On 24 June 2025 Cabinet:-
(i) Noted the City Council’s provisional General Fund outturn position for 2024/25, showing an underspend of £43.8m (Section 5, to the report, refers);
(ii) Noted that without Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from Government, the Council would have a deficit of £182.1m;
(iii) Noted the Collection Fund outturn (Council Tax, Business Rates, and Section 31 Grant income) and its impact on the General Fund (Section 6, to the report, refers);
(iv) Noted the Council’s forecast reserves balance of £977.1m as at 31 March 2025 (Section 7, to the report, refers);
(v) Noted the allocations from Specific Contingency, approved by the Section 151 Officer under delegated authority (Section 8, to the report, refers);
(vi) Noted the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) overspend of £20.6m for 2024/25 and the transfer from the ring fenced HRA reserve (Section 9, to the report, refers);
(vii) Noted the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) underspend of £4.9m and its transfer to the DSG reserve (Section 10, to the report, refers);
(viii) Noted the capital programme outturn for 2024/25, showing a £156.9m underspend against a revised budget of £623.8m (Section 11, to the report, refers); and
(ix) Noted the Treasury Management Annual Report, confirming the Council remained within its prudential limits set under the Local Government Act 2003 and CIPFA’s Prudential Code (Section 12, to the report, refers).
(x) Approved the use of, and changes to, Grant and Earmarked Reserves and Balances (Section 7 and Appendix 2, to the report, refers);
(xi) Approved the contributions to Carry Forwards (Section 7, to the report, refers);
(xii) Approved the carry forward of £156.9m from the 2024/25 capital programme into future years to complete planned projects (Section 11, to the report, refers);
(xiii) Approved the financing arrangements for capital expenditure for 2024/25 (Section 11, to the report, refers);
(xiv) Approved that the Section 151 Officer be authorised to make necessary changes, with any further movements reported to Audit Committee, and if appropriate, to Cabinet and the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee;
(xv) Approved the budget virements made in Quarter 4 of 2024/25, to ensure alignment of budgets with cost centres (Section 13 and Appendix 6, to the report, refers).
(xvi) Approved that outstanding individual debts of more than £25k relating to Irrecoverable Business Rates and Housing Benefit Debts are written off. These require Cabinet approval as per the Council’s constitution. Details of these debts are included in Appendix 7, to the report. Further information in respect of these is available on request.
THE DEADLINE FOR CALL IN IS 1600 HOURS ON MONDAY 30 JUNE 2025.