Summary of Accounts

• Summary of Accounts Homepage
• List of Consultations

Contact Details

• ConsultationTeam
  @bexley.gov.uk

Summary of Accounts

Consultation on Bexley’s 2006/07 Summary of Accounts

Each year, the Council is required by law to produce a Statement of Accounts that summarises the Council's financial activities and gives details of the overall financial position. Inevitably, much of the information in the document is of a technical nature satisfying both statutory requirements and local authority procedures. For the purpose of this summary, some modifications in presentation have been made to provide more meaningful information.

Bexley’s external auditors, the Audit Commission, are currently undertaking the audit of the Council’s accounts for 2006/07.

A full copy of the Statement of Accounts will be published on the Council's website, in the 'Facts and Figures' section of the information 'About' the Council. The 2006/07 Statement of Accounts should be published, following completion of the audit, by the beginning of October 2007.

Summary Financial Review

• Revenue Expenditure

  After taking account of income and specific grants, the Council budgeted to spend just over £143m in 2006/07 from the Revenue Account to provide Council Services. This was almost entirely funded by Council Tax of £85.6m, redistribution of business rates of £48.3m and Revenue Support Grant from the Government of £9.3m. The Council’s net budgeted expenditure has reduced greatly in 2006/07 due to the introduction of the Dedicated Schools Grant which funds expenditure by schools. There has been an offsetting reduction in Revenue Support Grant.

After taking into account carry forwards of unspent budgets at the year end, the net underspending on directly controlled budgets was £0.26m, which is less than ¼% of the net budget. Schools and the Adult College also carry forward under and over spendings against their delegated budgets.

• Capital Expenditure

  Capital expenditure represents money spent by the Council on purchasing, upgrading or improving its assets such as buildings and roads. The Council receives the benefit from capital expenditure over a longer period of time. In 2006/07, the Council spent £47.7m on its Capital Programme.

The Cost of the Council's Services in 2006/07

The Revenue Account presents the cost of running the Council's services between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007.

The total net cost of Council services in 2006/07 was £142.8 million; the expenditure on different services is shown in the pie chart above. Cultural, Environmental and Planning services include libraries, parks, waste collection and disposal and environmental health. Corporate and Democratic Core is the administrative cost of running the organisation including the democratic process. Other Services includes housing, payments towards the coroners court, Council Tax administration and the registration of births, deaths and marriages. Financing costs are the revenue costs of funding capital expenditure and precepts are payments to London wide authorities.

The Council's Balances

The General Fund pays for most of the services provided by Bexley Council. The Council-controlled balance at 31 March 2007 is £12.2m. Of this sum, £4.2m relates to budgets carried forward from 2006/07 and has been earmarked for spending in 2007/08. Given the scale of the Council's business, the remaining balance of £8m is not excessive. As explained earlier, under delegated budget responsibilities, Bexley's schools and the Adult Education College will also carry forward balances of £8.2m.

Capital Expenditure in 2006/07

Capital expenditure represents money spent by the Council on purchasing, upgrading or improving its assets such as buildings and roads. The benefits of this expenditure last over a long period of time.

The pie chart above shows how the total capital expenditure in 2006/07 of £47.7 million was spent between services. Expenditure included £9.4m on maintaining and improving schools, £4.9m on highways maintenance and street lighting, £6.5m on the Thames Road improvement, £2.0m on home improvement grants, £2.6m on the new North Cray Centre, £4.2m on the regeneration of Erith and £4.8m on the Thames Innovation Centre.

The Council's Overall Financial Position

The Council's overall financial position is represented by its Balance Sheet which is a ‘snapshot’ of the finances as at 31 March 2007 such as money owed to the Council on that day. The Balance Sheet is summarised below:

The land, buildings and equipment owned by the Council includes 63 schools, 99 parks and open spaces, 15 administrative buildings, 43 social services establishments, 12 libraries, 199 vehicles and 530 kilometres of roads.

Collecting the Council Tax

For 2006/07, the Council Tax including that collected on behalf of the Greater London Authority was set at £1,315.61 for a Band D property. Corresponding rates for other bands were as follows:

Bexley received 95.5% of the total Council Tax due in 2006/07, which was broadly in line with previous years.

If you  have any views on this draft summary of accounts or suggestions on the type of information you wish to see in the future, please provide details in the space below and click submit.