Agenda item

(a)  That the reported underlying provisional financial position of the Council for the year end 2019-20 be noted.

(b)  That the Council’s provisional reserve balances for the year end 2019-20 be noted;

(c)  That budget transfer (virements) for 2019-20 as requested in Section 9 of the report be approved.

(d)  That write offs for the last financial quarter 2019-20 as requested in Section 10 of the report be approved.

The Lead Member for Governance & Customer Services and the Service Lead Finance introduced a report that set out the provisional financial position of the Council’s revenue account for the 2019/20 financial year.

The provisional total net expenditure in 2019/20 was £108.731m which was a provisional surplus of £0.050.  This was a significant improvement on the position at the end of the third quarter at which time a forecast overspend of £2.304m had been reported.  Directorates had taken measures to reduce the overspend which had resulted in the small net surplus by year end.  The main budget variances by directorate were summarised, as was the current financial position of Slough Children’s Services Trust.

The Cabinet noted the impact on Council reserves and it was stated that there were currently £8.123m of general reserves and £8.147m of earmarked reserves available to protect the Council from the current financial pressures arising from Covid-19.  Lead Members recognised that there was significant financial uncertainty in the 2020/21 financial year due to the significant increased costs of the Covid-19 response and potential future demand for services.  Achieving a small budget surplus in 2019/20 put the Council in a strong position relative to many other local authorities but significant challenges were expected as the full impacts became evident.

A report set out a number of requests for budget virements and write-offs and these were approved.  At the conclusion of the discussion the report was noted.

Resolved –

(a)  That the reported underlying provisional financial position of the Council for the year end 2019-20 be noted.

(b)  That the Council’s provisional reserve balances for the year end 2019-20 be noted;

(c)  That budget transfer (virements) for 2019-20 as requested in Section 9 of the report be approved.

(d)  That write offs for the last financial quarter 2019-20 as requested in Section 10 of the report be approved.