Issue - meetings

The Charter Trustees are required to set their 2021/22 budget, council tax requirement and resultant precept for submission to BCP Council by 31 January 2021.

This report also updates the Charter Trustees on the conclusion of the external audit of the 2019/20 Annual Governance and Accountability Return.

The Responsible Financial Officer presented a report on the Budget and Precept 2021/22, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Charter Trustees were advised that the report sets out the recommended budget for the 2021/22 financial year which would result in a council tax requirement of £147,956 as set out in the recommendations.  The Responsible Financial Officer reported that the detailed budget was set out in Appendix A to the report which built on the discussions held and the guidance received at the budget workshop held on 9 December 2020. The Charter Trustees were advised of the main features of the budget, that the individual budget lines have been maintained at their current levels so that the base budget was inherently fit for purpose going forward when the Charter Trustees return to normal following the Pandemic .  The Responsible Financial Officer reported that stationery, postage and accommodation costs had been reviewed and reduced to reflect the actual costs that the Charter Trustees were forecast to incur. Charter Trustees were informed that a modest investment income budget had been added and a significant review of the salary costs and recharges had been undertaken.  The Responsible Financial Officer reported that the main changes were for the accountancy recharge which had increased to £3,450 and the salary recharge had increased to £89,200.  He referred to the detailed calculations which were set out at Appendix B to the report including costs for the Head of Democratic Services and Deputy Head of Democratic Services which did not feature before to give a fairer recharge to the Charter Trustees.

The Response Financial Officer reported that Appendix A shows total expenditure of £156,000 which was funded from the precept of £147,000 and a one-off contribution from reserves of £7,994.  The Charter Trustees were advised of the position regarding reserves and that the £7,994 was carried forward into 2020/21 which was as a result of underspends last year.  He explained that the outturn was expected to show a significant underspend on the current year because of Covid-19 and the curtailment of activities the Charter Trustees have carried out. So, it was anticipated that just over £36,000 would be added to reserves so by the end of the financial year there would be £44,663 in reserve.  The Responsible Financial Officer explained this level of reserves would represent 30% of the proposed precept for this year and he would recommend something closer to 20% which allowed the contribution of £7,994 to next year’s budget but proposed that nothing further was contributed to reserves for next year. The Responsible Financial Officer reported that there would still be 25% of the precept in reserve and once this current financial year has been closed would give the opportunity for the Charter Trustees to see if they wanted to spend that on any one-off items of expenditure.

The Responsible Financial Officer reported on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55