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Agenda item

Capital Financial Performance 2017/18 - Provisional Outturn (EX3306a)

Purpose: To inform Members of the provisional capital outturn for 2017/18 and the likely impact of this on the 2018/19 Capital Programme.

Decision:

Resolved that the financial performance of the Council be noted.

 

This decision is not subject to call in as:

 

·      Report is to note only

 

therefore it will be implemented immediately.

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 7) which informed Members of the provisional capital outturn for 2017/18 and the likely impact of this on the 2018/19 Capital Programme. This was subject to the final result of the closedown and External Audit.

Councillor Graham Jones explained that total capital expenditure in 2017/18 was £38m from a revised budget of £49.8m. The budget was revised during the year to take account of funds brought forward from 2016/17, additional grant and Section 106 funding allocated during the year and spend re-profiled into 2018/19.

The budget remaining unspent at the end of the financial year mainly consisted of:

·         £4.4m of the budget for commercial property acquisition for the purchase of further property now expected to be completed in July 2018;

·         £4.5m of the Highways and Countryside Programme, including three resurfacing schemes which were delayed due to bad weather and the Kings Road Link on which the developer was behind schedule, together with delays to the A4 cycle route, Sandleford access improvements and a number of smaller schemes;

·         An underspend of £751k on disabled facilities and home repair grants;

·         Underspends on a number of education schemes (£413k) and Adult Social Care schemes (£309k).

Councillor Jones explained that £11.1m had been carried forward into the 2018/19 financial year within the services to which it had been allocated.

Councillor Lee Dillon referred to the underspend of £751k on disabled facilities and home repair grants. He queried whether government grant funding would need to be returned. Councillor Dillon also questioned the reasons for the underspend and asked if it was due to a lack of need or an inability to conduct assessments.

Councillor Graham Bridgman explained that expenditure of the Disabled Facilities Grant was demand led and grants had to be awarded to any disabled person who was eligible for the Council to fund adaptations in their home. However, there had been a backlog in processing grant applications over the last couple of years which had resulted in the budget being underspent. This was mainly because of a lack of occupational therapy resource to carry out assessments. In 2017/18, the surplus government grant had been used to fund occupational therapy equipment, which was administered by Adult Social Care (in line with the Better Care Fund agreement). The Housing Team had now recruited three new occupational therapists and a technical officer, who would be funded from the grant and would help to speed up the processing of grant applications. It was therefore the expectation that spend on Disabled Facilities Grants and administration would be in line with the budget of £1.5m in 2018/19.

Councillor Bridgman concluded by stating that it was the intention to utilise this funding wherever appropriate. Councillor Dillon was pleased to note this intention. Equipment such as a grab rail could do much to improve a person’s quality of life.

Councillor Dominic Boeck explained that the Property Investment Board had done its best to reduce the underspend for the acquisition of commercial property. He confirmed that the first tranche of funding was close to being fully invested ahead of timelines, putting the Council on target to generate £1m per annum in income from 2019/20.

RESOLVED that the financial performance of the Council be noted.

Other options considered: n/a – factual report for information.

Supporting documents: