Council confident on budget target

Council leader Peter Nutting and finance portfolio holder David Minnery have shared their optimism that the authority will balance its books by the end of the financial year in March 2021.

They told fellow cabinet members at a meeting on Monday that the overspend predicted by chief finance officer James Walton in his quarter one monitoring report was significantly lower than at the same point in previous years – despite the huge cost of the coronavirus pandemic.

Councillor David Minnery, portfolio holder for finance, said: “I’m a lot happier this year than I have been in the last few at this point in the year.”

Councillor Minnery said the more optimistic forecast was partly attributable to a new accounting system which made trends “easier to pick up” than they had been previously.

He said: “The situation, as the report states, is that if nothing were to change we would be looking at a deficit on this year of just under £2 million.

“But of course that’s a big ‘if’.

“History tells us that we will always show a worse position in the first quarter than we do as we go on through the year and that is the very nature of an oranisation such as Shropshire Council.

“I have every confidence that in fact we will hit the target and that when we get round to next March we won’t have overspent by £1.925 million.”

Council leader Peter Nutting added: “I have been making my feelings known to the corporate directors that I am looking for a balanced budget this year.

“I do know that that relies on savings that are in the system that maybe will push us at times, but we are going to deliver the savings we need to.”

Mr Walton’s report estimated the cost of the pandemic to the council to be £26.438 million – much lower than the £36 million predicted in a report to cabinet in July.

The revised estimate comprises £12.365 million in additional expenditure and £14.073 million in lost income.

But the council has received government grants totalling £20.35 million, with a further £5.447 million expected to compensate for lost income, as well as £442,000 in furlough payments.

This would leave the council with a coronavirus-related budget pressure of £199,000.

The report said: “It can be assumed that if the pandemic had not happened, the council’s forecast outturn position at quarter one would have been an overspend of £1.726 million.”

But Mr Walton warned that steps would need to be taken to ensure the council’s spending did not exceed its £575.462 million budget this year.