(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Thomas)
The Head of Financial Services submitted a report providing Members with summary information regarding the provisional outturn for 2008/09 and the timetable for completion of the closure of accounts process. The report also set out information regarding the carry forward of underspent/overspent revenue budgets and capital slippage for Members’ consideration, and sought approval of various Prudential Indicators for last year for referral on to Council.
The options, options analysis, including risk assessment and officer preferred option, were set out in the report as follows:
The City Council has a legal requirement to ensure that its expenditure is fully funded and to produce a Statement of Accounts in accordance with proper accounting practice. In addition, the Prudential Indicators are a statutory requirement linked to the budgetary framework. For these aspects, therefore, there are no alternative options for Cabinet to consider. Members are being asked to endorse certain actions taken by the Head of Financial Services, however. Cabinet should consider whether it has sufficient information to do so or whether it requires any further justification.
The report requests Cabinet to consider a number of revenue budget carry forward matters and capital slippage. The framework for considering these is set out in the report but basically Cabinet may:
- Approve any number of the items / requests, in full or part.
- Refuse any number of the requests and if commitments have already been incurred, require alternative funding options to be identified. Cabinet should note, however, that this may impact on other areas of service delivery.
- Request further information regarding them, if appropriate. Cabinet is asked to bear in mind any work required against the value of the individual bids.
The Officer preferred Options were set out in the recommendations of the report.
The Head of Financial Services informed Cabinet of an amendment to the Capital Slippage figures, the amount requested for Lancaster Hub Tourist Information Centre (TIC) refurbishment being £10,000, not £4,000, as shown in Appendix J to the report.
It was moved by Councillor Bryning and seconded by Councillor Langhorn:-
“(1) That the provisional outturn, funding and variance analysis for 2008/09 be noted.”
It was moved by Councillor Langhorn and seconded by Councillor Archer:-
“(2) That Cabinet notes the transfers to provisions and reserves actioned by the Head of Financial Services as set out in section 2 of the report.”
It was moved by Councillor Langhorn and seconded by Councillor Thomas:-
“(3) That Cabinet notes the carry forward of overspends on controllable budgets, as set out in Appendix F of the report, and asks Portfolio Holders to investigate the reasons and feed back into the budget process.”
It was moved by Councillor Langhorn and seconded by Councillor Archer:-
“(4) That Cabinet approves the requests for carry forward of underspent revenue budgets as set out in Appendix G of the report.”
It was moved by Councillor Thomas and seconded by Councillor Langhorn:-
“(5) That Cabinet approves the requests for capital slippage, as amended, as set out at Appendix J to the report, as amended under TIC Refurbishment.”
It was moved by Councillor Thomas and seconded by Councillor Langhorn:-
“(6) That the timetable for completion and reporting of the closure of accounts be noted, as set out in section 7 of the report.”
It was moved by Councillor Thomas and seconded by Councillor Archer:-
“(7) That the Prudential Indicators as at 31 March 2009, as set out at Appendix K of the report, be approved for referral on to Council, as part of the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2008/09.”
It was moved by Councillor Langhorn and seconded by Councillor Thomas:-
“(8) That subsequent reporting of performance against delivery should include specific information on the Council’s property portfolio.”
Members then voted:-
Resolved unanimously:
(1) That the provisional outturn, funding and variance analysis for 2008/09 be noted.
(2) That Cabinet notes the transfers to provisions and reserves actioned by the Head of Financial Services as set out in section 2 of the report.
(3) That Cabinet notes the carry forward of overspends on controllable budgets as set out in Appendix F of the report and asks Portfolio Holders to investigate the reasons and feed back into the budget process.
(4) That Cabinet approves the requests for carry forward of underspent revenue budgets as set out in Appendix G of the report.
(5) That Cabinet approves the requests for capital slippage, as amended, as set out at Appendix J to the report, as amended under TIC Refurbishment.
(6) That the timetable for completion and reporting of the closure of accounts be noted, as set out in section 7 of the report.
(7) That the Prudential Indicators as at 31 March 2009, as set out at Appendix K of the report, be approved for referral on to Council, as part of the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2008/09.
(8) That subsequent reporting of performance against delivery should include specific information on the Council’s property portfolio.
Note: Councillor Barry was not present when the vote was taken on resolution (8).
Officers responsible for effecting the decision:
Corporate Director (Finance and Performance)
Head of Financial Services
Reasons for making the decision:
The City Council has a legal requirement to ensure that its expenditure is fully funded and to produce a Statement of Accounts in accordance with proper accounting practice. In addition, the Prudential Indicators are a statutory requirement linked to the budgetary framework.