Issue - meetings

1.      That the General Fund Revenue Outturn and Capital Programme Outturn be noted as set out in report CAB3514.

2.      That the transfers to and from the Major Investment Reserve as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report be approved and the reserves and closing balances at 31 March 2025 (as set out in Appendix 2) be noted.

3.      That the revised 2025/26 capital programme be approved as set out in Appendix 5 of the report including the following new budgets:

a.      Special maintenance vehicles replacements - £251,000

b.      Rural Enterprise Prosperity Fund (additional funding received) - £223,000

c.      Disabled Facilities Grant (additional funding received) - £185,000

4.      That the revised 2025-2035 capital programme as set out in Appendix 6 of the report be noted.

5.      That the proposal to write-off the five individual outstanding Non-Domestic Rate debts totalling £458,213.50, listed in exempt Appendix 7 of the report be approved, in accordance with Financial Procedure Rule 12.7(f).

Councillor Cutler introduced the report and set out that it had been discussed at Scrutiny Committee on 8 September where a number of points had been raised including the following:

a)    That the Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance consider the allocation of interest earned from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds, with the outcome to be shared with the committee.

b)    That the Cabinet Member for Place and Local Plan consider a member discussion with the aim of encouraging applications and schemes for future CIL funding.

In addition, a copy of the draft minutes of the Scrutiny Committee had been circulated to all those present at Cabinet.

In relation to the first point, Councillor Cutler advised that there was no requirement for the interest earned to be transferred back into the CIL fund and as it would be complicated to achieve this his initial view would be not to make any changes.  However, he would discuss further and report back to Scrutiny Committee as requested.

In relation to the second point, Councillor Tod suggested that an all members’ briefing be arranged outlining how councillors could encourage more CIL bids from within their wards.  This was agreed.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillor Godfrey addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Godfrey welcomed the favourable outturns reported and the unexpected additional government funding, which he believed made the cautious 2025/26 budget less necessary, noting a large increase in reserves due to underspending in many areas. He also sought clarification on why the replacement of special maintenance vehicles was categorised as capital expenditure. Additionally, he requested assurance that all reasonable actions had been taken to collect outstanding NNDR before considering debt write-offs and inquired about progress in clearing the appeals backlog.  Finally, he commended officers for the high council tax collection rate and the effective use of the Disabled Facilities Grant.

Councillor Cutler together with the Director (Finance) responded to the comments made, including confirming that all possible steps had been taken to recover the unpaid NNDR and emphasising the impacts of the uncertainties in connection with local government reorganisation on budget planning.

Cabinet members and invited councillors present confirmed that it was not necessary to go into exempt session to discuss the contents of the exempt appendix.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out in the report (including the exempt appendix) and outlined above.

RESOLVED:

1.       That the General Fund Revenue Outturn and Capital Programme Outturn be noted as set out in the report.

2.       That the transfers to and from the Major Investment Reserve as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report be approved and the reserves and closing balances at 31 March 2025 (as set out in Appendix 2) be noted.

3.       That the revised 2025/26 capital programme be approved as set out in Appendix 5 of the report including the following new budgets:

a.       Special maintenance vehicles replacements - £251,000

b.       Rural Enterprise Prosperity Fund (additional funding received) - £223,000

c.       Disabled Facilities Grant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9

RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that the committee scrutinise and comment on the proposals within the attached draft cabinet report, ref CAB3514 which is to be considered by cabinet at its meeting on the 10 September 2025.

NOTE

This report contains an exempt appendix (appendix 7), if members wish to discuss any part of this exempt appendix, then the procedure under agenda item 7a (below) applies.

Councillor Neil Cutler, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation introduced the report, General Fund Outturn 2024/2025 ref CAB3514, which provided a summary of the statement of accounts for the General Fund and Capital Programme outturn for 2024/2025. The introduction included the following points.

1. The report detailed the variances from the budget across service areas, which showed a positive outturn of £2.4 million.
2. This surplus had allowed for a transfer of just over £1.7 million to reserves and £0.7 million to the General Fund reserve.
3. As a result of these transfers and additional in-year funding, a revision of the capital programme, including new budgets, was necessary.
4. The report also sought approval for the write-off of five uncollectible non-domestic rates debts, with details provided in an exempt appendix.

The committee was asked to scrutinise and comment on the proposals within the attached draft cabinet report, ref CAB3514, which was to be considered by cabinet at its meeting on 10 September 2025. The committee proceeded to ask questions and debate the report. In summary, the following matters were raised.

1. A question was asked regarding the likelihood of the council receiving a multi-year government settlement.
2. A question was asked whether funds from the original budget that were transferred to reserves were ringfenced for their original purpose or could be moved to a general reserve.
3. A query was raised as to whether the favourable variance in car parking receipts indicated that the success of the revised parking strategy had been underestimated.
4. A question was asked about how the council's write-off of non-domestic rates compared with other similar councils.
5. Further details were requested regarding the purpose and use of the Asylum Dispersal grant.
6. A question was raised on how the spending of the £13.4m in Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds could be accelerated and the allocation of interest.
7. Clarification was sought regarding who would have decision-making responsibilities for CIL funds following Local Government Reorganisation.

These points were responded to by Councillor Neil Cutler, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation, Councillor Jackie Porter, Cabinet Member for Place and Local Plan, Liz Keys, Director (Finance), Simon Hendey, Strategic Director, and Laura Taylor, Chief Executive, accordingly.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the report be noted.

2.    That the Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance consider the allocation of interest earned from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds, with the outcome to be shared with the committee.

3.    That the Cabinet Member for Place and Local Plan consider a member discussion with the aim of encouraging applications and schemes for future CIL funding.

4.    That cabinet considers the committee’s comments raised during the discussion of the item.