Decision details

The Council gave consideration to a report providing information on progress with balances already earmarked within the General Fund and new balances earmarked at the end of 2022-23 that qualified for automatic carry forward or had been previously agreed. It also presented proposals to earmark 9 new areas of unspent budget which required approval.

Decision

The Council –

1.          approved the revised Policy on Year End Flexibility included as Appendix 1, including the approval of one new category for automatic carry forward of unspent income for the installation and maintenance of Electric Vehicle Charging points.

2.          approved the 9 new unspent budget earmarked reserve proposals totalling £4.610m as supported by submitted business cases and noted that there were a further 4 unspent budget earmarkings amounting to £2.094m that had been previously approved, as outlined in Appendices 2.1 and 2.2.

3.          noted the new balances of £11.708m at the end of 2022-23 that qualified for automatic carry-forward as outlined in Appendix 3.

4.          noted the previously approved earmarked reserves of £61.054m and the justification for continuing to earmark these as outlined in Appendix 4.

5.          noted that £1.124m of no longer required earmarked balances would be released back into the General Fund.

6.          noted that £5.006m relating to Social Work reserves was recognised on the Balance Sheet and was outwith the scope of this report.

(Reference: Report by Section 95 Officer dated 2 June 2023, submitted)