Agenda item

That the following be noted:

1.  The Provisional overspend, prior to use of reserves, was £15.511m. 

2.  The Council’s Provisional overspend was £14.182m, after some accounting adjustments and this would need to be financed from the Council’s reserves.

3.  The Budget for 2024/25 contained investment of £9.883m aimed at re-basing those budgets that were overspending the most in 2023/24. Analysis of the outturn suggested a pressure in 2024/25 of £11.7m that would need to be managed and required immediate mitigating action. 

4.  A refresh of the medium-term financial plan would be presented to the next available Cabinet meeting, and this would include proposals for changes to the capital programme.

That the following be agreed:

5.  The transfer to Housing Revenue Account (HRA) General Reserves the surplus on the HRA of £3.393m in the year, as laid out in paragraphs 5.1 to 5.3 of the report.

6.  The draw down request from the Redundancy Reserve of £1.549m to cover the costs of redundancies agreed in 2023/24, and the associated budget transfer to those areas that incurred these costs as set out in paragraphs 10.3 and 10.4 of the report.

7.  The draw down request from the Budget Smoothing Reserve attributable to the Balance Sheet and ledger reviews, and note that these mitigate the headline forecast overspend, reducing it from £15.511m to £14.182m.  This was set out in more detail in paragraphs 10.6 and 10.7 of the report. 

8.  The Revenue carry forwards, relating to unspent specific grants and earmarked funding for transformation, as set in paragraphs 8.1 - 8.6 and Table 7 of the report.

9.  A transfer to Public Health reserves of £1.095m, being the unspent element of the 2023/24 Public Health ring-fenced grant, as set out in paragraph 3.11 of the report.

10.The addition of the following new projects to the 2024/25 Capital Programme, totalling £0.740m

- Childcare expansion (£0.220m, grant funded)

- Upton Court Pathway (£0.075m, section 106 funded)

- Cippenham Bridges (£0.150m, section 106 funded)

- Swimming Pool Support Fund initiative (£0.295m, grant funded)

The Lead Member for Finance, Council Assets and Transformation introduced a report that set out the provisional revenue and capital outturn position for the 2023/24 financial year.

The report detailed the continued financial challenges faced by the Council and emphasised the importance of the actions, savings and transformation still required as part of the Council’s financial recovery.  In addition to the local factors facing Slough there had been a number of national challenges during the financial year including the impacts of high inflation and continued rising demand for services, particularly homelessness and adult social care.  The Lead Member commented that the budget for 2023/24 had been set in March 2023 by the previous administration and had not made adequate provision for these two services which significantly contributed to the overspend.

The provisional overspend in 2023/24, prior to the use of reserves, was £15.51m and the Cabinet recognised that it was unsustainable to continue to utilise reserves to offset overspends.  The steps that had been taken to improve financial management and budget monitoring were summarised and Lead Members reiterated their commitment to own the agreed budgets and take the appropriate actions to deliver them for example through robust savings plans and transformation.  It was noted that future reports would come to Cabinet on the medium term financial strategy and capital programme in July 2024, and on the Dedicated Schools Grant in October 2024.  Members asked about some specific figures in the report in relation to bad debt provision and the actual spend on the posts funded through Covid COMF monies during the year, which officers responded to and could provide more detailed information after the meeting if Lead Members had further queries.

The Cabinet discussed in detail the actions being taken to address the overspends in temporary accommodation and adult social care.  In relation to homelessness it was noted that a number of measures had been taken to reduce the cost of provision, such as the revised out-of-borough policy previously agreed by Cabinet, and it was anticipated the impacts of these actions would come through before the end of the year.  However, it was recognised that there were significant demand pressures faced by Slough and many other local authorities.  A mitigating action plan had been put in place to address the adult social care overspend.  Other issues discussed included the impact of the increase in interest rates and the Cabinet agreed the importance of delivering the asset disposal programme at pace.  One of the issues that had arisen in the past year was the treatment of disposals from assets held in the Housing Revenue Account and it was noted that the Cabinet would receive a report on this issue at a future meeting.  Officers updated on other work being undertaken such as the balance sheet review and timetable for clearing the backlog of accounts.

At the conclusion of the discussion the Cabinet recognised the challenging financial position the Council was in and supported the continued focus on taking the necessary action to address the situation.  The report was noted and recommendations were agreed.

Resolved –

That the following be noted:

(a)  The provisional overspend, prior to use of reserves, was £15.511m. 

(b)  The Council’s provisional overspend was £14.182m, after some accounting adjustments and this would need to be financed from the Council’s reserves.

(c)  The Budget for 2024/25 contained investment of £9.883m aimed at re-basing those budgets that were overspending the most in 2023/24. Analysis of the outturn suggested a pressure in 2024/25 of £11.7m that would need to be managed and required immediate mitigating action. 

(d)  A refresh of the medium-term financial plan would be presented to the next available Cabinet meeting, and this would include proposals for changes to the capital programme.

That the following be agreed:

(e)  The transfer to Housing Revenue Account (HRA) General Reserves the surplus on the HRA of £3.393m in the year, as laid out in paragraphs 5.1 to 5.3 of the report.

(f)  The draw down request from the Redundancy Reserve of £1.549m to cover the costs of redundancies agreed in 2023/24, and the associated budget transfer to those areas that incurred these costs as set out in paragraphs 10.3 and 10.4 of the report.

(g)  The draw down request from the Budget Smoothing Reserve attributable to the Balance Sheet and ledger reviews, and note that these mitigate the headline forecast overspend, reducing it from £15.511m to £14.182m.  This was set out in more detail in paragraphs 10.6 and 10.7 of the report. 

(h)  The Revenue carry forwards, relating to unspent specific grants and earmarked funding for transformation, as set in paragraphs 8.1 - 8.6 and Table 7 of the report.

(i)  A transfer to Public Health reserves of £1.095m, being the unspent element of the 2023/24 Public Health ring-fenced grant, as set out in paragraph 3.11 of the report.

(j)  The addition of the following new projects to the 2024/25 Capital Programme, totalling £0.740m

- Childcare expansion (£0.220m, grant funded)

- Upton Court Pathway (£0.075m, section 106 funded)

- Cippenham Bridges (£0.150m, section 106 funded)

- Swimming Pool Support Fund initiative (£0.295m, grant funded)