Agenda item

To receive a report from the Deputy Chief Executive (S151) Officer on the 2024/2025 Revenue and Capital Outturn Report.

Cabinet had before it a report * from the Deputy Chief Executive (S151) and the Head of Finance, Property and Climate Resilience on the 2024/2025 Revenue and Capital Outturn Report.

The Cabinet Member for Governance, Finance and Risk outlined the contents of the report with particular reference to the following:

• The net cost of services charged to the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Accounts (HRA) for 2024/25, subject to Audit Committee.
• The Outturn position for the General Fund was an under spend of £1,547k. This was a major corporate achievement and reflected the hard work and efforts of managers and services during the year.

• The success of securing £33.5m of funding to deliver the Cullompton Relief Road, where previous attempts had failed. This could help facilitate further progress on the Garden Village, J28 enhancement and the reopening of the railway station in Cullompton;
• Increased levels of membership at our leisure centres by over 500 or nearly 9%, driving up income and reducing the £1m subsidy by over £400k;
• Further increased waste collection, both in terms of what was collected and how much collected. This placed the Council as the 11^th highest in the country.
• Incredible collection rates for Business Rates (99.8%) and Council Tax (97.6%) – making the Council one of the best in the country.
• Reduced staff turnover and sickness, avoiding recruitment and agency costs previously experienced.
• The HRA position was more challenging due to a number of one off matters that caused an over spend of £1,727k. Those included the implications of the historic rent setting error, the sale of Post Hill and sunk costs on non-viable development sites.
• Despite the HRA over spend, the Council’s reserves remained healthy with the General Fund remaining at £2.025m, above the £2m minimum agreed balance as shown in Appendix 3.
• The Capital outturn position showed spend of over £23m, split £8m on General Fund projects and c£154m on HRA housing both existing housing and developing new homes. Of the General Fund spend, £2m was on the initial stages of the Cullompton Relief Road, nearly £1m had been spent on adaptions to housing for disabled residents enabling them to stay longer in their own homes.
• As previously reported, during 2024/25 a historic error was identified in the calculation of Social Rent. Following the Council’s self-referral to the regulator, they had issued their judgement which also highlighted the proactive steps being taken to correct the issue. All of the overcharged rents had been corrected and the detailed work required to identify the precise level of tenant refunds was being progressed.

Discussion took place with regards to:

• Clarification around the salary underspend due to the delay in recruitment and delayed usage of contingencies to fund compliance. 
• Was the cost of converting St Georges Court final?
• What was driving the deficit in the collection rate forecast?

RESOLVED that:

1. The Outturn achieved in 2024/25 which showed a net under spend of £1,547k (11.8% on the Net Total Expenditure Budget) for the General Fund, and for the Housing Revenue Account an over spend of £1,727k (13.2% on the Total Direct Expenditure Budget) be NOTED.

2. General Fund

a)    The Net transfers to or from earmarked reserves for operational purposes of £792k, as detailed in the General Fund Service Budget Variance Reports shown in Appendix 1a and 1b and summarised in Appendix 3 be APPROVED.

b)    The balance transfer of the £1,547k General Fund underspend to earmarked reserves as detailed in paragraph 3.5.4.4; retaining the balance of the General Reserve at £2,025k; above the minimum recommended level of £2,000k be APPROVED.

3. Housing Revenue Account

a)    The net transfers to or from the ring-fenced HRA earmarked reserves for operational purposes of £724k detailed in Appendix 2 and summarised in Appendix 3 be APPROVED.

b)    The £1,727k Housing Revenue Account overspend to be offset with a draw from the ring-fenced HRA Housing Maintenance earmarked reserve be APPROVED.

c)    The updated position on the Housing Rents error recovery programme in paragraph 4.7.1 be NOTED.

4. The slippage of £17,068k from the 2024/25 Capital Programme to be delivered in 2025/26 or later years as shown in Appendix 4 be APPROVED.

5. The procurement waivers used in Quarter 4 of 2024/25, as outlined in Section 7 be NOTED.

(Proposed by Cllr J Downes and seconded by Cllr S Keable)

Reason for Decision:

Good financial management and administration underpinned the entire document. A surplus or deficit on the Revenue Budget would impact on the Council’s General Fund balances. The Council’s financial position was constantly reviewed to ensure its continued financial health.

Note: *

      i.        Report previously circulated

    ii.        Cllr J Lock abstained from voting.