Issue - meetings

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

It was resolved –

·      To note the draft outturn position of the capital programme for 2024/25 (subject to audit).

·      To approve the addition of £3.074m to the 2024/25 budget as a result of additional funding received during the final quarter, which brings the final budget for 2024/25 to £78.247m.

·      To approve the carry forward of £2.529m of expenditure and the associated funding to the 2025/26 budget. The revised budget for 2025/26 is £46.823m.

The report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer setting out the capital outturn position for 2024/25 was presented for the Executive’s consideration. Appendix B to the report provided a detailed breakdown of the progress of individual projects within the capital programme. It was noted that the figures in the report are subject to audit and may be revised as the 2024/25 accounts are finalised.

Councillor Robin Williams, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Member for Finance and Housing presented the report noting that in March 2024 the Council approved an initial capital programme of £43.838m. In July, the Executive approved the carry forward of £15.499m in slippage from 2023/24, resulting in a revised budget of £59.337m. During the year, additional schemes were incorporated into the capital programme to reflect changes in funding and the receipt of new grant allocations. In total, £18.910m was added to the capital programme including £3.074m in the final quarter. The Executive is asked to approve the additions made in the final quarter. Details of all schemes added during the year and their funding sources are shown in Appendix C to the report. Schemes added in the final quarter are shown in Appendix CH. This brought the total capital programme to £78.247m, funded as outlined in Table 1 of the report. The total expenditure for 2024/25 amounted to £64.726m, representing 83% of the budget.

Councillor Robin Williams highlighted that the main projects that have underspent their approved budget allocation are listed in Table 3. These include two projects where the Council holds the funding but is reliant on external bodies to incur the majority of the expenditure. When these two schemes are excluded, the overall budget utilised increases to 88%. Regarding the £2.529m slippage position, Councillor Robin Willams emphasised that all associated external funding has been secured and will be available to support the carried forward slippage in 2025/26.

The Executive noted that the level of underspending represents an improvement on the 2023/24 position when only 75% of the available funding was spent. It was further acknowledged that underspending on the capital programme is not unexpected when dealing with a large number of complex projects, and valid reasons for the variances are documented in the report.

It was resolved –

·      To note the draft outturn position of the capital programme for 2024/25 (subject to audit).

·      To approve the addition of £3.074m to the 2024/25 budget as a result of additional funding received during the final quarter, which brings the final budget for 2024/25 to £78.247m.

·      To approve the carry forward of £2.529m of expenditure and the associated funding to the 2025/26 budget. The revised budget for 2025/26 is £46.823m.