Issue - meetings

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

It was resolved to note the progress of expenditure and receipts against the capital budget 2022/23 at Quarter 3.

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer setting out the financial performance of the Capital Budget at the end of Quarter 3 of the 2022/23 financial year was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance, Corporate Business and Customer Experience reported that the Council approved a Capital Programme for non-housing services of £17.177m for 2022/23 and a Capital Programme of £18.784m for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).In addition, in June 2021, the Executive approved capital slippage of £11.242m to be brought forward from 2021/22 bringing the Capital Programme for non-housing services to £28.419m and £18.784m for the HRA. Since the budget setting process, schemes have been added to the programme most of which are grant funded which amount to £10.837m which with the HRA budget being reduced by £3.750m, brings the total capital budget for 2022/23 to £54.290m.  The profiled budget at the end of Quarter 3 was £32.065m whereas the actual expenditure is £24.315m with a further £2.907m expenditure having been committed. The forecast underspend on the Capital Programme for 2022/23 is £15.223m with this being potential slippage into the 2023/24 Capital Programme. The funding for this slippage will also slip into 2023/24 and will be factored in when producing the Treasury Management Strategy Statement, Capital Strategy and Capital Programme for 2023/24.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer highlighted the additional grant funded schemes added to the programme since budget setting as shown in Appendix C to the report which shows the extent to which the Council is reliant on grants for its capital expenditure as core capital funding has remained static over recent years with rising inflation now further affecting its value.

It was resolved to note the progress of expenditure and receipts against the capital budget 2022/23 at Quarter 3.