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 respect of the finance performance of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for the financial year ended 31 March, 2021.

The report of the Director of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer setting out the financial performance of the Housing Revenue Account Budget for the period 1 April, 2020 to 31 March, 2021 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the revenue financial outturn shown an underspend of £557k and that capital expenditure is £6.410m below the original budget with the pandemic as previously reported having seriously affected the progress of capital projects.

The Director of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer advised that the overall outturn for income was £153k better than the budget due mainly to the reduction in the provision for bad debts. The Housing Maintenance Unit was underspent by £138k which is as a direct result of the Covid 19 situation where only essential repairs were being undertaken; non repairs and maintenance expenditure was £152k over budget as a result of the items detailed in paragraph 6 of the report. The revenue budget posted a surplus of £8.39m which is higher than the planned surplus of £7.8m when the budget was agreed. Capital expenditure was down by in the region of £7.6m; the reduced expenditure has allowed an additional £1.145m to be added to the HRA reserve taking the total to £9.742m. This balance is ring fenced so is available to fund future HRA expenditure only including new council housing development in the current and future years. The HRA is therefore in a robust position and the HRA reserve provides the scope for adding to the housing stock; once the reserve has been run down to the level of funds the Council needs to carry, the Council can then exercise its right to borrow against the HRA to continue with its housebuilding plans.

Councillor Alun Mummery, Portfolio Member for Housing and Supporting Communities commented that he was glad to see that despite the pandemic the figure for rent arrears is going in the right direction and that he was looking forward to the continued development of new housing into the future using innovative means to assist those in need and those just starting out.

Councillor Dafydd Roberts, Chair of the Finance Scrutiny Panel confirmed that although the Panel had not formally scrutinised the HRA budget, it had discussed collection rates and the implications for the revenue budget.

It was resolved to note the position set out in respect of the finance performance of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for the financial year ended 31 March, 2021.