Agenda item

To consider the Council’s financial outturn and approve the transfers to and from earmarked reserves. 

1.       That the General Fund outturn for 2020/21, the financing of the Capital Programme and the Annual Treasury Management Report and performance be NOTED.

2.       That the transfers to and from earmarked reserves be APPROVED.  

21.1          The report of the Head of Finance and Asset Management, circulated at Pages No. 117-142, had been amended following publication of the Agenda and the amended report had been circulated around the table. Members were asked to consider the report and note the General Fund outturn for 2020/21, the financing of the capital programme and the Annual Treasury Management Report and performance and to approve the transfers to and from earmarked reserves.

21.2          The Head of Finance and Asset Management explained that the accounting treatments had been wrong for some of the COVID-19 related funding and had therefore required amendment. In addition, the government compensation had changed which had also been amended. The government error had generated an additional £82,000 to put into the Medium Term Financial Strategy reserve. The outturn position would be a good boost to the Council’s reserves but only in terms of the one-off position meaning those funding streams would not be there again going forward. In addition, a lot of the monies were grant related and therefore set aside for specific uses so there was very little scope to allocate funding. The Council still had financial challenges which were yet to be clarified by the government so it was proposed that the funding would be set aside to mitigate those risks; when the Council did gain clarity it may not be able to change that position but the reserves were proposed as prudent until clarity was gained. Members felt the Committee was kept well-informed via the Transform Working Group and he felt confident to propose the recommendation, as set out on the amended report, which was seconded. In response to a query regarding Member training for finance purposes, the Head of Finance and Asset Management explained that he had been looking for external trainers to support the session and was aiming to set something up for early autumn.

21.3          Accordingly, it was