Issue - meetings

To review and consider the report of the Executive Director of Finance and Resources.

4.1       The Committee received the Period 2 Finance Monitoring Report presented by Gerald Almeroth and Rikin Tailor.

4.2       The Committee was advised about income losses and variances, including expenditure variance in Adults Social Care and Children’s Services, in addition to slippage seen in the outturn report.

4.3       The Committee queried the role of government support in assisting the Council in maintaining balance in its budget. Gerald Almeroth and Rikin Tailor noted that, in drawing up the budget, consideration had been given to the reduction in income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly from the Council’s fees and charges income streams. The Committee was advised that the Council’s budget had also been drawn up with the knowledge that key government support schemes would end in June, and that the economy had not fully picked up by this point. The Committee also queried what government support would be in place following this point. Gerald Almeroth commented that local government had made a request to MHCLG for continuance of support but that this was not currently in place.

4.4       The Committee further queried the underspend forecast for Adult Social Care, and whether this was due to altering numbers of placements or hours of care provided. Gerald Almeroth commented that, during the pandemic, placement numbers had reduced and home care increased, but it was as yet unknown whether these trends would be maintained.

4.5       The Committee noted that the eviction ban had ended and queried whether therefore households in Temporary Accommodation (TA) who did not meet homelessness criteria were being evicted. Gerald Almeroth advised the Committee that care would be taken in such cases, especially as non-payment of rent was often down to household circumstances (“can’t pay, rather than won’t pay”), and that resumption of court activities more widely meant that recovery of rent or housing would be able to resume.

4.6       The Committee noted that the report highlighted the Westminster pension fund was again fully funded. Gerald Almeroth noted that the Council element was 85%, with a plan to repay the deficit in full this year.

4.7       The Committee discussed the divergence between what was promised and what was delivered in addition to exploring the merits of yearly budget-setting versus longer term budgets (20 to 30 years).

4.8       The Committee queried whether the Council’s healthy reserve position might be detrimental to appeals for continuation of government COVID grant funding. The Committee heard that local government funding and finance more widely was in a time of great uncertainty, and that rules on local government funding generally applied across the board to all local authorities. However, officers advised that Westminster would continue to make the case for Westminster, given its local economic centres’ key role in delivering value back to the national economy. The Committee noted the report.

4.9       RESOLVED: That the Committee note the report.