Issue - items at meetings - Allocation of Contain Outrbreak Management Funds

Report of the Acting Chief Finance Officer (copy attached)

RESOLVED:

(1)          That the receipt of £6.815m Contain Outbreak Management Fund from central government for 2020/21 and a further £2.070m for 2021/22 be noted;

(2)          That the carry forward of 2020/21 Contain Outbreak Management Funds of £6.815m to 2021/22 be approved;

(3)          That the allocation of the remainder of the £6.815m Contain Outbreak Management Funds carried forward from 2020/21 to meet the unapproved costs identified in Table 2 of the report e agreed;

(4)          That any adjustment to approved allocations from the 2020/21 COMF funding be delegated to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the S151 Chief Finance Officer and the Chair of the Policy & Resources Committee;

(5)          That it be noted that information on the usage of the funds against the approved allocations will be reported in the regular Targeted Budget Management (TBM) monitoring reports to Policy & Resources Committee; and

(6)          That it be agreed to defer the allocation of 2021/22 Contain Outbreak Management Funds until later in the financial year when more information on potential local test, trace and support to self-isolate and surge testing costs will be known together with information on the city’s progression through the roadmap to recovery.

59.1      The Acting Chief Finance Office introduced the report which detailed the range of payments made from the Contain Outbreak Management Fund to support proactive containment and intervention measures. He noted that the government had confirmed that 2021 grants could be carried forward and that the proposed allocation of funding was listed in the report.

59.2      The Committee welcomed the report and Members noted the proposed allocations and suggested that it would be helpful to have a clearer idea of the alternative options that were considered in future reports. It was noted that changes to budget allocations could be made and assurance was sought that funding was being put into the Covid response and not into the Council’s own budget areas. It was suggested that if necessary priorities could be reviewed if there were not the staff available to manage the actions associated with the responses.

59.3      The Chair noted the comments and stated that there was a need for the council to ensure it had the infrastructure in place to enable the actions relating to the response to be implemented. He then put the recommendations to the vote.

59.4      RESOLVED:

(1)      That the receipt of £6.815m Contain Outbreak Management Fund from central government for 2020/21 and a further £2.070m for 2021/22 be noted;

(2)      That the carry forward of 2020/21 Contain Outbreak Management Funds of £6.815m to 2021/22 be approved;

(3)      That the allocation of the remainder of the £6.815m Contain Outbreak Management Funds carried forward from 2020/21 to meet the unapproved costs identified in Table 2 of the report e agreed;

(4)      That any adjustment to approved allocations from the 2020/21 COMF funding be delegated to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the S151 Chief Finance Officer and the Chair of the Policy & Resources Committee;

(5)      That it be noted that information on the usage of the funds against the approved allocations will be reported in the regular Targeted Budget Management (TBM) monitoring reports to Policy & Resources Committee; and

(6)      That it be agreed to defer the allocation of 2021/22 Contain Outbreak Management Funds until later in the financial year when more information on potential local test, trace and support to self-isolate and surge testing costs will be known together with information on the city’s progression through the roadmap to recovery.