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Agenda item

Financial Performance Report 2024-25 Quarter Three

Purpose:

To provide details of the Council’s financial performance at the end of 2024-25 Quarter Three (Q3).

 

Recommendation:

That the Committee considers the report and agrees any recommendations it wishes to submit to the Executive on 12 March 2025.

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Finance Introduced the Item. The purpose of the report was to detail the Council’s financial performance for Quarter Three 2024-2025. The Executive Member highlighted the following points;

  • The income target for Development Management was not expected to be met.
  • The refurbishment of the Elmfield office had been completed, with a tenant now in occupation.
  • A new dry mixed recycling contract (from October) had led to a £23,000 per month cost reduction, contributing to a £300,000 saving in the 2025-26 budget.
  • The Four new vehicles which had been approved in January 2024 had been delivered, reducing reliance on hired vehicles.
  • On Decarbonisation projects there had been delays with the works at Carterton Leisure Centre, but the Windrush Leisure Centre was progressing well, with a business case expected to come forward in June.

 

In discussing the report, the Committee noted that;

  • In 2.18 of the report it stated that a report on the asset review of Between Towns Road would be brought to the Executive in the first half of 2025/26. It was asked whether this would still be the case. The Chief Finance Officer said that teams were in discussion on this but that they would have a much better idea in Q1 of the new financial year.
  • While the £54,000 refund of bank charges was welcome, it was questioned why the Council had overpaid this amount of money. The Chief Accountant explained that this was a backdated refund extending past the financial year of the report. Due to the large volume of transactions that the Council undertook, these were due to small outliers (e.g. a transaction costing 2p instead of one) over a long period of time.
  • The fact that the Elmfield Office was now occupied by tenants was welcome, and members asked how much money the Council was making from this. The Chief Accountant explained that there was a 20% return on the capital investment from the site.
  • There was no reason to believe that take up of the garden waste service was low. W Payment schemes or support for garden waste services could be looked at but as this had not been included in the 2025/26 budget it would need to be reviewed as part of the budget setting process for 2026/27.
  • A large number of food waste bins damaged. The Publica Assistant Director explained that there had been a 44% increase in broken bins in January but that officers were looking at understanding the reasons behind these cases.
  • In 2.28 of the report, it stated that a capital loss of £497,000 had been incurred due to a pooled fund operated by UBS closing. The Council had not been offered any alternatives by UBS. The Council had set up an earmarked reserve and utilised the statutory override provision to ensure that its revenue position would not be impacted.
  • Councillor Natalie King made reference to TAC305 of the report, where it stated that the building can be untenanted due to major works required on the roof. Councillor King stated that she had formally complained about this, but did not wish to declare an interest on the matter. The Chief Accountant explained that they could not comment on a live complaint, but that they would clarify whether information within the report had been misleading and ask that property services respond on how buildings could be tenanted if they had major works that needed to be done.

 

The Committee noted the report.

 

Supporting documents:

 

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