To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no interests declared.

The Leader began his statement by thanking the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for their comments and feedback on the Quarter 2 Financial Report. He moved on and stated that on Monday 12 December he had received the resignation of the Chief Executive, Lyn Carpenter, which he had accepted. He explained that the recruitment process for a new substantive Chief Executive would begin in the New Year. The Leader added that he had also recently signed an Executive Decision notice to accelerate the recruitment process of an Interim Director to improve the environmental department, who would ensure every bin in the borough was collected. He looked forward to the new Interim Director starting work for the Council in the New Year. 

There were no briefings on policy, budget and other issues.

No petitions had been submitted by members of the public.

No questions had been submitted by non-Executive Members.

Other than those items already contained within the agenda, no items had been referred to the Cabinet for their consideration by an overview and scrutiny committee.

Councillor Snell introduced the report and stated that it outlined the Council’s latest financial position for 2022/23 and the medium-term outlook. He explained that the report presented a significant deterioration in the Council’s finances since the previous financial report presented in October 2022, following the intervention from the Secretary of State. He explained that work had been undertaken to identify the impairment on major investments, due to the deterioration in their valuation. Councillor Snell added that the Council were evaluating revenue impacts of compliance with the Prudential Code, particularly surrounding the Minimum Revenue Position (MRP), as well as refinancing debt and other financial pressures. He stated that as a result of this, there was a projected in-year deficit of £469.581m, which could be reduced through mitigation measures to £452.38m and was outlined in the table on page six of the agenda. He stated that in 2023/24 there would be an approximate deficit of £184m, as outlined on page seven of the agenda. Councillor Snell felt that this was a grave financial position for the Council, which would mean that the Council would need to seek external support from the government in the form of Exceptional Financial Support (EFS). He added that the Council would also need to restrict spend and consider all capital assets. He highlighted the table on page six of the agenda that outlined the general fund outturn position for quarter two, although clarified that this was subject to further change. Councillor Snell explained that the level of potential mitigation was also likely to change, subject to the closure of prior years’ audits. He stated that the funding gap for 2022/23 assumed that investments would be kept, although the Council would be working to divest some investments and therefore reduce MRP costs. Councillor Snell summarised and explained that the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet would be updated as the financial situation progressed.

The Deputy Leader highlighted that Cabinet had received the draft Corporate Overview and Scrutiny minutes, as well as a summary of questions that the Committee had asked at the meeting. The Leader thanked the Committee for their feedback, and highlighted their point regarding due diligence of auditors. He stated that he had raised this issue with the Acting Chief Executive and the Commissioners who would be investigating this further. The Interim Director of Finance added that most questions at Corporate Overview and Scrutiny had sought clarification on terms and the impact that the S114 notice could have on the Council. He added that the Committee had also commented on the clarity of the report.

The Leader asked when the Quarter 3 finance report would be presented to Cabinet. The Interim Director of Finance replied that the team were currently following standard timetables for finance reports, and were preparing the Quarter 3 report for February’s Cabinet and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny meetings. The Deputy Leader highlighted Corporate Overview and Scrutiny’s point regarding the Council’s statutory minimum during the S114 period, and felt that some discretionary  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.