Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Resources (for copy see file of minutes) which had been agreed by Cabinet in July 2020 and provided information with regards to;

(a)  final revenue and capital outturn for the General Fund for 2019/20;

(b)  final outturn for the Council’s Council Tax and Business Rates Collection Fund for 2019/20;

(c)  use of and contributions to earmarked, cash limit and general reserves in year and the closing position regarding balances held at 31 March 2020.

Councillor J Robinson left the meeting at this point and did not return.

Councillor Temple referred to the number of schools with a deficit balance and was concerned that the number of schools in deficit had stayed the same as the previous year, and the deficit had risen by over £1.5m.  He referred to the four schools with longstanding difficulties that were receiving additional support and queried whether those schools had reduced deficits or whether they had continued to rise.

The Finance and Transactional Services Manager confirmed that at least two of those schools had increased their deficits and one had reduced it.  Of the four schools referred to, two had plans to academise this year and it was expected therefore that the deficit at the end of the financial year would be addressed. The other two would remain and continue to be supported going forward.

Mr I Rudd referred to the term ‘cash limits reserves’ which was a term used frequently throughout the report and asked for some further information.  The Head of Finance and Transactional Services explained that it was not a statutory requirement to have cash limit reserves but it was not unique to Durham. He explained that this encouraged individual service groupings to manage their individual budgets over more than one financial year.  Any underspend would be retained and held in an earmarked reserve for the services to use in future years, for example to meet one off costs that were unbudgeted and in addition it avoided services spending towards the end of the financial year for fear that their budgets would be reduced the following year if they were not seen to have spent it all.  It promoted services to be self-sufficient and manage their own resources across the medium term.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.