Balancing future budgets and bridging budget gaps
In-year budget position
The Council’s outturn position for 2021/22 has been balanced overall including measures taken to strengthen the Council’s balance sheet position.
Medium-term financial position
The Council approved a balanced 2022/23 Budget in February 2022. Budgets for future years currently show a deficit and on this measure the Council’s future financial position is not sustainable. It is important to note however that the Council has a strong recent history of balancing its forthcoming budgets through prudent and resourceful approaches.
Percentage of Council tax collected reduced
There has been a 0.4 percentage point reduction in council tax collection in 2021/22 as the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic creates challenging economic conditions. The Council tax collection rate reduced to 94.0% in 2021/22 from 94.4% in 2020/21.
Delivery of savings targets
The Budget for 2021/22 included £5.5m of new or increased service savings. Of these, £5m were in the 2021/22 financial year.
Investment income secured
In 2021/22, the Council secured total investment income of £2.2m; compared to £1.1m in 2020/21.
Financial position
The business rates rateable value for 2020/21 is £317m and £315m for 2021/22. The total rateable value of Coventry businesses has been stable for several years and in overall terms the movement observed represents a variation of only 0.6%.
There are multiple events and trends that can affect this figure such as the overall health of the local economy and trends within different sectors; including those which may not have a need for a traditional property base. It is difficult to assess the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on business rates, and it could be sometime before any medium-term trends are clear.
This represents the income achieved from treasury management investments which form part of the task of managing the Council’s cash-flow position and loans to external organisations. It should be noted that the achievement of investment return is only a secondary consideration. The key objective is to ensure that the Council has sufficient cash balances to pay its bills. It is unlikely that this achievement will be sustained over future years, and neither is this a fundamental objective for the service.