Decision details

A General Fund Revenue Budget virement of £18,100 be approved for 2021-22 only, to transfer funding to the Community Safety budget, financed from the Corporate Contingency budget, to facilitate provision of Showers, Toilets and Utilities and Legal Costs.

A budget of £12.8k is required to fund further provision of Showers, Toilets and Utilities to the traveller community currently located at land on Ramsgate Port. In addition, £5.3k is needed for legal costs for court orders and upcoming hearings.

Note £30,690 has been drawn down previously from Contingency to cover costs incurred earlier in the financial year. This brings the total transfer to £48,790 and as such the constitution requires budget transfers of this size to be approved by the council’s s151 officer in consultation with the relevant portfolio holders.

Officers anticipate that further spending in relation to this matter may be required before the year-end. If this is the case a the £50,000 virement limit is breached then formal cabinet approval will be required to sanction this budget transfer.

This is one off spend outside the usual course of business that cannot be funded from the base budgets within Community Safety and therefore a draw down from Contingency is required.

A magistrates court has determined on welfare grounds the Council has a duty to provide suitable facilities at this temporary site. As such, if a budget virement was not approved this expenditure would still need to be incurred and consequently would be recorded as an overspend.