighting in the Capital Programme to be funded from Capital Receipts in 2025/26 for a total project budget of £178,796.

l) The addition of £20,000 towards the Public Conveniences (Sheringham & North Walsham) project in the Capital Programme to be funded from Capital Receipts in 2025/26 for a total project budget of £565,514.

m) The addition of the Holt Eco Learning Space scheme for £100,000 into the 2025/26 Capital Programme to be funded by an external contribution.

n) That the underspend of £28,476 in the Purchase of Bins capital budget be put towards the cost of providing food waste caddies and moved to an additional capital budget

 

2.     Cabinet Agenda item 9 – Treasury Management Outturn Report 2024/2025

 

Cllr L Shires introduced this item. She highlighted that the actual capital expenditure was just over £25m and there was unfinanced borrowing of just over £1.1m. Importantly, borrowing levels remained well below the authorised limit.

 

Cllr Shires went onto say that during 2023/24, to assist with cashflow issues,  the Council had secured a £5m long-term loan with the PWLB (Central Government Public Works Loans Board) running from the 27 March 2024 to 28 April 2025, at an interest rate of 5.39%. Overall, the Council’s borrowing requirement had decreased by £4.7m at the financial year end due to increased efforts towards management of the Council’s cashflow, payment run processing and appropriate financing of the Council’s capital programme by accountants and managers.

 

Subsequent to the year end, the Council agreed a further PWLB loan for £5m in April 2025 for a period of 1 year. This would be reflected in the 2025/26 Treasury Management reporting.

 

Cllr J Boyle then spoke on behalf of the Governance, Risk & Audit Committee (GRAC) which had considered the report at the meeting on 3^rd June 2025. She said that members had discussed it in depth and supported the recommendations.

 

It was proposed by Cllr L Shires, seconded by Cllr J Boyle and

 

RESOLVED

 

To approve the Treasury Management Outturn position 2024/2025.

 

3.     Cabinet Agenda Item 10 – Debt Recovery 2024/2025

 

Cllr L Shires introduced this item. She said that the level of Council Tax and Non-Domestic (Business) Rates debts written off had increased since the previous year. The main reason for debts being written off were due to insolvency or where the debtor had absconded or was deceased. The collection rate for Council tax arrears had reached 98.37% and for business rates it was 99.45% - both higher than previous years. She added that the collection rate for business rates was the highest for 18 years.

 

Cllr Shires said that the outstanding arrears for council tax as at 31^st March 2025 was £4.19m, which was slightly lower than the previous year.   In terms of business rates, the total of all years’ business rates arrears was £253k as at 31^st March 2025. The picture overall was looking quite positive and she said that she wanted to reassure residents facing financial difficulty that they should contact the Council for advice and support.

 

Finally, Cllr Shires congratulated the team for their recent award from the Empty Homes Network. They were highly commended for the best use of media linking to long term empty homes work.

 

Cllr V Holliday, Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee said that the committee had considered the report and supported the recommendations.

 

Cllr J Toye commented that officers dealt with residents facing debt issues in a positive and engaging way, which should be commended.

 

It was proposed by Cllr L Shires, seconded by Cllr W Fredericks and

 

RESOLVED

 

1.     To approve the annual report which details the Council’s write-offs, in accordance with the Council’s Debt Write-Off Policy and performance in relation to revenues collection.

 

2.     To approve the continued delegated authority as shown in appendix 2 for write offs.

 

4.  Cabinet Agenda Item 11 - Housing Benefit Debt Recovery Report – 2024/2025

 

The Portfolio Holder for Housing, Cllr W Fredericks introduced this item.  She said that the report provided an update on Housing Benefit debt recovery, detailing the Councils’ collection performance and debt management arrangements for 2024 –2025. She said that the Council was working with residents to identify any unclaimed benefits. She congratulated the Benefits team for being shortlisted for an award by the IRRV.

 

Cllr V Holliday spoke on behalf of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee. She said that members supported the recommendations but views had been expressed that it was a very technical report and it would be helpful if it could be made more accessible in future.

 

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

 

RESOLVED to

 

Approve the annual report giving details of Housing Benefit Overpayment debt recovery in accordance with the Council’s Debt Recovery Policy, Write-Off Policy, and Housing Benefit Overpayment Recovery Policy