Agenda item

This report provides the Cabinet with the details of the Council’s provisional outturn position for the financial year 2022/23. The report covers the following areas:

·               General Fund Revenue Budget

·               Housing Revenue Account Budget

·               Capital Programmes – General Fund and Housing Revenue Account

·               Reserves overview – General Fund and Housing Revenue Account

Purpose of report

This report provided the Cabinet with the details of the Council’s provisional outturn position for the financial year 2022/23. The report covered the General Fund Revenue Budget, the Housing Revenue Account Budget, the Capital Programmes for both the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account, and the Reserves overview for both the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Recommend for approval to Governance and Audit Committee the provisional Revenue and Capital Outturn position for the financial year 2022/23.

2.    Approve the budget carry forwards, as at appendices D and H.

3.    Recommend to Governance and Audit Committee the following reserve movements in respect of the General Fund:

a) £1.5m of the Business Rates Volatility reserve to be transferred to

the: 

o ICT Reserve (increase by £0.150m)

o Property Maintenance Reserve (increase by £0.400m)

o Invest To Save Reserve (increase by £0.150m)

o Climate Change Reserve (increase by £0.300m)

o Creation of a Pay Award Reserve of £0.500m

b) The balance of the Inflation Reserve of £0.500m to be transferred to

the:

o Budget Stabilisation reserve (increase by £0.250m)

o Street Scene reserve (increase by £0.250m)

4.    To approve the implementation of the pay award with effect from 1 April 2023 of £1,925 for officers earning less than £50,000, 3.88% for officers earning over £50,000, 3.5% for Chief Officers and 3.88% to Members Allowances.

5.    Delegates authority to the Section 151 Officer and Head of Paid Service in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader to make a further adjustment once the outcome of the national negotiations are finalised.

Alternative options considered and rejected

The options considered as part of the Outturn were explored in detail within the report.

Reasons for decision

Members should be kept updated on the financial position of the Authority, as effective budget management was critical to ensuring financial resources were spent in line with the budget and were targeted towards the Council’s priorities. Monitoring enabled the early identification of variations against the plan and facilitated timely corrective action.

This report provided an overview of the provisional outturn financial position for the Council for 2022/2023. It had previously been scrutinised by the Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee which had:

·         Recommended to Governance and Audit Committee that the provisional outturn and proposed reserve movements in respect of the General Fund were approved

·         Recommended to Cabinet approval of the budget carry forwards as set out in Appendices D and H of the report

The overall outturn was better than previously forecasted for the Council, in part due to the decrease in energy prices. However, there were still a number of financial pressures for the Council.

There were a number of reserves being either created or amended, including the ICT Reserve, Property Maintenance Reserve, Invest To Save Reserve, Climate Change Reserve and the Pay Award Reserve.

There had been a slight change to the terms of the Local Government Pay Award since it had been considered by Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee; on 23 February 2023 Local Government were offered a pay increase for 2023/24 of £1,925 for officers earning less than £50,000 and 3.88% for officers (excluding Chief Officers) earning over £50,000 and an allowance increase of 3.88%. This had been rejected by the Trade Unions.  South Kesteven District Council had a local pay agreement so it was able to implement the pay increase that had been offered. Therefore, it was proposed in the interim to pay the current pay offer pending settlement of the national position and to delegate authority to the Section 151 Officer and Head of Paid Service in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader to make a further adjustment to pay grades once the outcome of the national negotiations was finalised.

Any schemes or costings utilising the above reserves would be considered through the appropriate forum, which could be through committee, or Cabinet Member or Officer decision.