The Cabinet was presented with the 2023/24 provisional Housing Revenue Account Outturn Report.

As with the General Fund, the report was titled as provisional as the accounts were still subject to the external audit process and any changes arising from that process would be reported in due course.

The Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) drew Members’ attention to page 36 which held an executive summary of the report.

At the end of the financial year, income and expenditure for the year was balanced with a contribution of £500k to establish a HRA Priorities Reserve which would allow Officers to apply to for one-off financing in relation to a project, system, scheme etc which they wish to pursue and would result in future savings/efficiencies.

Within the figures, there were some significant variances both favourable and adverse, the most notable being:-

·        a favourable variance against vacancy savings;

·        an adverse variance on the repairs and maintenance service which had resulted in a £1.5 million overspend due to a sustained level of demand, high number of staff vacancies and high cost of materials;

·        an adverse variance on the capital financing budget of £5.8 million however this reflected a number of positive actions taken within Finance which included the repayment of £6.8 million of debt, the reduction in the use of direct revenue funding to support the capital programme of £3.6 million and the receipt of external grant money of £3 million; and

·        an adverse variance on rental income of £453,000 which was due to a combination of factors such as the high number of properties sold in the previous year under the Right to Buy scheme, slower delivery of the new build properties and an increase in the number of void properties however the high number of properties sold under Right to Buy had produced a favourable variance for service charges as more income was generated through leasehold service charges.

The wider financial context was detailed within the report including working balances and the capital programme.

In relation to debt repayment, the Cabinet welcomed that debt totalling £6.8 million had been repaid. It had recently been reported in the media that the Council had one of the highest debt provisions compared to others local authorities in Kent. A high proportion of the Council’s debt related to the Government’s requirement for local authorities to buy back their own housing stock. The Cabinet asked what the current debt level was; the Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) confirmed that it was circa £52 million.

The Cabinet highlighted that, in relation to voids, the Council will upgrade and improve void properties to the standards required and will only spend what is necessary. Extensive works would only be undertaken when required, in situations such as, when a long-standing tenant may have sadly passed away and were reluctant to allow the Council to undertake any works during their tenancy, removal of adaptions within properties etc.

It was noted that there was a high number of staff vacancies, Members asked why the Council was experiencing difficulty in recruiting. The Principal Accountant (Housing & Exchequer) advised that the difficulty in recruiting was across the Council and not necessarily restricted to Housing. The Leader stated that the Council had a good system in place to ensure that all Officers were paid equally and try to recruit as quickly as practicable. However, if there was a particular post causing difficulty in recruitment, the only way to regrade that post would be to regrade everyone in that post or to re-evaluate the post which can be a lengthy process. The Cabinet appreciated those teams/Officers who were currently taking on additional workload/pressures during the recruitment process.

The Leader stated that it was important to note that the HRA was ringfenced in that it was paid for and reserved to Council tenants/properties and cannot be used for any other purpose.

The Cabinet noted the report.