Agenda item

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

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance presented the report by the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer setting out the draft Capital Budget proposal for 2022/23.

The draft Capital Budget for 2022/23 takes into account the principles set out in the Capital Strategy as approved by both the Executive and Full Council in March, 2021.The proposed Capital Programme for 2022/23 totals £35.961m and is funded from the sources set out in Table 1 of the report. The General Capital grant from Welsh Government has reduced by £677k compared to the funding received in 2021/22 with it being proposed therefore that £1.681m be drawn from General Balances to help fund the proposed programme. The capital programme proposes spend on existing assets (£5.042m), new one off projects as per Table 3 of the report to include the upgrade of public toilets and provision of match funding for flood relief schemes (£1.432m), and new one off projects to be  funded from earmarked reserves, service reserves and unsupported borrowing(£783k) – Table 4 of the report. Due to the significant amount of Welsh Government funding for the 21^st Century Schools Programme, the Council is committed to funding these schemes through the use of unsupported borrowing and the capital receipts from the sale of old school sites. The estimated cost of the programme in 2022/23 is £8.598m. The proposed programme under the Housing Revenue Account which is a ring fenced budget for managing income and expenditure relating to the Council’s housing stock will see continued investment in existing stock as well as the development of new properties.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer affirmed the reduction in the General Capital Grant for 2022/23 which has led to a shortfall in the capital budget which after careful consideration the Executive is proposing be met from General Balances having concluded that given the robustness of the General Balances, utilising the balances to support capital expenditure in 2022/23 would not be unreasonable and would not put the General Reserve position at risk. Although General Capital Grant allocation is expected to increase in 2024/25 the overall capital budget position will be tighter making it difficult to formulate a capital programme that is not limited to the refurbishment and replacement of existing assets.

Councillor Dylan Rees, Vice-Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee reporting from the Committee’s meeting that morning confirmed Scrutiny’s endorsement of the 2022/23 Capital Budget proposal with no votes against. Councillor Dafydd Roberts, Chair of the Finance Scrutiny Panel likewise confirmed the Panel’s support for the proposed capital budget as a reasonable use of resources.

It was resolved to recommend to the Full Council the following capital programme for

2022/23 –

                         £’000

2021/22 Schemes Brought Forward                       1,322

Refurbishment/Replacement of Assets                 5,042

New One Off Capital Projects                                 1,432

New One Off Capital Projects (funded

from Reserves and Unsupported

Borrowing)                                                                   783

21^st Century Schools                                                8,598

Housing Revenue Account                                   18,784

Total Recommended Capital

Programme 2022/23                                                 35,961

Funded By –

General Capital Grant                                              1,486

Supported Borrowing General                               2,157

General Balances                                                     1,681

21^st Century Schools Supported

Borrowing                                                                 1,168

21^st  Century Schools Unsupported

Borrowing                                                                 5,261

HRA Reserve & in Year Surplus                           10,099

HRA Unsupported Borrowing                                 6,000

Capital Receipts                                                           600

External Grants                                                         4,854

Earmarked Reserves                                                1,195

General Fund Unsupported Borrowing                    138

2021/22 Funding Brought Forward                         1,322

2022/23 Total Capital Funding                                35,961