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CIPFA Special Councillor
Conference
CIPFA recently ran a half
day conference aimed at local government Councillors in order to
provide them with an understanding of the impact of Covid-19 on
their council. The day saw many speakers present on a range of
topics including financial pressures, emergency funding, CIPFAs
response to the crisis, governance, procurement, revenue collection
and far more.
If you did not attend on
the day, a recording of this highly informative session can be
found here.
Whole of Government
Accounts (WGA) – support for local authorities
HM Treasury are running a
number of webinars to assist authorities with this year’s data
collection process. Four dates have been provided for English
authorities (two in July, which are almost full, and two in August)
plus there are dates for Welsh and Scottish authorities. WGA
contacts should have already received details of these webinars,
but if there are any queries please contact the HM Treasury WGA
Team on Lg_wgareturns@hmtreasury.gov.uk
who can provide further details.
Also please note that the
2019/20 local authority guidance to the Data Collection Tool data
submission via OSCAR II was published this week and is available on
the GOV.UK website.
Councillor’s Guide to
Understanding your Councils Financial Reporting Requirements
FAN is running two
workshops (7 July and 8 September) designed specifically to provide
local authority elected members with greater insight into the
financial reporting requirements of their authority, giving them
the knowledge and confidence to deliver effective engagement,
scrutiny and challenge of the Statement of Accounts as part of
their overall governance role. The workshops also consider the
latest developments in local authority accounting and how that
might impact on the financial statements members are required to
approve. For details of the programme and to book on, please see
the links in the events listing
PTN PFI Exit Strategies
The Property Training
Network are running a series of events aimed to provide you with an
essential roadmap for the successful handover of PFI assets in a
fair and equitable way which ensures continuity of service
delivery. You will learn the contractual, financial and operational
challenges to look out for and the expertise that you will need to
deploy to deliver successful PFI exit strategies. Our legal,
financial and PFI management experts will share with you their
considerable knowledge and experience of this sector. For
details of the programme and to book on, please see the links in
the events listing
CIPFA statement on S114 of
the local government finance act 1988
CIPFAs CEO, Rob Whiteman,
has released a statement in relation to the statutory
responsibilities of local government Chief Finance Officers if they
are faced with the possibility of having to issue a S114 notice for
their council.
Whilst nothing has changed
during the pandemic to alter those responsibilities, the CIPFA
statement recommends to CFOs that they should make informal contact
with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as
early as possible in order to advise them that there is a
possibility of a S114 notice having to be issued. It is hoped that
in doing this and by having early discussions between councils and
the MHCLG that between them they may be able to find a solution
which avoids the need to progress on to a formal S114 situation.
CIPFA Public Finance Live
event
Due to the Coronavirus
pandemic, the Public Finance Live event had to be postponed until
later in the year but the new dates of 21st and 22nd October have
just been announced.
With the events of the past
year continuing to reverberate, the event will address both the big
picture and the practical issues. This year’s event will see
content themes of Trust and resilience, Talent and skills, Data and
technology, People and places. New for 2020, are special spotlights
on Health and social care and Counter fraud.
Delegates will be able to
gain an insight on the wider, economic and global contexts with a
number of tailored workshops on funding, fraud, auditing and much
more will allow you to get to grips with the latest issues and
updates.
Booking for this event can
be found here with early bird rates available until 24th
July.
Brand new CIPFA and Xantura
partnership: Covid-19 OneView service
Local authorities are
currently working around the clock to determine how best to support
vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 outbreak. While support
systems and operational processes are being rapidly mobilised, councils
also need to work out how to prioritise different levels of support
for different groups. This requires not only assessing the impact
on current service level requirements but also managing the impact
on what this means for funding as cost and demands both rise. The
task is considerable and presents serious challenges.
