Issue - items at meetings - FP979 Finance Update 2020/21

Issue - meetings

FP979 Finance Update 2020/21

Meeting: 19/05/2020 - Cabinet (Item 131)

131 COVID-19 Financial Impact Update 2020/21 (Forward Plan Reference FP979) pdf icon PDF 347 KB

Report of the Corporate Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) on the Council’s financial impact due to COVID-19.

Additional documents:

Decision:

(1)     Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to Corporate Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) and Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader and Executive Member (Resources) to determine the allocation of the £1.28m of un-ringfenced funding in line with the budget pressures set out in section 3 of the report.

 

(2)     Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to Corporate Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) and Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader, Executive Member (Resources) and Executive Member (Regeneration, Economic Development and Partnerships) to determine the distribution of support using funding from Central Government to businesses and Council tax payers.

 

(3)     Cabinet noted the letter shown in Appendix A from the Leader of the Council sent to the Secretary of State seeking his commitment to provide further funding for local authorities to alleviate COVID-19 related income and expenditure pressures.

 

(4)     Cabinet noted the estimated financial impact outlined in the report and this was subject to change as the government makes further policy announcements.

Minutes:

Report of the Corporate Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) on the Council’s financial impact due to COVID-19.

 

(1)       The Decision Taken

 

RESOLVED:

 

(1)     Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to Corporate Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) and Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader and Executive Member (Resources) to determine the allocation of the £1.28m of un-ring-fenced funding in line with the budget pressures set out in section 3 of the report.

 

(2)     Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to Corporate Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) and Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader, Executive Member (Resources) and Executive Member (Regeneration, Economic Development and Partnerships) to determine the distribution of support using funding from Central Government to businesses and Council tax payers.

 

(3)     Cabinet noted the letter shown in Appendix A from the Leader of the Council sent to the Secretary of State seeking his commitment to provide further funding for local authorities to alleviate COVID-19 related income and expenditure pressures.

 

(4)     Cabinet noted the estimated financial impact outlined in the report and this was subject to change as the government makes further policy announcements.

 

(2)       Reasons for the Decision

 

The report outlined that the significant financial impact that the Council is facing due to COVID-19.  The impact is estimated to be £7M, which is mainly due to loss in fees and charges income and increase in cost of our homelessness service provision.  To date, the council only received £1.28M of non-ring-fenced government support, which is considerably less than the shortfall. 

 

The Leader of the Council wrote to the Secretary of State seeking commitment for further funding to local government.  The Cross Party Finance meetings were being held regularly to keep all political parties informed of the financial pressures that the Council is facing. 

 

Officers will continue to monitor the situation over the next few months, and the Medium Term Financial Strategy will be updated taking account of the final 2019/20 outturn when this is available.  A robust financial plan will be put in place as part of the financial resilience recovery group to ensure the Council’s financial sustainability beyond the current financial year.