Item 13 Appendix 1-2 - HRA Budgetary Control Report Period 7
West Dunbartonshire Council · 26 February 2025
Back to Housing & Communities Committee — 26 February 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Some pages contain no extractable text. They may be blank, graphics or scanned pages. OCR has not been applied.
Page 1
WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Item 13 Appendix 1 HRA REVENUE BUDGETARY CONTROL 2024/25 PERIOD END DATE Budget 2024/25 Spend to Date 2024/25 Forecast Spend 2024/25 Annual RAG Status £000 £000 £000 £000 % Employee Costs 7,661 4,320 7,377 (284) -4% Property Costs 2,600 1,517 2,600 0 0% Transport Costs 148 92 158 10 0% Supplies, Services And Admin 406 256 439 33 8% Support Services 2,788 1,536 2,633 (155) -6% Other Expenditure 330 367 626 296 90% Repairs & Maintenance 15,208 6,937 12,564 (2,644) -17% Bad Debt Provision 876 585 1,002 126 14% Void Loss (Council Tax / Lost Rents) 1,109 823 1,095 (14) -1% Loan Charges 22,092 15,191 26,041 3,949 18% Total Expenditure 53,218 31,624 54,535 1,317 2% House Rents (51,049) (29,779) (51,049) 0 0% Lockup Rents (215) (125) (215) 0 0% Factoring/Insurance Charges (1,555) (907) (1,555) 0 0% Other rents (130) (76) (130) 0 0% Interest on Revenue Balance (146) (85) (146) 0 0% Miscellaneous income (123) (72) (123) 0 0% Transfer from Reserves 0 0 0 0 0% Total Income (53,218) (31,044) (53,218) 0 0% Net Expenditure 0 580 1,317 1,317 31 October 2024 Subjective Summary Forecast Variance 2024/25
Page 2
No embedded text on this page.
Page 3
WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL HRA REVENUE BUDGETARY CONTROL 2023/24 ANALYSIS FOR VARIANCES OVER £50,000 MONTH END DATE 31 October 2024 PERIOD 7 Budget 2024/25 Forecast Spend 2024/25 £000 £000 £000 % Employee Costs 7,661 7,377 (284) -4% Main Issues Mitigating Action Anticipated Outcome Budget 2024/25 Forecast Spend 2024/25 £000 £000 £000 % Support Services 2,788 2,633 (155) -6% Main Issues An underspend is anticipated because the budgeted recharge of £2.788m was overstated because it not account for reduced employer pension contributions across services. Mitigating Action Anticipated Outcome Variance Analysis Forecast Variance 2024/25 Subjective Description Subjective Analysis RAG Status Cost of employees charged directly to the HRA. Variance Narrative An employee cost underspend is anticipated as management target staffing efficiencies, including tighter controls on staff recruitment and overtime. None required. A year end underspend. Variance Analysis Subjective Analysis None required. A year end underspend. Forecast Variance 2024/25 RAG Status Subjective Description Recharge of Central Supports costs ( e.g. Finance, Legal, HR. ICT ) to the HRA Variance Narrative Item 13 Appendix 2
Page 4
WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL HRA REVENUE BUDGETARY CONTROL 2023/24 ANALYSIS FOR VARIANCES OVER £50,000 MONTH END DATE 31 October 2024 PERIOD 7 Budget 2024/25 Forecast Spend 2024/25 £000 £000 £000 % Other Expenditure 330 626 296 90% Main Issues Mitigating Action Anticipated Outcome Budget 2024/25 Forecast Spend 2024/25 £000 £000 £000 % Repairs & Maintenance 15,208 12,564 (2,644) -17% Main Issues Mitigating Action Anticipated Outcome Variance Analysis A rent abatement overspend of £200k is forecast because demand is exceeding the new reduced abatement budget. It is worth noting that the 2024/2025 rent abatement spend is forecast to be £150,000 less than the 2023/2024 spend. A year end overspend. Forecast Variance 2024/25 Subjective Description Rent abatements, support for young tenants, legal and banking expenses, and other sundry costs. Variance Narrative Subjective Analysis RAG Status Housing Operations and Building Service will continue to place the strictest controls over the abatement process to minimise this spend. Subjective Description Responsive and planned repair and maintenance services to houses and lockups and income recovered from tenant rechargeable and owner occupier repairs. Variance Narrative A high volume of repair orders and ongoing inflationary pressures are driving up costs, with the most significant pressures across responsive repair and void repair budgets. A year end underspend Officers have reviewed the repairs spend and identified a potential saving against the 2024/2025 repair and maintenance budget by transferring spend charged to revenue to the capital programme. A review of specific workstreams identified revenue funded works that extend the lifespan of the assets. Specifically work carried out in void properties to bring these back to relet standard are significant and include component renewals. Furthermore, the completion of an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is complementary to the environmental sensor installation programme. Variance Analysis Subjective Analysis Forecast Variance 2024/25 RAG Status
Page 5
WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL HRA REVENUE BUDGETARY CONTROL 2023/24 ANALYSIS FOR VARIANCES OVER £50,000 MONTH END DATE 31 October 2024 PERIOD 7 Budget 2024/25 Forecast Spend 2024/25 £000 £000 £000 % Bad Debt Provision 876 1,002 126 14% Main Issues Mitigating Action Anticipated Outcome Budget 2024/25 Forecast Spend 2024/25 £000 £000 £000 % Loan Charges 22,092 26,041 3,949 18% Main Issues Mitigating Action Anticipated Outcome A year end overspend. Variance Analysis Forecast Variance 2024/25 Variance Narrative Subjective Analysis RAG Status Variance Analysis Subjective Analysis Forecast Variance 2024/25 RAG Status The Council will continue to actively manage its external / internal borrowing to ensure that borrowing costs are minimised Subjective Description Loans Fund repayments and the payment of interest and expenses on outstanding HRA debt. Local authority borrowing costs for medium / long term Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) debt and for short term debt have remained high. The higher interest rates are driving up HRA debt financing costs. The HRA budget assumed that borrowing rates would reduce in 2024/2025. Whilst the Bank of England base rates reduced by 0.25% in early November, 2024/2025 borrowing rates will be higher than budgeted. Variance Narrative The Council needs to make prudent provision for the non collection of HRA debt. HRA debt has been increasing as officers more stringently apply the rechargeable repairs policy for repairs caused by tenant neglect / abuse. These debts are difficult to collect because tenants often have multiple other debts with the Council and others. Housing and Corporate Debt Recovery staff continue to work closely to maximise contact with customers in arrears and to put in place reasonable affordable repayment plans that take account of customers personal circumstances. A year end overspend. Subjective Description Provision for uncollected rent across range of HRA debts, including rent arrears, rechargeable repairs, factoring repairs.
Page 6
No embedded text on this page.