Issue - meetings

To consider the recommendation from the meeting of the Cabinet held on 26^th March 2025.

Members are asked to note that any recommendations made at the Cabinet meeting held on 19^th February 2025 were considered at the full Council meeting held on 19^th February 2025.

Quarter 3 Finance and Performance Monitoring Report 2024/25

The Cabinet Member for Finance presented the Finance and Performance Monitoring report for the third quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. 

Council was informed that in March 2025, Cabinet had agreed to submit a bid to Birmingham City Council for Bromsgrove District Council’s share of funding arising from the authority’s previous membership of the former Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP).  Birmingham City Council held this funding on behalf of all former members of the GBSLEP and there was a requirement to submit business cases in order to access the funding.  The budget needed to be amended to reflect the incorporation of this funding moving forward.

Members were asked to note that the balance sheet monitoring information that the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee had requested had been included within the appendices to the report.

Following the presentation of the report, questions were raised about the reasons why Bromsgrove District Council had to submit business cases to access the authority’s own funds and the extent to which there was a risk that this funding would not be made available.  Clarification was provided that former members of the GBSLEP, including Bromsgrove District Council, had pooled their business rates.  This pooled funding had remained, even though the GBSLEP had ceased to exist and each former member of the GBSLEP was eligible to receive a portion of the remaining funds; Bromsgrove District Council was due to receive £2.5 million from this fund.  Members were asked to note that the funding could only be used for certain purposes relating to regeneration and transformation.  There were other former members of the GBSLEP that were also applying for their share of the funding and Birmingham City Council could not refuse to provide this funding.

The proposed allocation of the £2.5 million GBSLEP funding to the Levelling Up project at the former Market Hall site was discussed by Members and questions were raised about whether this would result in the availability of other Council funds to use on alternative projects.  Clarification was provided that, by the date of the meeting, there was a projected overspend of £1.5 million on the former Market Hall site and it was therefore anticipated that the GBSLEP funding could help to address some of these financial pressures.  Members were also reminded that from the start of the project there had always been a requirement for Bromsgrove District Council to contribute 10 per cent of the funding and the GBSLEP funds would therefore help the authority to address this cost.

Reference was made to the current position of the £2.4 million GBSLEP funding that the Council was due to receive and Members commented that this fund would be accruing interest.  The suggestion was made that this interest should be returned to Bromsgrove District Council as part of the process of accessing those funds.

The content of the report was discussed and concerns were raised about references in the report to financial costs arising  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15