Agenda item

(a)  That the provisional outturn financial position of the council for 2017/18 be noted;

(b)  That the budget virements as listed in paragraph 7 of the report be approved;

(c)  That the write offs as requested in paragraph 8 of the report be approved; and

(d)  That the resolution in paragraph 9.5 of the report in relation to the tender for the Council’s insurance contract be approved.

The Service Lead, Finance introduced a report that provided an update on the provisional financial outturn for the Council for the 2017-18 financial year. 

There was a provisional underspend of £0.224m on the General Fund budget of £104.376m.  This was an improvement of £0.875m on the financial position reported at the end of the third quarter and the key areas of savings and increased revenue were noted.  The Leader of the Council indicated that a future budget priority would be to increase the level of reserves to reflect the recently increased level of borrowing to support the capital programme.  The Cabinet noted the budget pressures in areas such as the demand on adult social care services, housing benefit and temporary accommodation.  All planned savings had been achieved for the year, or replaced with alternative savings if they could not be met.

The Cabinet considered and approved the virements detailed in section 7 of the report and the write off requests in section 8.  Approval was sought to begin a tendering process for a new insurance contract as the current one expired on 31^st March 2019.  The new contract would be for three years with a possible two year extension and was likely to include buildings cover for acts of terrorism for the first time.  It was agreed to begin the tendering process for the insurance contract.

The Cabinet noted the provisional outturn position and welcomed the fact that the budget had been balanced, with a small underspend, despite the continued pressures on budgets and demand for vital local services.

Resolved –

(a)  That the provisional outturn financial position of the council for 2017/18 be noted;

(b)  That the budget virements as listed in paragraph 7 of the report be approved;

(c)  That the write offs as requested in paragraph 8 of the report be approved; and

(d)  That the resolution in paragraph 9.5 of the report in relation to the tender for the Council’s insurance contract be approved.