Using nearly £4million held in reserve could plug this year's budget holes
Powys County Council might need to raid its own piggy bank and use nearly £4 million to plug any budget holes this financial year.
The Finance Panel meets on Thursday, October 29, and members will be given a briefing on the 2020/21 budget as it stood at the end of September, the half way stage of the financial year.
The prediction is that by the end of March 2021, PCC may have spent just under £6 million more than their £269.4 million budget for the year
Part of this is due to the effect that Covid-19 is having on the budget.
In July members of the Finance Panel urged the cabinet to start looking at using reserves to plug any gaps, and the report says: “Although the overall budget deficit is still uncertain, the use of some reserves is now likely.
“A maximum of £3.829 million could now be used to bridge the deficit.”
This would be a last resort with: “All other measures to manage the deficit down should be taken first.”
The report says that PCC has a General Reserve Fund of £9.4million and a total of £24.271 million in various reserve accounts.
Head of Finance, Jane Thomas, said: “The Council must continue to take every opportunity to reduce costs and limit the financial impact on its budget, not only to address the deficit in the current year but to reduce the financial pressure on future years and ensure the sustainability of the Council.
“The course of the pandemic and further measures or restrictions imposed through the remainder of the year, particularly as we move through the winter months, will continue to impact on our budget.
“Careful monitoring of the position is critical to ensure that we take appropriate action to manage our financial position.”
The budget which was set in March before the pandemic struck, had calculated that just under £12.4 million of cuts, efficiencies and savings needed to be made.
The report says that just over £7.4 million of these savings have been made, and another £3.075 million has been promised to being delivered.
This leaves just over £1.9 million to be found.
After discussion by the Finance Panel the report will go in front of the Cabinet at their meeting on Tuesday, November 3.
