Issue - meetings

The Interim Head of Paid Service to present a report which provides details of the council’s overall finance and performance position for the period 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020, together with an overview of any emerging issues.

Resolved:  (i)      That the finance and performance information, and the actions needed to manage the financial position, be noted.

                   (ii)      That the use of £425k of HRA balances to offset additional Covid-19 expenditure, as outlined in Annex 1 to the report, be noted.

Reason:     To ensure expenditure is kept within the approved budget.

TheCorporate Finance & Commercial Procurement Manager presented a report which set out the council’s overall finance and performance position for the period 1 April to 30 June 2020.

The report highlighted the significant impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which had led to £10m additional costs and £8m loss of income, as well as diverting attention from the usual budget management activity. Government grant of £11m had been awarded to date and the new Income Compensation Scheme could potentially provide £4m more, but it was clear that further government funding would be needed this year and next.  Efforts to lobby the government to ‘Back York’, in view of the city’s potential for a strong economic recovery, were ongoing.

The gross financial pressures facing the council were projected at £7.6m.  After mitigation and further action, as outlined in the report and detailed in Annex 1, it was considered that this could be brought down to a net position of £2.7m.  The council had £7.4m general reserves to call upon should the outturn not be within the approved budget. 

York continued to delivery priority services to high standards, in particular its key statutory services.  Performance against the core indicators in the Council Plan was set out in paragraphs 24-31 of the report and in Annex 2. Some of these indicators were already showing a direct adverse effect from Covid-19 and significant changes were likely to be seen in future reports as new data became available.

Members welcomed the report, in particular the Back York campaign and the council’s continued delivery of services in difficult circumstances.

Resolved:  (i)      That the finance and performance information, and the actions needed to manage the financial position, be noted.

                   (ii)      That the use of £425k of HRA balances to offset additional Covid-19 expenditure, as outlined in Annex 1 to the report, be noted.

Reason:     To ensure expenditure is kept within the approved budget.