Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendation.

The Director of Community Services presented the final revised Housing Revenue Account Business Plan which had been submitted to Welsh Government (WG) with two potential options to achieve WHQS, one for securing a 2022/23 deadline with no borrowing and one for a 2020/21 deadline with prudential borrowing.

A Task Force was established by WG to support delivery of the standard by 2020/21 and their final meeting with Flintshire County Council was held in May where the following two options to achieve WHQS by 2020 were discussed:

·        Further improved financial performance of the Housing Revenue Account over current forecasts and assumptions over the next 8 years, which could free up further revenue savings and efficiencies to close the £14.5m gap and enable achievement of WHQS without recourse to borrowing

·        Flintshire obtains borrowing permission for the capital funding gap it predicted at this point, and borrowed as required, following a mid-term review of the investment portfolio and the performance of the Housing Revenue Account

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance thanked all of those officers involved for the work undertaken to reduce the timetable for achieving WHQS from 2036.  He also thanked the Ministers for their involvement, in particular the establishment of the Task Force.

RESOLVED:

That the revised business plan be noted and that Flintshire is now able to achieve the WHQS by 2020/21.