The Cabinet Member with the Resources Portfolio introduced the report of the Group Director of Operations (previously circulated) providing an early forecast of the 2021/22 revenue budget outturn as part of the Council’s continuous financial management process and informing Cabinet of the budget rebasing exercise carried out following the 2020/21 outturn results.

The submitted report stated that it was the first revenue budget management report to Cabinet for 2021/22 and that the latest projections showed an overall improvement of £3.636M, which was due to £2.317M of additional balances following the 2020/21 outturn; £0.993M of resources returned to reserves; £0.22M of projected departmental underspend in 2021/22; and the use of £0.304M of COVID-19 reserve.

It was reported that there still remained a significant amount of uncertainty regarding the recovery from COVID-19 which had the potential to impact on the budget position during the remainder of the 2021/22 financial year.

RESOLVED - (a)  That the forecast revenue outturn for 2020/21, as detailed in the submitted report, be noted.

(b)  That further regular reports be made to monitor progress and take prompt action if necessary.

REASONS - (a)  To continue effective management of resources.

(b)  To continue to deliver services to agreed levels.