Oldham Council. Draft Statement of Accounts 2020/21 1 Contents 1.0 Preface .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Introduction to the 2019/20 Statement of Accounts by Councillor Abdul Jabbar MBE, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Green ........................... 3 1.2 Narrative Report ........................................................................................................... 5 2.0 Statements to the Accounts ...................................................................................... 49 2.1 Statement of Responsibilities for the Statement of Accounts ................................ 49 2.2 Auditors Report .......................................................................................................... 50 3.0 Core Financial Statements and Explanatory Notes .................................................. 52 3.1 Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement ............................................... 52 3.2 Movement in Reserves Statement ............................................................................. 53 3.3 Balance Sheet ............................................................................................................. 55 3.4 Cash Flow Statement ................................................................................................. 56 3.5 Index of Explanatory Notes to the Accounts ............................................................ 57 3.6 Explanatory Notes to the Core Financial Statements .............................................. 58 4.0 Supplementary Financial Statements and Explanatory Notes .............................. 144 4.1 Housing Revenue Account (HRA) ........................................................................... 144 4.2 Collection Fund ........................................................................................................ 148 5.0 Group Accounts ....................................................................................................... 151 6.0 Annual Governance Statement 2020/21 .................................................................. 163 7.0 Glossary of Terms .................................................................................................... 188 2 1.0 Preface 1.1 Introduction to the 2020/21 Statement of Accounts by Councillor Abdul Jabbar MBE, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Green Councillor Abdul Jabbar MBE As Cabinet Member for Finance and Green I would like to welcome you to the Oldham Council 2020/21 Statement of Accounts. The preparation of the Statement of Accounts provides the opportunity to reflect on the past financial year and report on the current financial and non- financial position of the Council. The year beginning 1 April 2020 has been unlike any other. The challenges caused by the COVID- 19 pandemic are unprecedented, both in terms of magnitude and the sheer breadth of the disruption to everyday life in the Borough. Those challenges remain, although I am pleased to say, that many of the initial pressures are now easing. Just a year ago none of us could ever have imagined how different our lives would be today. We are still social distancing, many of us are still working from home, we have not been able to spend time with our loved ones, attend weddings or other family events as we usually would. We have seen our businesses face ever changing restrictions or in some instances have been unable to operate at all. Yet we have persevered. The entrepreneurial spirit that is very alive in Oldham has seen business owners completely change operating models, sometimes overnight. Parents and families have adapted to homeworking and home schooling. The Council has initiated change to support Oldhamers and ensure essential services continue to be provided. My political portfolio, with responsibility for green issues in Oldham means that I recognise that there have been some environmental benefits from the forced change which should be sustained in the future to support a cleaner and greener Oldham. Flora and fauna have returned to towns, cities and waterways. The amount of traffic on our roads was reduced to near 1950’s levels at the start of lockdown, giving a very much needed boost to air quality. New initiatives will be taken forward during the COVID recovery phase and beyond so that we do not revert to many of the environmentally damaging practices. As ever the Council continues to be at the heart of the community, distributing emergency funding to businesses, performing over 135,000 COVID-19 tests at facilities across the Borough as well as providing food parcels and operating emergency helplines. As the vaccination roll out began, the Council again took a prominent stance coordinating the process with other public sector bodies, eventually supporting the delivery of over 78,000 vaccinations by the end of March 2020. I am personally very proud of the Council’s response and the subsequent reduction in the prevalence of COVID-19 across the Borough. 3 Events of the last year have had a significant impact on the Council itself most of which could not have been anticipated at the start of the pandemic. What is certain is that the impact has not been limited to the 2020/21 financial year, but instead will continue to influence our lives for many years to come. The impact on the Council and its financial position will be discussed in detail through the Statement of Accounts, but it must be noted that managing significant sums of additional grant funding, including administering grants to support businesses provided challenges at times. It is important to appreciate that many of the Councils underlying financial pressures have not reduced. Many of the services with significant adverse variances in 2020/21 continue the trend from previous years including the People and Place and the Children’s Services portfolios, the latter reflecting increasing demand for Children’s Social Care, which has been a factor in previous years. Despite this, I am pleased that we have ended the year in a more robust financial position than was initially anticipated. However, as mentioned above, the short and long term effects of the pandemic are unknown. Therefore, we need to be prudent and ensure this financial position continues to be managed effectively. As always, I would like to conclude by recognising the hard work and dedication shown by the Finance and Internal Audit teams throughout the year. Along with colleagues across the Council they have adapted to home working and maintained continuity of service throughout the toughest of times. This includes the production of this set of accounts, the work undertaken to set the 2021/22 budget along with the support provided in delivering key Council objectives. Councillor Abdul Jabbar MBE Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Green 4 1.2 Narrative Report Message from the Director of Finance – Anne Ryans Anne Ryans My role as the Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer is to ensure that the Council’s financial affairs are properly administered, and its financial position remains stable and robust. This is essential to ensure that the Council is able to provide quality services to all the residents of Oldham and to continue to take forward the development and regeneration of the Borough. Given the events of 2020/21, this role is even more vital and exponentially more difficult. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt to varying degrees by every household, every business, every school, every public sector and charitable organisation. Many people have suffered the devastating effects of illness, others have lost income or their livelihoods. Charities have lost the opportunity to raise funds and are therefore unable to continue their work to support the most needy in our society. During 2020/21, Oldham Council has risen to the challenge and taken forward its leadership role and supported Oldham and Oldhamers as the Borough has spent the majority of the year either under national lockdown or Tier 3 restrictions. The Council had distributed almost £73m in grant funding to businesses throughout the Borough by 31 March 2021, administered over £25m in COVID related Business Rates relief and over £3m of hardship relief to Council Tax Reduction recipients, managed almost £19m of other COVID specific grants as well as over £28m of general unringfenced grants. The Council has worked successfully with the voluntary sector and provided help and support to those Oldhamers who had to shield. It introduced a wide range of initiatives to keep citizens safe as well as coordinating the testing and vaccination programmes across the Borough. The Statement of Accounts give an overview of the Council’s finances for 2020/21, a financial year that has been unprecedented. The business as usual activities that were provided as well as COVID specific actions are reflected in the accounts However, despite all the disruption, I am pleased to report that we have improved upon our strong financial position, which demonstrates once again the excellent standard of financial management and stewardship of the Council’s resources and will help to safeguard against the continuing effects of the COVID- 19 pandemic. The Oldham Council Finance Team aims to prepare the Statement of Accounts to the highest standards and in accordance with the guidance for Local Authorities in the UK. The Statement of Accounts provides information