Issue - meetings

Medium Term Financial Strategy

Meeting: 26/11/2020 - Cabinet (Item 42)

42 Update on the Council's Financial Position pdf icon PDF 592 KB

To receive a report from the Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance & Assets

Decision:

RESOLVED

 

i)          To note the changes in the Council’s financial position in 2020/21 and the Medium Term.

 

ii)         To recommend to Council the new pricing structure at Southwater County Park car park as set out in Appendix A of the report.

 

iii)        To recommended to Council the transfer of the budget and associated operational responsibilities for the Southwater Country Park car park to Parking Services for 2021/22. 

 

iv)        To recommend to Council the approval of a £89k capital budget in 2020/21 for business waste bin weighing technology and equipment.

 

REASON

 

i)          The Council needs to acknowledge the highly unpredictable nature of the national and local situation occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the huge impact this is having on its financial position both in the short and longer term. This has moved the Council from what has been a long term healthy financial position to one with predicted large deficits unless action is taken.

 

ii)         To standardise parking hours across the year and help manage demand for car parking at Southwater Country Park during busy periods.

 

iii)        To streamline internal reporting processes and have all parking related services within the Parking service budgets.

iv)        The bin weighing technology and equipment will help the business waste service more accurately and efficiently manage the service by identifying trends and overladen bins, ensuring the Council is not subsidising customer disposal costs.

Minutes:

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance & Assets presented the report on the projected scale of the financial impact of Covid-19 in 2020/21, including the impact of the second Lockdown during November, and the measures being taken or being considered to help achieve a balanced budget in 2021/22. 

 

With the current level of uncertainty, it was impossible to prepare a full Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) until January or February. The overspend of £5m this Financial Year, as set out in the report, had risen to £5.4m due to the November lockdown and it was recognised that substantial action was still required to achieve a balanced budget in 2021/22. The £1.1m grant received from government was included in the figures.

 

Changes put forward in the draft MTFS included changes to parking at Southwater Country Park with new standardised parking charges and the transfer of the budget and operational responsibilities to Parking Services for 2021/22.  The draft MTFS also included a capital budget for business waste bin weighing technology and equipment to make this service more accurate and efficient.

 

RESOLVED

 

i)          To note the changes in the Council’s financial position in 2020/21 and the Medium Term.

 

ii)         To recommend to Council the new pricing structure at Southwater County Park car park as set out in Appendix A of the report.

 

iii)        To recommended to Council the transfer of the budget and associated operational responsibilities for the Southwater Country Park car park to Parking Services for 2021/22. 

 

iv)        To recommend to Council the approval of a £89k capital budget in 2020/21 for business waste bin weighing technology and equipment.

 

REASON

 

i)          The Council needs to acknowledge the highly unpredictable nature of the national and local situation occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the huge impact this is having on its financial position both in the short and longer term. This has moved the Council from what has been a long term healthy financial position to one with predicted large deficits unless action is taken.

 

ii)         To standardise parking hours across the year and help manage demand for car parking at Southwater Country Park during busy periods.

 

iii)        To streamline internal reporting processes and have all parking related services within the Parking service budgets.

iv)        The bin weighing technology and equipment will help the business waste service more accurately and efficiently manage the service by identifying trends and overladen bins, ensuring the Council is not subsidising customer disposal costs.