Agenda and minutes
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Register of attendance, membership and apologies for absence
Minutes: Following a register of attendance, it became clear that several members of the Committee were experiencing technical difficulties. The Chairman asked that an adjournment be taken until 14:10, to allow the opportunity for IT to resolve the issues.
When the meeting reconvened at 14:10, five Members were able to confirm that they were present, with Councillors Johnson and Baxter still experiencing technical difficulties. As the meeting was quorate, the Chairman requested that the Committee move to the next item on the agenda but asked the IT Department to continue to assist those Members who were still experiencing problems.
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Disclosure of interests
Members are asked to disclose any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting. Minutes: No interests were disclosed. |
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Minutes of the meeting held on 23 July 2020
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 23 July 2020 were proposed, seconded and agreed as a correct record. |
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14:17 - Councillor Gloria Johnson confirmed that she had successfully joined the meeting |
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Updates from previous meeting
Minutes: The Chairman confirmed that there had been four action points raised at the previous meeting. One of the action points was not yet due and emails had been circulated to the Committee regarding the further three action points. |
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Outturn Position Report 2019/20
Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources. Additional documents: Minutes: The Interim Director of Finance introduced the report on the outturn position for 2019/20. He explained that the report had already been presented before the Finance, Economic Development and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet, to seek feedback before it was presented to the Governance and Audit Committee for approval. Both the Finance, Economic Development and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet had supported the contents of the report and the proposed budget carry forwards.
The Committee were presented with an outline of the main points from the General Fund outturn position for 2019/20, including the Revenue Budget, Capital Programme and Reserves. The Interim Director of Finance explained that the outturn for the General Fund revenue budget was an overall balanced position. This was highlighted as a positive position which had been achieved through a number of interventions supported by Members, as well as a one-off supplementary gain from the Business Rates Retention Scheme in relation to renewable energy projects. Reference was made to the most significant variances across the three sections of the General Fund outturn position.
Members were then given an outline of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) outturn position for 2019/20, including the Revenue Budget, Capital Programme and Reserves. The Interim Director of Finance explained that the HRA budgeted to make a surplus at the end of each financial year in order to support and maintain a resilient 30 year Business Plan. A significant variance was highlighted in relation to the refurbishment and improvement capital scheme within the 2019/20 Capital Programme. This £9.1m variance in the investment set out for stock growth proposals had contributed to a £9.4m variance overall in the 2019/20 HRA Capital outturn position. The Committee were given the opportunity to ask questions relating to the report and the appended documents.
The Committee considered tables 1 and 2 of the report. One Member asked if the General Fund revenue budget amendments in table 2 were recurrent or non-recurrent. It was confirmed that the amendments contained in table 2 were non-recurrent budget amendments that had been agreed during the 2019/20 financial year, including the 2018/19 budget carry forwards agreed by the Committee from the outset of 2019/20.
A question was also asked regarding the difference between the current General Fund revenue account budget identified in table 1 as £19.312m and the total budget amendments figure in table 2 of £20.311m. It was explained that the budget amendments identified in table 2 had increased the 2019/20 budget as agreed at Council (£17.917m) to £20.311m. The General Fund revenue account budget figure in table 1 represented this increased total budget with the proposed budget carry forwards to 2020/21 removed.
One Member highlighted some of the variances identified within the report that he felt had not been given satisfactory explanations and asked for further information giving the reasons for the variances. The Interim Director of Finance suggested that, in order to evidence the variances accurately and in sufficient detail, the information could be circulated ... view the full minutes text for item 67. |
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14:36 – Councillor Ashley Baxter confirmed that he had successfully joined the meeting |
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Draft Statement of Accounts 2019/20
Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources. Additional documents: Minutes: The Interim Director of Finance introduced the report on the 2019/20 draft Statement of Accounts. He explained that the report was being presented to the Committee later than it ordinarily would be, due to the Accounts and Audit (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, which had made provision for the statutory deadlines in relation to the completion of the 2019/20 audit and the publication of the final accounts to be delayed until 30 November 2020.
The proposed public inspection period had been moved from the dates stated in the report. The public inspection would now begin on 1 September 2020 and would continue until 12 October 2020. This delay would allow officers to implement any feedback from the Committee and undertake further quality checks to ensure that the draft accounts were error free when presented to the public.
The audit inspection of the accounts would take place on the week commencing 17 August 2020 and the week commencing 21 September 2020. The Annual Governance Statement was currently under review and would be presented to the next meeting of the Committee, once approved by the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive. Another point for noting was the request from the auditors for group accounts to be produced in relation to Gravitas Housing Limited. Members requested that these be circulated to the Committee, when available.
Action Point
· The group accounts for Gravitas Housing Limited to be circulated to the Committee when available
The Head of Finance outlined the key features of each of the four core financial statements; the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement, the Movement in Reserves Statement, the Balance Sheet and the Cash Flow Statement. The Committee were then asked if they had any questions regarding the report or the appended Statement of Accounts 2019/20.
One Member referred to note 4 of the core financial statements (page 83 of the agenda pack). He referred to the Government funding that the Council had received thus far to meet the costs of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and asked if potential Government funding for loss of income would be added to the document, if this was approved before the final Statement of Accounts was published. The Interim Director of Finance confirmed that further details of the Government co-payment scheme were expected before the final Statement of Accounts was published and that note 4 would be kept up to date and expanded on if requested by audit.
A member of the Committee asked if the ‘Strategic Direction – Vision’ section on page 70 of the agenda pack could be expanded to include reference to the corporate management restructure. It was confirmed that at the present time, the restructure had not been formally adopted or approved by Council, but the narrative could be developed further if the restructure had more of a significant impact before the final Statement of Accounts was published.
Attention then turned to notes 12 and 13 of the Statement of Accounts (pages 92 to 94 of the agenda pack), relating ... view the full minutes text for item 68. |
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Minutes: The Committee noted that two meetings had been arranged for November; 5 November 2020 and 19 November 2020. The Chairman asked officers to investigate whether it was necessary to hold both meetings.
Action point
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Close of the meeting
Minutes: The meeting closed at 15:28. |