Issue - meetings

The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Growth, will report at the meeting.  Report attached.

The Leader, Councillor O’Brien presented a report updating Cabinet on the forecast financial positon of the Council at the end of 2020/21 based on the information known at the end of the first quarter. The reports sets out the positon for both revenue and capital and provides an analysis of the variances, both under and overspending.

The Leader reported that the Council is forecasting an overspend of £7.524m. This is not unexpected given the pressures faced by COVID-19 and reflects the monitoring that has been reported to MHCLG and Greater Manchester on the in-year position. Whilst the

Council has seen an increase in some costs, the most notable impact has been on income loss. The MHCLG returns request details on the loss of income including council tax and business rates and the projected total loss for 2020/21, based on the June submission, is forecast at £24m. It should however be noted that, for financial planning and financial strategy purposes, the loss in income for business rates and council tax impacts in 2021/22 and will therefore be reflected in the update to medium term financial strategy.

Delegated decision:

Cabinet is asked to:

• Approve the reallocation of the Council’s budget to reflect the new organisational footprint;
• Note the announcement of £16.150m in grant funding to support the Council with the additional costs and pressure of COVID-19 and note that these have been reflected in the service budgets;
• Note that further funding announcements have not yet been reflected in the financial position due to the fact that individual local authority allocations have not yet been made;
• Note the forecast overspend of £7.524m, the position on reserves, the position on the Dedicated Schools Grant and the CCG funding framework;
• Note the challenges in monitoring the collection fund and that further work is ongoing with other Greater Manchester Authorities to manage and report on the impact of COVID-19 on the fund;
• Note the position in relation to grants for businesses affected by COVID-19;
• Note the capital programme for the year and that further work is underway to review the programme in light of the COVID-19 crisis.

Reasons for the decision:

The report supports the Council in managing the overall financial risks and financial planning for the Council.

Other option considered and rejected:

To reject the recommendations.