Agenda item

The purpose of this report is for members to review and approve the final Statement of Accounts for 2017/18.

Members considered the Statement of Accounts for 2017/18 presented by Peter Carpenter. 

As an attachment to the accounts, an update had also been circulated by Mark Saunders showing the differences between the draft and final versions of the accounts.  Peter Carpenter stated that it was important to note that there was no difference in terms of the level of the General Fund and what was reported at year end. 

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows: 

·         At the request of Councillor Clark, Mark Saunders went through the attachment, advising that the items were mostly technical accounting issues which had no impact on the Council’s use of reserves.  Councillor Sutton thanked Mark for the update and said it was very useful.  

·         Councillor Sutton commented that that there were some issues with the narrative report, namely under the heading ‘A growing population’ he said it was not strictly correct as the Local Plan and Economic Development Strategy, had not been decided yet.  Councillor Booth advised that there is an economic development strategy but it needs to be updated, and that is why it is going back to Overview & Scrutiny.  Councillor Sutton suggested therefore that this be reworded.  He also stated that under Governance, the number of councillors representing each political party was incorrect and thus the map and, although this did not affect the overall figures, nevertheless he felt it was important to point these out. 

·         Councillor Sutton asked for the current position with the figure of £0.693m under Provisions and Contingencies.  Mark Saunders advised there needs to be further analysis of business rates but has not got an up to date figure. 

·         Councillor Sutton stated he was surprised to see a lower figure for Garden Waste receipts in advance as he believed there had been a bigger uptake this year than last year.  Mark Saunders advised that the figure did not reflect any income received since 31^st March.  There would have to be a look at how many subscribers had carried on from last year, bearing in mind many people leave it until the last minute.  Councillor Booth agreed with Councillor Sutton’s point that they were led to believe that more people had taken up an earlier subscription this year compared to last year.  Consequently, Councillor Clark requested an update on those figures. 

·         Councillor Sutton asked if the remuneration to the Returning Officer and the elections team is reflected in the figures or covered separately.  Mark Saunders advised that this is a separate figure and not a direct cost to this Council unless they involve district elections.  Carol Pilson confirmed that the work done for all other elections are at no cost to us, the work is recharged to, say, the parish council or central government in the case of a parliamentary election and the figures are audited by the Electoral Claims Unit.  Mark Saunders confirmed that the accounts show the gross cost of the elections and include any money recovered via recharges. 

·         Councillor Butcher asked how the market undertaking figure was made up under Trading Operations.   Mark Saunders explained this included all the costs to provide the service, namely officer time, business rates, support services and administration etc.  The level of income received from markets is falling every year.  Councillor Booth stated that effectively the Council is losing £80,000 and as the costs are increasing as revenue decreases it is time to look at this.  Effectively we are subsidising these businesses and we cannot justify these costs to the public.  Councillor Clark asked for guidance on how it could best be addressed; Carol Pilson advised a response could be taken to the Chairman re markets.  Councillor Sutton stated his concern also with the costs regarding the port, and factory and office units.  Councillor Booth did state though that with the port authority, he has brought this up in the past and was advised that this is the way the accounts are presented.  Mark Saunders explained that as a statutory harbour authority operating an open port, we do have to provide this service regardless of the number of ships that visit the port and so the costs are not proportionate.  A response on all three items including current expenditure, how they occur and plans to reduce the amount.  Councillor Booth added a point needed to be made around subsidisation as there are rules around anti-competitive grants and we need to have appropriate safeguards in that area. 

·         Councillor Booth asked for details of an unspent amount of £12,000 for community projects and how that could be accessible for members to help their communities.  Mark Saunders stated this was an amount left over from the original Leader’s Discretionary Fund and was made up of small grants for community groups up to £500. Councillor Clark advised that in the past, an application form can be completed from the Council’s website, considered by the Portfolio Holder and then forwarded to Cabinet for a decision. 

·         Councillor Booth asked about savings from the CSR, some £970,000 and ahead of expectations.  He asked if the Council is being realistic when setting those budgets and expectations, and are we cutting back services to areas more than necessary.  Councillor Clark thought this a fair point and will look for guidance on how to take that forward.  Mark Saunders added that there are still some significant areas within those projects that have yet to be realised, one being the leisure contract, and the relocation of the two one stop shops in Wisbech and March, and so there are still some big risks in terms of achieving those savings. 

The Corporate Governance Committee agreed to approve the final Statement of Accounts for 2017/18 subject to the observations made. 

Councillor Booth declared a non-pecuniary interest insofar as investments are held with building societies by virtue of being employed with Yorkshire Building Society.