Agenda item

2022/2023 Outturn Report

Executive Summary

This report presents the provisional outturn position for the 2022/23 financial year which shows a General Fund overspend of ££0.782m, which is made up of a £0.261m revenue services’ overspend and a £0.561k income shortfall in retained business rates.

 

This report also presents the Council’s capital programme outturn position.

 

Details are included within the report of the more significant year-end variances compared to the current budget for 2022/23. The report also makes recommendations for contributions to reserves.

 

The report provides a final budget monitoring position for the 2022/23 financial year. The report makes recommendations that provide funding for ongoing commitments and future projects.

Options considered

The revenue outturn position as of 31 March 2023 shows an overall overspend of £0.782m. The final position allowsfor

£1.137m from budget and grant underspends to be rolled forward within Earmarked Reserves to fund ongoing and identified commitments in 2023/24. This draft outturn position will form the basis for the production of the statutory accounts, which will then be subject to audit by the Council’s externalauditors.

Consultation(s)

None – This is a factual report of the financial year end position for 2022/23.

Recommendations

Members    are    asked    to    consider    the    report    and recommend the following to FullCouncil:

 

a)   The provisional outturn position for the General Fund revenue account for 2022/23;

b)   The transfers to and from reserves as detailed within the report (and appendix C) along with the corresponding updates to the 2023/24budget;

c)  The deficit of £0.261m relating to service overspends be funded from the GeneralReserve;

d)      The deficit of £0.561m relating to retained business rates be funded from the Business RatesReserve;

d)     The financing of the 2022/23 capital programme as detailed within the report and at AppendixD;

e)  The balance on the General Reserve of£2.649m;

f)        The updated capital programme for 2023/24 to 2025/26 and scheme financing as outlined withinthe

 

report and detailed at Appendix E;

g)  The roll-forward requests as outline in Appendix F are approved.

h)    The transfer of £0.500m from the Delivery Plan Reserve to a new reserve ‘Net Zero Initiatives’ set up specifically to fund projects, initiatives and works to achieve net zero.

i) The Provision of Temporary Accommodation capital budget for 2024/25 and 2025/26 of £0.250m per year be moved into 2023/24 giving a total budget of £0.750m in 2023/24 and that this be funded by temporary borrowing until it can be replaced by preserved right to buy capital receipts

Reasons for recommendations

To approve the draft outturn position on the revenue and capital accounts used to produce the statutory accounts for 2022/23.

Background papers

Budget report, Budget Monitoring reports, NNDR3 return

 

 

Wards affected

All

Cabinet member(s)

Cllr Lucy Shires

Contact Officer

Tina Stankley Director ofResources

Tina.Stankley@north-norfolk.gov.uk01263 516439

 

Links to key documents:

Corporate Plan:

Financial Sustainability and Growth

Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)

The outturn position will have an impact on the Reserve Balances, which will become the revised starting balances for the MTFS

Council Policies & Strategies

N/A

 

 

Corporate Governance:

Is this a key decision

No

Has the public interest test been applied

 

Details of any previous

decision(s) on this matter

N/A

 

Decision:

Decision

RESOLVED

 

Torecommend the following to Full Council:

 

a)   The provisional outturn position for the General Fund revenue account for 2022/23;

b)    The transfers to and from reserves as detailed within the report (and appendix C) along with the corresponding updates to the 2023/24budget;

c)  The deficit of £0.261m relating to service overspends be funded from the GeneralReserve;

d)      The deficit of £0.561m relating to retained business rates be funded from the Business RatesReserve;

d)     The financing of the 2022/23 capital programme as detailed within the report and at Appendix D.

e)  The balance on the General Reserve of£2.649m;

f)         The updated capital programme for 2023/24 to 2025/26 and scheme financing as outlined withinthe report and detailed at Appendix E

g)       The roll-forward requests as outlined in Appendix F

h)       The transfer of £0.5m from the Delivery Plan Reserve to a new reserve – ‘Net Zero Initiatives’ set up specifically to fund projects, initiatives and works to achieve Net Zero.

i)         The provision of a Temporary Accommodation capital budget for 2024/25 and 2025/26 of £0.25m per year be moved into 2023/24 giving a total budget of £0.75m in 2023/24 and that this be funded by temporary borrowing until it can be replaced by preserved right to buy capital receipts.

 

Reasons for the decision:

To approve the draft outturn position on the revenue and capital accounts used to produce the statutory accounts for 2022/2023.

