Issue - meetings

The Council considered a report which provided information on the progress with balances already earmarked within the General Fund, new balances earmarked at the end of 2020-21 that qualify for automatic carry forward. The report also presented proposals to earmark 11 new areas of unspent budget which required approval.

Decision

The Council –

1. Approved the revised Policy on Year End Flexibility including approval of two new categories - for automatic carry forward of unspent income from One Council Property Team to invest in the Council’s property portfolio to ensure it remains fit for purpose and for Fleet orders committed from revenue budget but not delivered within the financial year due to supplier issues.

2. Approved the 11 new unspent budget earmarked reserve proposals totalling £4.472m as supported by submitted business cases and note that there are a further five unspent budget earmarkings amounting to £1.300m that have been previously approved, as outlined in Appendices 2.1 and 2.2.

3. Noted the new balances of £25.153m at the end of 2020-21 that qualify for automatic carry-forward as outlined in Appendix 3.1. This includes unallocated COVID funding of £1.230m.

4. Noted the new balances of £2.389m at the end of 2020-21 from Social Work that qualify for automatic carry-forward as outlined in Appendix 3.2.

5. Noted the previously approved unspent budget earmarked reserves of £6.290m and the justification for continuing to earmark these as outlined in Appendix 4.

6. Noted a total of £34.673m of automatically carried forward balances which are previously earmarked balances in addition to the new amounts earmarked as a result of budget decisions in February 2020 and February 2021 as outlined in Appendix 5.

7. Noted that £0.537m of no longer required earmarked balances will be released back into the General Fund.

(Ref: Report by Section 95 Officer dated 10 June 2021, submitted)