Agenda and minutes
Venue: Town Hall, Watford
Contact: Ona Ehimuan Email: democraticservices@watford.gov.uk
Media
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Apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillor Turmaine (Chair) and Councillor Stanton. Councillor Parker was absent without apologies. |
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Disclosure of interests Minutes: There were no disclosures of interest. |
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Minutes The minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2021 to be submitted and signed. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of Finance Scrutiny Committee held on 22 November 2021 were approved and signed. |
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Finance Digest - Period 8 PDF 375 KB Report from Head of Finance. Additional documents: Minutes:
The committee received a report of the Head of Finance with the financial position at the end of November 2021.
The Head of Finance introduced the report. The report linked with the Financial Planning report and served to understand any risks/pressures identified in the current year and opportunities to address when building the budget.
Key points were as follows:
• There was no significant change from the previous report. There was a slight worsening in the forecast pressure for the end of the year from £728,000 to £792,000. • The main loss was from the loss of the annual management fee from the leisure operator. This was partially offset by expected income from central government’s compensation scheme for lost income. • The pay award had still not been agreed for 2021/22 which remained a risk, however this had been factored into the budget for future years not only for future pay awards but for any ongoing pressure from the current year.
Councillor Khan asked whether the £792,000 pressure would decrease in future years once the impact of the pandemic had reduced. The Head of Finance explained that there was an assumption that income would return to a more favourable level, however the timing of the Omicron variant made it difficult to determine the impact over the Christmas period. With regards to leisure providers, there was still a significant amount of uncertainty on whether there would be the usual uptick in people signing up to the gym in January. The loss of income from the waiving of managements fees and additional support was recoverable over the life of the contract with the leisure provider and would be built into future budgets, however the timing was yet to be determined.
RESOLVED –
1. That the 2021/22 Period 8 Finance Digest as shown in Annex A, be considered and notes both the revenue and capital forecast outturn positions.
2. That the committee comments be given to Cabinet/Council. |
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Report from Head of Finance. Additional documents:
Minutes:
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