Issue - meetings

Chair of the Governance Committee to report the recommendations of the Governance Committee held on 26 September 2022 (to follow).

Council considered a report by the Chief Financial Officer (circulated previously) regarding the Statement of Accounts for 2021/22.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive advised that:

o   The draft Statement of Accounts for year ended 31 March 2022 had been signed by the Chief Financial Officer on 5 July 2022.

o   Previously the final date for the audited accounts to be published was 31 July (used to be 30 September).  This year the target date had been extended to 30 November 2022.

o   External Audit of Accounts – the audit of financial statements had taken place through July/August 2022 and was being concluded through September. The Audit Findings Report was presented to the Governance Committee on 26 September 2022 and reported an Unqualified Opinion on Financial Statements.  Two recommendations following Key Findings had been accepted by management and responses built into the Action Plan.  The accounts were required to be formally signed off at Full Council on 28 September 2022.

o   Narrative report (pages 26 to 36) set out the challenges the Council face, how the Council aim to meet those challenges (MTFP) and reviews the last financial year 2021-22.

o   The Council had originally budgeted to spend £13.639m in 2021-22. As at 31 December 2021, the Council was forecasting a net surplus of £89,000 against the budget.

o   The last quarter of the financial year had seen some favourable variances since the last reported position; most notably additional recycling sales income and reduced spend in the Waste and Recycling service, together with general employee vacancy savings.

o   It was pleasing to report that the final out turn position was a budget surplus of (£604,000) against original budget, which was an overall movement of (£515,000) from the last forecast at quarter 3.  The table on pages 30 and 31 detailed the main variances.

o   The options for balances (£604k) surplus included:

·       £400,000 Repairs Fund reserve – to fund capital investment business cases

·       £100,000 Local Plan reserve – to increase fund available to over the cost of the Local review

·       £104,000 Budget Management reserve – increase the fund available to help mitigate inflationary pressures in 2022-23 financial year

·       Members approved in June 2021 to proceed with the acquisition of Green Lanes Shopping Centre; for which the Council completed the purchase in November 2021.  The purchase of Green Lanes Shopping Centre was a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire this strategic asset and complement other significant regeneration improvements being delivered within the Barnstaple town centre through the Future High Streets project.  The financial modelling demonstrated that revenue income generated from the centre would cover both the repayment of the loan and asset management costs and would return a contribution to the Council which could be used towards mitigating future risks on income volatility, investment back into the centre and the overarching council budget.

·       The financial outturn from the Centre produced a net return (income less costs) for the 2021/22 year of (£243,600) due to minimal borrowing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43

Report by Chief Financial Officer (attached).

The Committee considered a report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive regarding the Statement of Accounts 2021/22 (circulated previously). The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive highlighted the following points for the Committee:

·       The draft accounts for 2021/22 financial year were signed off by the Chief Financial Officer on 5^th July.

·       An Unqualified opinion had been issued by the auditors, which was a clean audit of the accounts.

·       The Council had originally budgeted to spend £13.639m in 2021-22. As at 31 December 2021, the Council was forecasting a net surplus of £89,000 against the budget.

·       The last quarter of the financial year had seen some favourable variances since the last reported position; most notably additional recycling sales income and reduced spend in the Waste and Recycling service, together with general employee vacancy savings.

·       It was pleasing to report that the final out turn position was a budget surplus of (£604,000) against original budget, which was an overall movement of (£515,000) from the last forecast at quarter 3.

·       The original budget for 2021-22 included a forecast to achieve £225,000 worth of salary vacancy savings, this was exceeded by £99,000 giving an overall actual salary vacancy saving of £324,000. The movement from Q3 of £515,000 could be attributed to:

Ø  ICT reduced spend £78,000.

Ø  Waste & Recycling reduced spend £110,000.

Ø  Waste and Recycling Sales income £74,000.

Ø  Car parking income £60,000.

Ø  Crematorium contribution £41,000.

Ø  Employee vacancy savings £60,000.

Ø  Borrowing costs – Interest Payable £41,000.

Ø  Other Reduced costs £51,000.

·       Members approved in June 2021 to proceed with the acquisition of Green Lanes Shopping Centre; for which the Council completed the purchase in November 2021.

·       The purchase of Green Lanes Shopping Centre was a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire a strategic asset and complement other significant regeneration improvements being delivered within the Barnstaple town centre through the Future High Streets project.

·       The financial modelling demonstrated that revenue income generated from the centre would cover both the repayment of the loan and asset management costs and would return a contribution to the Council, which could be used towards mitigating future risks on income volatility, investment back into the centre and the overarching council budget.

·       The financial outturn for the Centre produced a net return (income less costs) for the 2021/22 year of (£243,600) due to minimal borrowing costs for last financial year as those would start in 2022/23. This was a positive return for the Council for the four and half months ownership in the 2021/22 year. The net return to the Council of (£243,600); of this it was proposed to place £75,000 into an earmarked reserve to protect the council budget and mitigate against any future income volatility that could materialise as it moved forward with the centre and a further £168,600 into an earmarked reserve to fund future asset management initiatives to promote, market and maximise the occupancy of the Centre over the next few years, which the Council anticipated would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20