Agenda item

N Howcutt presented the report, noting that there was currently a general fund surplus of £0.8m, predominantly due to significant investment returns and interest rates. There were pressures around the commercial programme in terms of customer strategy and planning fees, which are detailed within the report. There was pressure on the HRA (housing revenue account) of £0.4m due to increased staffing and interim staffing to cover senior posts and significant pressure comes from the backlog of repairs, the average cost of which has increased this year, causing a financial pressure of around £1.3m. The service was working to mitigate spending by looking at a longer and more detailed maintenance programme.

On capital, N Howcutt highlighted the re-phasing of the capital programme with £24m of re-phasing, including large projects around leisure that were currently under review by the new administration. Some delayed HRA programmes that were delayed last year due to the planning moratorium are running behind expectations this year and will be subject to re-phasing. DBC saw its largest capital programme in 2023-24 in the last 6 years.

Cllr Guest referred to paragraph 3.5 on page 28 of the report and asked what the Council proposes to do with the forecasted surplus of over £2m of treasury management income. N Howcutt advised that this year it offset some of the outlined pressures and if there is a surplus at year end then decisions and proposals will be made in the final outturn report. Cllr Symington advised that the Q1 net figure is closer to £0.8m and not the £2.4m figure stated in paragraph 3.5.

Cllr Hannell commented on the capital programme monitoring lines, specifically lines 73 and 107 regarding the spending on public conveniences. Cllr Hannell suggested that there were £35,502 across the two lines to be spent over the next financial year and he asked where this money had been spent. N Howcutt advised that line 73 shows a budget of £20k and no funds have been spent this year. These were funds put aside as work comes up with much going on repairs and maintenance. On line 107, N Howcutt advised that this was a prior slippage of the budget and that he would confirm where the £4k was spent.

Cllr Hannell queried why Bennetts End toilets had remained closed for the vast majority of this century and commented that the absence of toilets was clearly contributing to reduced footfall. Cllr Hannell asked if money could be spent on opening up these toilets. N Howcutt confirmed that he would take the comments to the portfolio holder and administration, stating that public conveniences cost a lot to upkeep and tend to be vandalised, and they would therefore need to assess the overall cost and benefit.

Cllr Hannell next referred to lines 84, 90 and 93 and noted that only 36% of the total budgeted for refurbishments of Bennetts End Shopping Centre was subject to slippage from the previous year and he asked if residents could be confident that there would be no further slippage this year. N Howcutt confirmed that he would ask the corporate property team to provide further details on this item. N Howcutt advised that committed spend for this year was where the project leaders expect to spend funds and that he would expect a significant proportion of the budget to be completed this year.

Cllr Elliot commented that the green bin income had been successful but was £700k over budget. N Howcutt stated that the initial budget was £650k and that they are currently at £1.35-1.4m for this financial year. Cllr Elliot asked how this compared to other boroughs. N Howcutt suggested that Dacorum potentially has the highest subscription numbers for its first year and that the successful take up was partly due to how the project was managed and rolled out by the team.

Actions

To clarify where the £4k on public conveniences was spent (N Howcutt)

To investigate the closure of Bennetts End public toilets (N Howcutt)

To ask the corporate property team to provide further information regarding budget slippage on Bennetts End Shopping Centre (N Howcutt)