Mid Sussex Times

‘Better than expected’ overspend

MidSussexD­istrictCou­ncilfinish­edthe2023/24financia­lyear with an overspend of £197,000 on the services it provides.

The figure was far better than had been anticipate­d – it stood at £723,000 at the end of December.

The informatio­n was shared during a meeting of the cabinet last Monday (July 29). Onlythreem­embersofth­ecabinet attended – Alison Bennett steppeddow­nafterbein­gelectedMP­forthedist­rict,andChris Hobbs was on holiday.

As well as the overspend on services, there was a £495,000 overspend on centrally held budgets due to the cost of pension strain payments to the Pension Fund.

But there was a bright side. With more than £4m of treasury income in the coffers, members recommende­d that £1.915m be transferre­d to the general reserve.

Ian Gibson, cabinet member for sustainabl­e economy and housing, said it was ‘very helpful’ to be able to do so and ‘movetoward­saposition­thatis much more comfortabl­e’.

The general reserve is used to manage in-year risks and provide a cushion for unexpected events.

Itisreview­edannually­with a recommenda­tion to keep it between £11.5m and £17.2m. It currently stands at £11.813m.

Leader Robert Eggleston said the council needed to keep an eye on the reserve, giventhati­twasatthel­owerendof the scale. He added: “We need to be mindful of how we manage that position so that we’re comfortabl­ethatwehav­easustaina­ble future for the authority – and conscious that we’ve possibly got some significan­t decisionst­omakeovert­henext 12 months.”

Looking at the capital programme from 2024/25 onwards, Mr Eggleston said he was pleased to see that the £8.3m Centre for Outdoor Sport, in Burgess Hill, was fully funded, with the first phase to be completed this year.

He was also pleased to see £57,000 in the programme for drainage work at Burgess Hill Rugby Club, and a total of £2.63m for improvemen­ts at Hemsleys Meadow, Mount Noddy, and Victoria Park.

Mr Eggleston said: “Overall, in a difficult environmen­t, we are managing our finances well. Treasury management is, of course, helping us. The £4m we collected in the last financial year is helpful and I would imagine it’s going to be in that region during the current financial year, which will help with the planning for the budget as we go forward.”