Issue - meetings

The Interim Head of Paid Service to present a report that provides a year end analysis of the overall finance and performance position. This is the final report of the financial year and assesses performance against budgets, including progress in delivering the Council’s savings programme.

Resolved:  (i)      That the year end underspend of £128k be noted and approval given to transfer the underspend to the 2020/21 contingency.

(ii)      That the finance and performance information be noted.

(iii)     That the use of Brexit funding, as outlined in paragraphs 13-14 of the report, be noted.

Reason:     To ensure that significant financial issues can be dealt with appropriately.

The Head of Corporate Finance & Commercial Procurement presented a report which provided an analysis of the council’s overall finance and performance position at the end of the 2019/20 financial year, including progress on delivering the savings programme.

A provisional net underspend of £128k was reported on the net General Fund budget of £123m for 2019/20. Despite this positive position, considerable financial challenges remained for 2020/21 and beyond, including the impact of Covid-19 and the delivery of £4m savings outlined in the February 2020 budget report. The council’s overall financial health provided a strong platform to meet these challenges. Table 1, in paragraph 12 of the report, gave an overview of the out-turn; key variances were summarised in Annex 1.  A review had identified available reserves of £1.4m and it was proposed that these be released to support statutory Children’s and Adults’ services. It was also proposed to allocate a further £9k Brexit funding to Citizens Advice York for them to continue their support to York EU residents, as detailed in paragraphs 18-19.

The performance update was basedon the core indicators grouped around the eight outcome areas in the 2019-23 Council Plan, covering new information from Quarter 4 of 2019-20.  Examples of progress in these areas were set out in paragraphs 25-44 of the report and details were provided in Annex 2.

In presenting the report a correction was made to the recommendations at paragraph 7, adding a recommendation to transfer the underspend to the 2020/21 contingency.  In commending the report to Members, the Executive Member for Finance & Performance highlighted the council’s above-average performance in relation to affordable housing, independent living, key stage 4 learning, vacant shops, and median earnings in the city.

Resolved:  (i)      That the year-end underspend of £128k be noted and approval given to transfer the underspend to the 2020/21 contingency.

(ii)      That the finance and performance information be noted.

(iii)     That the use of Brexit funding, as outlined in paragraphs 18-19 of the report, be noted.

Reason:     To ensure that significant financial issues can be dealt with appropriately.