Issue - items at meetings - Update On Financial Resilience/Managing the Savings

Issue - meetings

Update On Financial Resilience/Managing the Savings

Meeting: 01/12/2022 - General Purposes Committee (Item 5)

5 UPDATE ON FINANCIAL RESILIENCE/MANAGING THE SAVINGS pdf icon PDF 441 KB

The report provides an overview on the Council’s financial resilience and managing the savings.

Minutes:

The report provided an overview on the Council’s financial resilience and managing the savings.

In response to questions from Members, the Executive Director, Resources advised that a specific review on the significant financial pressures faced by the Council was underway.  These included the cost of Special Educational Needs (SEN), an increasing need for education, health, and care plans (EHCPs), the need for additional places within the care system.  A report would be taken to the appropriate formal body of the Council.

 

The Executive Director, Resources undertook to provide inflationary information dating back to 1997, together with information regarding SEN for the last three to four years to provide a data comparison regarding the current position and would resend a list of the Council’s loans for the last forty years.                                                                                                                ACTION

 

AGREED that:

 

1.    The journey of financial resilience to the present time be NOTED;

 

2.    The challenge presented by the current high inflationary environment which was exacerbating the Council’s (and the sector’s) budget challenge for at least 2022/23 and 2023/24, across revenue and capital be NOTED;

 

3.    The approach the Council was taking in closing the 2023/24 budget gap be NOTED;

 

4.    The negative direction of reserve balances, after a period of upward trajectory be NOTED; and

 

5.    The fragile sector wide funding position and changing nature of the challenge, after 2023/24 was balanced be NOTED.