Agenda item

Due to effects of the pandemic, the Charter Trustees of Poole underspent against their approved budgets by £28,647 for 2020/21. The underspend plus the budgeted contribution to reserves of £19,272 has been added to the opening reserves position of £37,658 to give total reserves carried forward of £85,577 as at 31 March 2021.

The Responsible Financial Officer presented a report on the budget outturn for 2020/21, a copy of which had been circulated to each Trustee and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The RFO explained that this report provided the detail of the budget before the Charter Trustees were asked to approve the Governance Return.  He reported that throughout the year there was a significant underspend forecast due to the pandemic with the activities of the Charter Trustees seriously curtailed.  The Charter Trustees were informed that the year-end outturn position was £28,647 underspent which was mainly savings against supplies and services, hospitality and civic budgets with Appendix A providing the full detail of the spend against the budget which shows expenditure of £77,303 which was reflected in the annual governance return.  The RFO referred to the table at the bottom of page 24 of the report and explained that there was a total contribution to reserves of just less than £48,000 which means at the end of March 2021 the Charter Trustees had just over £85,000 of reserves at their disposal which has been carried forward into the 2021/22 financial year. 

The Charter Trustees were advised that there would be approximately 70% of the annual precept in reserves.  The RFO reported that when the budget was set for the current financial year, he advised that a prudent level of reserves would be approximately 20% of the precept which was about £25,000 explaining that 2/3rds of the budget was allocated to recharges to BCP Council which may not be subject to fluctuation .  The Charter Trustees were advised that there was a significant amount of reserves at their disposal which they could take the opportunity to consider how they wish to utilise.

Councillor Slade sought clarification on the latest position relating to reclaiming VAT and asked if the situation had been resolved. She also asked about the provision of transport explaining that at the BCP Council O&S Scrutiny Board the previous week it had been reported that it was ok to purchase the new mayoral cars proposed for 2022/23 because the Charter Trustees would pay to use the vehicles being purchased by the Council.  Councillor Slade referred to the budget for vehicle hire of £750 for this year which was not the amount that she would have expected in the budget as a recharge for the use of Council vehicles and highlighted that this would not be the expectation in a normal year of mayoral activity.  Councillor Slade asked about the timeline if the Charter Trustees wanted to undertake a one-off spend from reserves for a memorial for Covid or the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the governance arrangements to make that decision including appropriate consultation.  The Honorary Clerk suggested that a report be submitted to the next meeting of the Charter Trustees which set out the procedures and governance arrangements. He reported that Charter Trustees would not want to see the reserve being used for general spend if there was an opportunity to spend on a particular project.  A report to the next meeting would give options on how projects could be progressed.  The RFO reported on the VAT position and explained that the outturn figures set out in Appendix A included VAT that the Charter Trustees would be incurring up to November 2020 which was when the section 33 status for the Charter Trustees was achieved. He confirmed that none of the reserves needed to be set aside for VAT.  The RFO reported on the use of cars by the Charter Trustees. He explained that this had not been a normal year for car usage. The budget for the current financial year in total for transport was £2,500.  The Charter Trustees would not own the car and vehicle maintenance could be vired into the vehicle hire budget head.  The RFO reported that the budget can be rebalanced going forward for next year if the current budget provision was not enough.

Councillor Slade indicated that if the car was going to be used at the same level that was reported at the O&S Board the public purse should expect that BCP Council would get a reasonable hire rate from the Charter Trustees. She highlighted that the budget provision does not represent a reasonable hire arrangement. The RFO in response reported that in 2019-20 £2,174.00 was spent on fuel and vehicle hire.  He highlighted that the Charter Trustees was a new organisation and the budgets can be adjusted to ensure that there was provision to pay an equitable charge.

Councillor Andrews referred to the establishment of a working group to consider reserves and how they may be allocated.  The Deputy Head of Democratic Services reported that the working group had not yet met, and arrangements can be made to set up the group to ensure that the options for the use of the reserves can be considered.

Councillor Stribley referred to the disposal of the previous Poole Mayoral Car and also sought clarification about the registration plate APR 1.  The Head of Democratic Services reported that in terms of the vehicle it had been scrapped and the number plate was held unregistered to a vehicle so had not been disposed of.  He explained that in 2019 all assets were transferred to BCP Council and Officers were trying to clarify the history of APR 1 which was still being investigated.  The Mayor indicated that she did not believe that the number plate or any funds from its disposal should be held by BCP Council.

Councillor Brooke referred to the printing and photocopying for the Charter Trustees and the associated costs under that budget head.  The RFO reported that these costs related to the purchase of receipt and order books in light of the approval of its Financial Regulations and bank mandate in January 2021 which was one-off expenditure at this stage.

RESOLVED that the Charter Trustees note the budget outturn position for 2020/21.

Voting: Agreed