Issue - meetings

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet notes the risks and opportunities identified in relation to the Council’s budget position for the year.

2.    That Cabinet approves the increase in the net revenue budget to £1,208.4m due to the additional funding announced as part of the Final Local Government Finance Settlement (paragraphs 14-16).

3.    That Cabinet allocates up to £8m of Council reserves to fund the Adults, Wellbeing & Health Partnerships transformation & improvement programme over the period 2024/25 to 2026/27, as set out in paragraphs 19–21.

Reasons for Decisions:

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

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

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources introduced the report which  provided details of the County Council’s 2024/25 financial position as at 30th April 2024 (M1), and the expected outlook for the remainder of the financial year. On 6th February 2024, Council approved a revenue budget of £1,197.1m. The Final Local Government Finance Settlement provided details of the Council’s specific allocations, which amounted to an additional £11.3m, including the subsequent increase to the Public Health Grant. Cabinet was asked to approve the increase to the Council’s revenue budget to £1,208.4m for 2024/25 and the proposed use of the additional funding.

At Month 1, the Council was forecasting an overspend of £7.4m against the 2024/25 revenue budgetapproved by Council in February 2024. The forecast overspend relates to increasing Home to School Travel Assistance (H2STA) pressures. The home to school transport team continued to work on a number of activities to try to contain and mitigate against the rising transport costs, as set out in paragraph 6. An Oversight Board will be reconstituted for HTSTA to monitor progress. In February 2024 Council approved a capital budget of £404.9m for 2024/25. At this early stage in the financial year, not all risks and opportunities to delivering the capital programme budget can be identified. The capital programme will likely be re-phased before detailed budget monitoring is reported for May month end.

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet notes the risks and opportunities identified in relation to the Council’s budget position for the year.

2.    That Cabinet approves the increase in the net revenue budget to £1,208.4m due to the additional funding announced as part of the Final Local Government Finance Settlement (paragraphs 14-16).

3.    That Cabinet allocates up to £8m of Council reserves to fund the Adults, Wellbeing & Health Partnerships transformation & improvement programme over the period 2024/25 to 2026/27, as set out in paragraphs 19–21.

Reasons for Decisions:

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

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