Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer attached

This report outlines the projected outturn position for 2021/22, based on expenditure and income activity as at the end of May 2021 and future projections.

The Committee considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer, which provided an outline on the projected outturn position for 2021/22 based on the Council’s expenditure and income activity as at the end of May 2021 and future projections.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• There’s uncertainty around the budget but at present a £1.359m underspend is currently forecast for the year;
• Delivery of budget savings are on track and officers are working to ensure all savings are achieved;
• The impact of Covid-19 and related financial forecasts and associated virements and grants remains an evolving situation;
• Additional non-Covid-19 grant funding has also been received.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• Clarity was sought on what the Welcome Back Fund is to be used for in the coming weeks ahead in light of the easing of Covid-19 restrictions;
• Homelessness remained identified as a high risk area - what future grant funding was likely to become available from Central Government;
• The Report’s new format was clear and succinct;
• Car parking revenue was down by £4.1m due to reduced season ticket sales, was this an amber or a red risk;
• Social Care had a £2.6m overspend due to agency staff filling the vacancies arising. Why was agency spend being incurred;
• How was there currently an underspend on mental health;
• A reduction in B&B use for dispersed accommodation was anticipated, clarity sought on what cost effective measures were being put in place;
• A further report or information on the wider spend on temporary accommodation is perhaps something more appropriate to establish the overall context.

The Deputy Chief Executive stated that hopefully the new report format distilled the key information for financial reporting, there were still longer-term challenges ahead.

The Deputy Leader commented that although there is still uncertainty around future funding but hoped that the report was self-explanatory in nature. The Deputy Chief Executive stated that further details would be provided by the Deputy Chief Executive to the Committee regarding spending on the Welcome Back Fund. In relation to homeless grant funding, she stated that it was too early to look at upcoming grant funding and further clarity would hopefully be received in the coming months.

The Deputy Leader stated how the Council was stepping up to provide homeless support, but ultimately the funding was insufficient and the government needed to adopt a longer-term approach to the funding of the sector to provide the necessary certainty. The Council was watching the property market and evictions ban to identify how it developed in the foreseeable future but it was doubtful if the funding issue was to be solved within the next settlement period.

In relation to the specific question on car parking revenue, the Deputy Chief Executive stated that finances were an amber risk at the moment until fully worked through in the financial year.

The Deputy Leader offered insight, having previously been the Executive Member for Adult Social Care, stating that there was an issue with reporting on the agency staff spend. Some of the spend was on standard sick cover and due to short-staffing ratios where staff had not been fully identified to cover positions. Work was in progress and sits more with the issues identified around staffing ratios and cover.

The Deputy Chief Executive set out that due to the budgetary process an underspend on mental health in early parts of the year may end up being reflected as the year goes on so may well balance out. In relation to the question on dispersed accommodation the Director of Homelessness was doing lots of work to look into these issues. It was difficult to unpick singular elements of the strategy and breaking up spend profile of individual aspects would not necessarily reflect the wider scenario.

Decisions

1. To note the report; and
2. Further details are to be provided by the Deputy Chief Executive to the Committee around spending on the Welcome Back Fund.