Issue - meetings

RESOLVED:

1.      That Cabinet notes the Council’s revenue and capital positions for the year.

2.    That Cabinet approves the drawdown of £2.8m from the Budget Equalisation Reserve to fund the overspend position and offset the impact on the General Fund Balance.

3.    That Cabinet approves capital carry forwards of £39.2m.  £15.9m is requested to be carried forward into the 24/25 capital programme, with the remaining £23.3m in 2025/26.

Reasons for Decisions:

This report is to comply with the agreed policy of providing a monthly budget monitoring report to Cabinet for information and approval of any necessary actions.

(The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources and Performance Select Committee)

The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources who updated Cabinet on Surrey County Council’s 2023/24 financial performance for revenue and capital, including the year-end Treasury Management and debt outturn position. He explained that the Council had worked hard over recent years to improve its financial resilience and strengthen financial management.  This had provided strong foundations for the Council’s finances during a significantly challenging financial year. The Council had ended the year with a £2.8m overspend after the utilisation of the base budget risk contingency of £20m. It was recommended that this is covered by a draw-down from the Budget Equalisation Reserve, to mitigate the impact on the General Fund. The Council had achieved £53.9m (c78%) of the £69.4m target of efficiencies set out at the beginning of the financial year, including those delivered through transformation programmes. An update was given on the Capital Budget for 23/24. Reserves available to enhance financial resilience stood at c12% of the 2024/25 net revenue budget. It was commented that given the challenges facing the council the outturn position was satisfactory.

RESOLVED:

1.      That Cabinet notes the Council’s revenue and capital positions for the year.

2.    That Cabinet approves the drawdown of £2.8m from the Budget Equalisation Reserve to fund the overspend position and offset the impact on the General Fund Balance.

3.    That Cabinet approves capital carry forwards of £39.2m.  £15.9m is requested to be carried forward into the 24/25 capital programme, with the remaining £23.3m in 2025/26.

Reasons for Decisions:

This report is to comply with the agreed policy of providing a monthly budget monitoring report to Cabinet for information and approval of any necessary actions.

(The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources and Performance Select Committee)