 

Minutes:

Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Estates and Property Services, introduced this item. She began by saying that the Council’s financial position was much better than anticipated and she thanked officers for their hard work in preparing the report. The surplus for the 2021/22 financial year was transferred to the General Reserve as there was a deficit forecast and the outturn position in November 2022 was forecast to be £900k. The forecast at period 10 was lower and this was to be welcomed. She concluded by saying that the Council’s finances continued to be in a much stronger position than most local authorities and she thanked officers across the organisation for their help in achieving this.

 

The Director for Resources added that expenditure had been managed very carefully and acknowledged that the receipt of several grants had helped. There had been savings on capital costs due to delays in the capital programme, which had been largely unavoidable. She explained that £500k had been allocated to a reserve for Net Zero, to support investment in reducing carbon emissions. Regarding temporary accommodation, two years capital budget would be brought forward to 2023/24 from 2024/25 and 2025/2026 so that properties could be purchase now rather than waiting two to three years.

 

The Chairman invited members to speak:

 

Cllr C Cushing said that he was surprised that Cllr Shires was satisfied with the report given that this was the first time that an overspend had been forecast at the outturn stage. However, he noted that this was based on provisional figures and sought clarification when the finalised position would be available and why was it not ready now. The Director for Resources replied that the 2020/2021 accounts were still outstanding and the auditors were currently assessing them and it was hoped that they would be signed off within the next two weeks. The 2021/2022 accounts would then be finalised. There was a knock-on effect that each year’s accounts needed to be finalised before the balances could be brought forward into the next financial year. It was hoped that the 2021/22 accounts would be audited in late July / early August and the final balances for 2021/22 could then be carried forward as the opening balances for 2022/2023. She added that the final position with any required audit adjustments, could be signed off at the December meeting of the Governance, Risk & Audit Committee (GRAC).

 

The Director for Resources went onto say that the issue with not having completed the accounts which was affecting the outturn position for 2022/2023 and meant that the Council was not fully assured of the financial outturn, was due to an ongoing lack of resource in the Finance team. This was currently being addressed, with several posts out to recruitment. On top of this there was the national issue regarding lack of resource within external audit providers.

 

Cllr L Shires said that in response to Cllr Cushing’s comment about her being pleased with the current financial position, it was because it was significantly lower than the anticipated amount. She referred back to the decision taken by Full Council in October 2022 to transfer £216k into the General Fund because a deficit was forecast due to financial volatility across the country. However, when the position was reassessed, she was pleased to see that the deficit had come down and that was why she was pleased with the current position.

 

Cllr Cushing thanked Cllr Shires for her response and said that he looked forward to hearing about the Administration’s plans to close the budget gap in years to come. He then asked the Director for Resources about GRAC’s request for a timeline for the publication of the Final Accounts and asked if this could be shared with any interested members. He then referred to the retained business rates which was currently showing a deficit of £0.5m. He asked about the risks that the numbers could move significantly. She replied that, on the basis of work that had been done on this, officers were happy with the projections. She added that there was nothing outstanding in terms of the collection fund for 2020/21. Volatility was mainly due to external factors such as businesses closing or applying for rate relief. There was also a retained business rates reserve which was set aside to deal with such fluctuations.

 

 

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

 

RESOLVED

 

Torecommend the following to Full Council:

 

a)   The provisional outturn position for the General Fund revenue account for 2022/23;

b)    The transfers to and from reserves as detailed within the report (and appendix C) along with the corresponding updates to the 2023/24budget;

c)   The deficit of £0.261m relating to service overspends be funded from the GeneralReserve;

d)      The deficit of £0.561m relating to retained business rates be funded from the Business RatesReserve;

e)    e) The financing of the 2022/23 capital programme as detailed within the report and at Appendix D.

f)   The balance on the General Reserve of£2.649m;

g)       The updated capital programme for 2023/24 to 2025/26 and scheme financing as outlined withinthe report and detailed at Appendix E

h)       The roll-forward requests as outlined in Appendix F

i)         The transfer of £0.5m from the Delivery Plan Reserve to a new reserve – ‘Net Zero Initiatives’ set up specifically to fund projects, initiatives and works to achieve Net Zero.

j)         The provision of a Temporary Accommodation capital budget for 2024/25 and 2025/26 of £0.25m per year be moved into 2023/24 giving a total budget of £0.75m in 2023/24 and that this be funded by temporary borrowing until it can be replaced by preserved right to buy capital receipts.

 

Reasons for the decision:

To approve the draft outturn position on the revenue and capital accounts used to produce the statutory accounts for 2022/2023.

 

Supporting documents: