Issue - meetings

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Finance.

1.    To approve the revised capital programme as attached at Appendix A, which includes an amendment to the programme of £23k, as detailed at point 11 of the report.

2.    To note the variations to the programme (which are detailed by scheme at Appendix B and referenced within the body of the report);

3.    To note the position in the Balance Sheet monitoring section of the report, in respect of cash, investment and loan balances and debtors, at 30 September 2022.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member (Resources) presented the report of the Director of Finance which outlines the financial position of the Council in respect of the capital programme at 30 September 2022, highlighting key issues and explaining key variances, and provides an overview of various elements of the Council’s Balance Sheet at 30 September 2022.

The capital budget for 2022/23 was set at £24.2m at Council in February 2022. This was increased following approval of the 2021/22 outturn to £32.2m, then further amended in the Capital Monitoring Report as at 31 July 2022 to £27.6m. Following the changes detailed in this report, the total programme now stands at £25.5m. Members noted that the total cost of the Council’s capital investment programme for 2022/23 has decreased since the 2021/22 outturn report approved by Cabinet, from £27.6m to £25.5m as at 30th September 2022.

Members welcomed the completion of the Strawberry Meadows development and thanked officers for the delivery of the project. Members also discussed the budget for the decarbonisation works for Council assets and noted that Government timescales for delivering the scheme had become impractical and would result in higher costs even with the grant. Therefore, different options to deliver the works were being considered.

Decisions:

1.    To approve the revised capital programme as attached at Appendix A, which includes an amendment to the programme of £23k, as detailed at point 11 of this report.

2.    To note the variations to the programme (which are detailed by scheme at Appendix B and referenced within the body of the report);

3.    To note the position in the Balance Sheet monitoring section of the report, in respect of cash, investment and loan balances and debtors, at 30th September 2022.

Reasons for recommendations:

To ensure the Council’s Capital Programme is monitored effectively.

Other options considered and rejected:

None