Issue - meetings

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet:

1)    Note the budget monitoring position and treasury management update as at October 2023 (Month 7), noting the actions proposed by officers as outlined in Part A of this report.

2)    Approve the financial recommendations set out in Part B of this report below:

a)    Accepts a grant of £153,440 from the North West London Integrated Care Board to fund the development of an evidence base to support the health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people.

b)   Accepts a grant of £1,583,351 from the Department of Health and Social Care’s Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF) Workforce Fund to address adult social care workforce pressures during the winter period to 31 March 2024.

c)    Accepts a grant of £163,419 from the North West London Integrated Care Board to fund two staffing posts to support the implementation of Population Health Management.

d)   Approve the acceptance of a grant of £34.7k from Groundwork London in respect of the Crane Valley Project Fund.

e)    Approve the acceptance of additional grant of £445k from Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for Disabled Facilities Adaptations.

f)     Approve the acceptance of a grant of £10.2k from Arts Council England LibraryOn Grant Programme for the creation of bespoke room booking website for bookable spaces in libraries.

g)   Approve a budget virement from the general fund capital risk and contingency budget for £300k to the ICT Corporate Technology & Innovation budget for the Oracle Fusion Cloud upgrade / implementation project.

h)   Approve a budget virement from the general fund capital risk and contingency budget for £74k to the Cranford Park project budget for sewer treatment plant works.

i)     Approve the commissioning of Grant Thornton to undertake an accelerated process, working in collaboration with Officers and Members, to deliver a zero-based budget plan to support and inform the Councils MTFF process for 2024/25 and beyond. This will provide a detailed analysis of opportunities for efficiencies and savings within services. The cost of this work is £238,213 plus VAT. This work will also support the Council’s continuing  Transformation programme.

j)     Notes the £420k increase in insurance premiums as part of the annual premium’s renewal process from £1,419k to £1,839k (29.5%), and increase in insurance excesses from £100k to £500k for Property claims.

Reasons for decision

The Leader of the Council introduced the report, delivering a statement from the Cabinet Member for Finance, who had sent his apologies. The statement noted the financial landscape for local authorities remained challenging, characterised by stagnant levels of central Government grant funding, juxtaposed with persistent inflation and growing demand for essential statutory services.

Hillingdon's response to these financial challenges was described as realistic and robust. The Council managed costs through budgetary controls, maintaining debt at modest and sustainable levels. Despite the difficulties, the Council demonstrated resilience in addressing financial pressures.

Exceptional costs, including the staff pay settlement and the use of earmarked reserves for items like COVID-related pressures, core inflation, and the older persons discount, were noted. The projected year-end position for earmark reserves in the 2023-2024 financial year was £13.9 million, with an additional £26.8 million in unallocated general balances, resulting in a total projected reserve of £41 million.

The objective to retain and build reserves in the face of the ongoing challenging economic environment was reiterated. It was noted that the savings target for the current year of £22.8 million was on track.

The statement noted that there had been investigations into placement costs within the high needs block of the dedicated schools grant, which suggested a projected deficit of £26.5 million at the end of March 2024.

The Leader of the Council moved the recommendations outlined in the report, including a number of financially oriented recommendations, such as the acceptance of various strands of grant funding.

Alternative options considered and rejected

None.