Wiltshire Council formally reports on its 2023/24 financial position - with additional money available to be reinvested in key services

Wiltshire Council's sound and effective financial management continues, with a £14m revenue underspend formally reported for 2023/24 - this is a £5.705m improvement on the quarter three position, and this additional money will be channelled into further additional highways enhancements and other projects.

Alongside this underspend total, a further £5m of Community Infrastructure Levy contributions will also be added, meaning the total additional investment into highways stands at £10.7m, while over the course of 2023/24, a total of over £20m additional investment has now been identified and allocated to highway improvements, including road surfacing, road safety and highways flooding alleviation works.

When including the amounts allocated from the council's Business Plan Priority Reserve, an additional total investment of over £25m has been made available to be spent on delivering against its priorities.

Overall, the revenue outturn position for 2023/24, which was presented to Cabinet on 15 July, shows a robust and sustainable financial position for the council that allows the authority to invest in its services, rather than simply maintain them.

Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Nick Botterill, said: "We have sought to run the finances of Wiltshire Council as soundly and responsibly as possible. In this we are mindful of the major problems experienced by other councils including some of those neighbouring us.

"In order to balance the books, we have had to set very challenging budgets and ensure that a range of savings and efficiencies have been achieved year on year as well as provide sufficient reserves to guard against any unforeseen emergencies or issues. All of the reported underspend will go straight into our service delivery budgets, ensuring we can continue to invest more money into our key services such as highways.

"We don't take our positive financial position for granted and it hasn't just happened of its own accord but can be attributed to all the hard work both council staff and the administration have put in. There are still challenges to be faced, but due to how we work, potential problems can be identified very early which means we can seek to mitigate the risk as much as possible in a timely way.

"Our focus remains on running an efficient and effective council that delivers for residents and spends their money as wisely and prudently as possible. I'm pleased with our progress and we're working hard to see that continue. We will continue to identify the areas of upward cost pressures as well as ensure that our highly effective preventative approach is maintained."

Cabinet was also presented with the Capital Programme outturn for 2023/24, which showed that the final capital budget stood at £168.943m. This shows an increase in annual capital investment from previous years, with around £26m of schemes being re-programmed to be spent in future years. The aim of the Capital Programme is to support the efficient running of the council with many of its projects due to save significant sums of money in future years. Some of the ongoing capital projects include the build of Silverwood School, increasing capacity at some schools, building affordable housing, refurbishment of Melksham House into an education facility, improving the energy efficiency of council buildings and assets, recycling projects, highways and footpath improvements, the A350 bypass scheme, the Fisherton Gateway Scheme and the Trowbridge/Salisbury Future High Streets Fund projects.

The council also presented its Treasury Management Outturn report for 2023/24, which confirmed that despite increased capital expenditure it had not had to seek any additional external finance i.e. take on net new debt. It had also complied with its legislative and regulatory requirements.

The full financial reports that were presented at the council's Cabinet meeting on 15 July can be found at Agenda and decisions: Cabinet - Monday 15 July 2024 10am (opens new window).