Issue - meetings

To submit a report by the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer.

It was resolved –

·        To note the position set out in Appendices A and B of the report in respect of the Authority’s financial performance to date and expected outturn for 2020/21 noting also that this position is dependent on the continued support from Welsh Government to fund the loss of income and the additional costs which the Council face during the remainder of the financial year as a result of the Coronavirus.

·        To note the summary of Contingency budgets for 2020/21 detailed in Appendix C to the report.

·        To note the position of the invest to save programmes in Appendix CH to the report.

·        To note the position of the efficiency savings for 2020/21 in Appendix D to the report.

·        To note the monitoring of agency and consultancy costs for 2020/21 in Appendices DD, E and F to the report.

·        That a letter be sent jointly by the Portfolio Member for Finance and the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer to Welsh Government to highlight continuing concern about the rising number of second homes being re-designated as businesses with consequences to the Council’s income especially in the current challenging circumstances, and to urge that consideration be given to amending the law to prevent this happening.

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer setting out the financial performance of the Council’s services at the end of Quarter 1 of the 2020/21 financial year was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that Quarter 1 2020/21 had been an extremely challenging period for the Council, the Island’s citizens and its businesses as it coincided with the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic meaning that plans were put on hold during the period whilst attention was focused on dealing with the emergency situation. At this stage the Council is managing to keep its head above water financially owing largely to Welsh Government support which has provided £232m to date to meet additional costs incurred by Councils in Wales in dealing with the pandemic. The overall projected financial position for 2020/21 including Corporate Finance and the Council Tax Fund is nearly a balanced budget position with a small overspend of £0.027m which is 0.02% of the Council’s net budget. However, it should be noted that predicting the final year-end position at the end of Quarter 1 is difficult at the best of times as the position can change considerably as the year progresses. For 2020/21 predicting the final year end position is even more difficult because it is still unclear when some of the Council’s services will return to normality and what the additional costs will be in providing those services in a way that minimises the risk of the spread of the virus. Points to note include the following –

•           As the majority of schools were closed for all but one week of the summer term, they have incurred less costs than normal; any underspending that will result will feed through to an increase in school balances as the Council is not intending to claw back any of the underspend.

•           Adults’ Social Care was £716k overspent for the period and the forecast outturn for the year as a whole is a predicted overspend of £195k. The Portfolio Member for Finance in highlighting that this excludes the potential winter pressures grant as the Council has not received a grant offer for these pressures to date said that this uncertainty is a cause of concern and a hindrance to planning and he urged Welsh Government to incorporate Winter Pressures funding within the Council’s overall settlement annually in order to provide the Council with the clarity it needs to continue to provide services which the funding helps support.

•           Children’s Services was underspent by £292k during the period and is projected to underspend by £1.382k at year end. Children and Families Services have seen a reduction in referrals coming into the service and a slight reduction in the number of children coming into the care of the Local Authority.

•           The Waste Service was £32k overspent for the period and is predicted to have an outturn position of £10k overspend at year end made up of overspends and compensating underspends within different sections  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5