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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
There were no disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests.
None.
There were no public questions received.
Ben Smith attended to give an overview of the three financial outturn reports. · The HRA position for the year had been stabilised, with a slight addition to reserves, despite an earlier expectation of a significant drawdown. This cautious approach was driven by an ongoing legal case concerning rent policy. · The most notable pressure was overspending on repairs and maintenance, which has been offset by a reduction in capital expenditure to maintain HRA stability until the legal case is resolved. · Increased finance charges were attributed to the ringfenced HRA funds and a share of pooled interest rates for HRA and general fund (both interest earned on cash and paid on debt), rather than new borrowing. · Over budgeting for pay awards and unfilled vacancies has created a reduction in housing management costs. · Questions were asked about the overspend on repairs and maintenance, increased finance charges, reduction in housing management costs and debt collection and reserves. The Welsh Government’s rent cap policy and its impact on income generation and income from accrued interest on investments were also discussed.
Part of an issue followed across 4 meetings
· An outturn of just under £160m was reported, with underspend and slippage lower than in previous years. · A £43m drawdown of internal unsupported borrowing was used to avoid new high external interest rates, making it the second largest source of financing after grants and contributions (£74m). · Questions were asked about the borrowing strategy, delays in vehicle procurement and internal capacity to absorb a large capital spend. Requests for further information on specific capital projects were noted for written follow up to specific directorates.
Part of an issue followed across 4 meetings
· A strong financial position was reported, with the officer highlighting the temporary nature of many positive results including a late one off Welsh Government grant of £7m, strong Council tax collection and surplus, a reduction in bad debts and a £13m treasury management surplus. A £16.5m lower net draw on core reserves was achieved. · The overall financial position remains complex with future risks including pressures in social care costs, homelessness, waste management, general inflation, and heightened interest rates. · Total services overspend of approximately £3m was well within expectations, given pressures in social care and homelessness. · Schools reserves collectively increased to over £18m and a £1m 'schools at risk' reserve to help collectively deal with those schools with negative reserves has been created for which no actual support allocations have yet been made. · Several questions relating to timing and allocation of Education funding were discussed with further information requested from the Education department. · Questions were asked about future Revenue Support Grants and net interest charges. Further information was requested regarding several transfers to earmarked reserves.
· The Panel expressed they would like to see more regeneration items on the work plan. · It was clarified that the Governance and Audit Committee cover areas like absenteeism and work plans are coordinated to avoid duplication.
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