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 2023/24 at Quarter 1.

·      To approve the additional schemes amounting to £5.442m to the capital programme and amendments to funding as per Appendix C of the report which will result in a revised capital budget of £58.141m for 2023/24.

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer setting out the financial performance of the Council’s capital budget at the end of Quarter 1, 2023/24 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Member for Finance presented the report confirming that the total capital budget for 2023/24 was £58.141m which includes the HRA, slippage from 2022/23, grant funded additional schemes added onto the programme and some amending of funding. Whilst the profiled spend to the 30 June 2023 was £7.177m the actual expenditure is £6.255m or £7.016m when committed expenditure to the value of £761k is taken into account the reasons being that a number of capital schemes are weighted towards the latter part of the financial year. In cases where slippage occurs the funding will also slip into the next financial year and no funding will be lost.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer highlighted the number of capital schemes which are now grant funded as set out in Appendix C to the report. As core capital funding had reduced in real terms making investment in the Council’s current assets ever more challenging, the Council has become increasingly dependent on grants to fund its capital activities.

The Executive’s members while they acknowledged the value of grants to support the Council’s capital projects, recognised that grants can also create their own challenges in terms of timing, in having conditions attached to them which tie expenditure to areas which may not be priorities for the Council and in often being allocated competitively. Councillor Dafydd Roberts, Portfolio Member for Education and the Welsh Language referred to recent issues with Raac concrete in schools which is a concern as regards capital expenditure and he asked whether any additional funding would made available to help with the remedial work.

The Deputy Chief Executive advised that no official confirmation of additional funding has been received but that discussions with Welsh Government are ongoing.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer advised that the work to deal with the Racc concrete issue has arisen unexpectedly and as such was not programmed for meaning it is diverting staff resources from the Council’s programmed schemes. The availability of internal capacity to deliver the capital programme is a factor in slippage especially when unforeseen issues arise and must be dealt with leading to delay on progressing approved capital projects.

Councillor Robin Williams took the opportunity to thank everyone who had been involved in responding to the emerging Raac concrete issue in two of the Island’s schools and for adapting to ensure the continuation of education provision in difficult circumstances.

It was resolved –

·      To note the progress of expenditure and receipts against the capital budget 2023/24 at Quarter 1.

·      To approve the additional schemes amounting to £5.442m to the capital programme and amendments to funding as per Appendix C of the report which will result in a revised capital budget of £58.141m for 2023/24.