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Agenda, decisions and minutes
Venue: Council Chamber, Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3UY
Contact: Democratic Services on 01424 451484 email: democraticservices@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Apologies for Absence
Minutes:
None received
Declaration of Interests
Minutes:
None received.
Minutes of Last Meeting PDF 317 KB
Minutes:
RESOLVED – that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 5th October 2020 be approved as a true record.
Final Accounts 2019/2020 PDF 211 KB
(Peter Grace, Chief Finance Officer)
Additional documents:
Decision:
1. Cabinet review the revenue and capital outturn positions for 2019/20.
2. That the 2019-20 outturn position, along with the revised estimates for 2020/21 be taken into account when preparing the 2021/22 budget.
3. Cabinet review the achievement of Priority Income and Efficiency Review (PIER) savings for 2019/20.
Minutes:
The Chief Finance Officer presented a report on the outturn of the last financial year, ending in March 2020.
The financial landscape has changed dramatically from last year and continues to change as we move through this year. It is important to understand last year’s closing position given the financial impacts occurring this year as a result of COVID-19. The report provides a starting point to understand our reserves position in particular and to help identify ongoing savings that will need to be made in current and future years. Any underspends in the year will be helpful but it is the ongoing savings that will be achieved which helps balance the budget for future years.
The audit of the final accounts, being carried out by external auditors, Grant Thornton, has been delayed this year. The final accounts themselves are meant to be presented to the Audit Committee on the revised date of November 12th. Unfortunately, Grant Thornton will not be in a position to give a view on the accounts by this date, mainly as a direct result of COVID-19. The Council’s accounts remain in draft format and could be subject to change.
Currently, it looks like it was a good year, as the deficit of £1.598m was reduced from the £1.798m that was predicted in February 2020 – a reduction of £200,000. The big variations are identified in the appendices; of particular note are those in respect of street cleaning, waste and grounds maintenance. These areas need to be looked at to see if they can provide savings in the future. Whilst the report identifies numerous variations there is a lot more work to be carried out in order to set budgets for future years.
There remain uncertainties around the future of non-domestic rate income and whether the appeals provision remains sufficient given the significant payments being made. Councillor Peter Chowney highlighted the level of savings being achieved and the Priority Income and Expenditure Review (PIER) savings in particular – as detailed in the appendices.
Councillor Chowney proposed approval of the recommendations, seconded by Councillor Rogers.
RESOLVED (unanimously) that:
1. Cabinet review the revenue and capital outturn positions for 2019/20.
2. That the 2019-20 outturn position, along with the revised estimates for 2020/21 be taken into account when preparing the 2021/22 budget.
3. Cabinet review the achievement of Priority Income and Efficiency Review (PIER) savings for 2019/20.
Reasons:
Compliance with statutory requirements and good practice. The Council is accountable for the use of public money and continuously seeks to improve Value for Money.
The outturn position informs the budget setting process. Where there are under or overspends the reasons behind these are investigated with a view to reallocating resources to meet priorities.
The 2016/17 Audit Completion Report from the council’s external auditors (BDO at the time) recommended that management report on the achievement of PIER savings following their implementation.
COVID-19 Lockdown update
Minutes:
As everyone is aware, we are now heading towards another lockdown on Thursday. This is another worrying time which increases people’s fear. The Leader reassured all the residents and businesses that Hastings Borough Council will do all it can to work with partners to support everyone through this next period of lockdown.
The Managing Director updated on what is happening and what the council is planning for going into the lockdown on Thursday.
Following announcements on Saturday night, the Managing Director attended a briefing with Secretary of State for Local Government on Sunday evening.
At the briefing, the Secretary of State explained that the details of what we need to know about managing this lockdown would be made available over the next few days.
So whilst we are preparing for Thursday, we are waiting to hear a number of things including:
· Clarity about whether some outdoor sports facilities and activities are allowed or not
· Confirmation that waste and recycling sites will stay open – we expect this to be the case this time
· Any further support and expectations the government has around rough sleeping and winter conditions and any associated funding
· Expectations about what help will be offered to the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable who will we understand be written to and advised to stay home as much as they can and to work from home. They will be told by the Health Secretary what support is in place – we are keen to understand what this support is too, as we know that the national scheme will not be in place this time. Although the main responsibility for supporting this cohort of people in the last lockdown rested with upper tier councils, we provided significant support through our community hub and can reasonably expect to do so again.
· We are also waiting to hear what level of Business support will be made available, for businesses forced to close from Thursday, and what caveats or conditions they are required to meet. We are assuming it will be the same as that which has been allocated to those in tier 3 areas. We’re also are not yet aware of the amount or rules for the discretionary funding which we understand we will be allocated to support local businesses with.
· The Secretary of State also said a statement will be made this week regarding the national expansion of the enforcement and local contract tracing systems currently operating in tier 2 and 3 areas.
Examples of what we have done immediately include:
· Each senior manager is reviewing their second wave plans, and in the light of the specifics we understand and are preparing their response recommendations for what needs to be put in place by Thursday. For some areas this is likely to take a few days as the information they need is not yet available.
· We have re-instigated A and B teams into operation at the Cemetery and Crematorium – to ensure we have teams that do not meet to reduce the risk ... view the full minutes text for item 286.
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