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 2.

·      To approve the additional schemes amounting to £7.319m to the capital programme and amendments to funding, as per Appendix C to the report which will result in a revised capital budget of £60.018m 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 2, 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 stands at £60.018m which includes the HRA, slippage from 2022/23, grant funded additional schemes added onto the programme along with amendments since the original budget was set as illustrated by the table at paragraph 1.2 of the report. Whilst the profiled spend to the 30 September 2023 was £19m the actual expenditure is £18.704m or £19.616m when committed expenditure to the value of £912k is taken into account. The majority of projects are on target to be completed within budget and while some schemes are expected to underspend at this stage, the budgets are committed and required and slippage to 2024/25 will be requested for these schemes to complete in the next financial year.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer highlighted the number of capital schemes which are now supported by grant funding with core capital funding having reduced in real terms over recent years. He also referred to the matter of dealing with the discovery of RAAC concrete in two of the Island’s schools which had diverted Property Service capacity from other activities in recent months.

The Executive’s members acknowledged the fragility of the capital budget with no real investment having been made in capital funding over many years. Members were also appreciative of the efforts of the Property Service in responding with colleagues in the Learning Service and the two schools to address the RAAC concrete issue.

It was resolved –

·         To note the progress of expenditure and receipts against the capital budget 2023/24 at Quarter 2.

·        To approve the additional schemes amounting to £7.319m to the capital programme and amendments to funding, as per Appendix C to the report which will result in a revised capital budget of £60.018m for 2023/24.