Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Shaikh.

None.

Agreed.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting on 28 November 2019 be agreed as a correct record and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none.

Link to the report.

RESOLVED:

2.1         That the forecast revenue outturn for the General Fund of an overall underspend of (-£2.572m) compared to a forecast underspend of (-£0.634m) in the previous reported position be noted.

2.2           That management action is required over the course of the financial year to bring forecast overspends back to within agreed cash limited budgets where possible be noted.

2.3         That the breakdown of the forecast General Fund outturn by individual variance at Appendix 1 and by service area at Appendix 2 be noted.

2.4         That the schedule of additional budget risks that are not included in the current forecasts be noted.

2.5           That the latest position on the delivery of agreed 2019/20 savings and the earmarked corporate transformation reserve be noted, and that it be noted that a risk-based review of the savings programme is currently underway.

2.6          That it be noted that the HRA forecast is a net break-even position.

2.7           That the latest capital position and key capital variances with forecast capital expenditure of £142.591m in 2019/20 against the existing 2019/20 capital budget of £154.595m be noted.
 

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none.

Link to the report.

RESOLVED:

2.1         That the assumed MTFS and budget gap be noted, and that the comments of the Section 151 Officer in Section 8 regarding the additional medium-term budget risks that are not currently factored into the budget gap (Paragraph 3.6, Table 1 and Appendix A of the report) be noted.

2.2          That the revised 2020/21 to 2022/23 savings and income generation programme (Paragraph 3.18 and Appendix B of the report), and the revenue budget growth and additional/expanded service provision funded from existing budgets and external funding be agreed (Paragraphs 3.22-3.23, Table 5 and Appendices C1-C2 of the report).

2.3          That the risks around the savings currently assumed in the MTFS be noted, and that it be noted that a risk-based review of all assumed savings is currently underway and will inform the next review of budget assumptions at the outset of the 2021/22 budget setting process (Paragraphs 3.19-3.21 of the report).

2.4         That the 2020/21 net budgets by directorate be agreed (Paragraph 3.24, Table 7 and Appendix A of the report).

2.5         That the variables that could still significantly affect the 2020/21 budget be noted (Paragraph 3.25 of the report).

2.6         That the latest Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) assumptions following the provisional DSG settlement for 2020/21 be noted (Paragraphs 3.26-3.33 of the report).

2.7         That the General Fund fees and charges policy be noted and the 2020/21 fees and charges be agreed (Paragraphs 3.35-3.36 and Appendices D1-D4 of the report).

2.8         That the budgeted movements to/from earmarked reserves assumed as part of the 2020/21 revenue budget (including the creation of a new Social Care Funding reserve) be agreed, and the unchanged policy on the minimum level of General Fund balances be noted (Paragraphs 3.38-3.40 and Table 8 of the report).

2.9         That it be agreed that any underspends at the end of the financial year should be used to increase General Fund balances and/or earmarked reserves in order to provide further resilience going into a very uncertain medium-term budget cycle from 2021/22. That it be agreed that should there be any advantageous changes to 2020/21 budget assumptions before finalising the final version of this report to the Executive on 6 February 2020 and Council on 27 February 2020, that this is used to increase the corporate contingency budget (Paragraph 8.11 of the report).

The HRA Budget and MTFS (Section 4)

2.10       That the balanced HRA 2020/21 budget be agreed and the latest estimates over the 3-year MTFS period be noted (Paragraph 4.3 and Appendix E1 of the report).

2.11       That the 2020/21 HRA rents and other fees and charges be agreed (Tables 10-13 and Appendix E2 of the report)

The Capital Programme 2020/21 to 2022/23 (Section 5)

2.12       That the 2020/21 to 2022/23 capital programme be agreed (Paragraph 5.1, Table 14 and Appendix F of the report).

2.13       That further work will be required to allocate the additional capital investment pot and that a revised capital programme will be set out in a report to Council during 2020/21 be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 677.

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none.

Link to the report.

RESOLVED:

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none.

Link to the report.

RESOLVED:

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none.

Link to the report.

RESOLVED:

That the procurement strategy for Housing, Revenues & Benefits and information@work applications that are hosted in the cloud via G-Cloud be approved, as outlined in the report submitted.

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none.

Link to the report.

Councillor Watts noted that he had accepted this item as an urgent item of business. The report had been circulated in the additional despatch of papers. The reason for urgency was that London Councils required formal agreement of the contribution from participating boroughs no later than 31 January 2020. The item would ordinarily have been considered by the Voluntary and Community Sector Committee, however the committee was not due to meet until 3^rd February. The report had been accepted as an item of urgent business to ensure that the council was able to comply with the deadline set by London Councils.  

RESOLVED:

Noted.

Noted.

Noted.

Noted.