As part of CIPFA's ongoing
programme to deliver immediate and practical support to councils
during this unprecedented crisis, we have partnered with public
sector data specialist Xantura to deliver a service that can
quickly identify which vulnerable groups are in most critical need
of support. In line with all relevant data protection
regulations, Xantura will integrate the data you already have about
vulnerable groups into one place, and then provide a multi-agency
triage tool and case management system – COVID-19 OneView –
identifying those whose support needs may escalate as a result of
the crisis.
You can find out more about
this new service here.
MHCLG have released a
summary of the data collected from local authorities on the
financial impact of Covid-19
MHCLG has published figures
from its monthly data collection exercise to gather information on
the impact COVID-19 is having on council finances.
The data collection is
designed to provide the government with ongoing financial
management information on the financial pressures councils are
experiencing due to the pandemic. It is not a formal return but
best estimates to inform work in government on supporting councils.
The published information
which has been collected from councils in mid-April and mid-May
shows their combined spending and income pressure to the end of May
has been £3.24 billion with additional funding provided from the
government of £3.14 billion. However, the returns also indicate
that councils will have a further £6 billion of cost and income
pressures for the remainder of the financial year.
You can access the
published data here.
Additional COVID-19 advice
and support for local authorities
CIPFA has set-up an online hub for COVID resources.
Essential guidance for
local authorities on all aspects of the coronavirus support can be
found on the GOV.UK website.
FAN Tax Advisory Services
(FANTAS)
Delay of implementation of
the domestic reverse charge for construction services
HMRC have published RCB 7(2020) which states that the introduction
of the domestic reverse charge for construction services has been
delayed from 1 October 2020 until 1 March 2021, due to the impact
of coronavirus on the construction sector. The RCB also announces
that there will be an amendment to the original legislation to make
it a requirement that, for businesses to be excluded from the
reverse charge because they are end users or intermediary
suppliers, they must inform their sub-contractors in writing.
Updated HMRC guidance reflects the further delay but as
yet contains no additional details of the notification requirement.
YMCA: welfare services were
VAT exempt
Under the Supporting People
Programme (SPP), local authorities were provided with funds to help
people at risk of homelessness (for example, young people suffering
from serious family breakdown or bereavement). Several authorities
outsourced housing related support services to the YMCA which should,
according to the Upper Tribunal, have treated its services as
exempt from VAT, even though the YMCA delivered its services (for
VAT purposes) to the authorities rather than to those in need. Some
VAT exemptions depend on who receives the supply (e.g. the sporting
exemption only applies to services to participants) but not welfare
services. Indeed, it is intrinsic to many forms of welfare services
that those who benefit from them neither pay nor contract for them.
The welfare services were being performed for the individuals, and
that satisfied the condition that YMCA’s supplies should be
“closely linked” to (or “directly connected with”) welfare. The UT
also rejected YMCA's argument that the services were taxable as the
young people were not "distressed" or were not receiving
"instruction" but just advice or information.
If you have any enquiries
regarding the FANTAS tax updates or suggestions for topics to be
covered by FANTAS, please contact Jen Thompson (jthompson@deloitte.co.uk
/ 0115 9363749) or Ben Powell (bpowell@deloitte.co.uk /
07881 804171). Further information for subscribers to the TAS
service can be found at our dedicated website area.
CIPFA Thinks
Don’t forget to
periodically check CIPFA Thinks to see the latest set of articles,
comments and publications covering topical aspects of public
finance and issues specific to local government.
Follow FAN on Twitter and
connect to us on LinkedIn
David, Sandra and Caroline
regularly tweet details of relevant news stories, FAN event
updates, CIPFA consultation alerts, COVID-19 updates, etc. We
encourage subscribers to follow us on Twitter for the latest news,
so even if you don’t ‘tweet’ yourself, it’s a great way to keep
updated on key issues affecting local authority finance and
accounting. Click to find David Sandra and Caroline on Twitter, or search for all our
network advisor tweets using the hashtag #cipfanetworks.
We can also be found on
LinkedIn and increasingly use social media for additional FAN
updates, so if you are on LinkedIn then please feel free to connect
to us: David, Sandra and Caroline or the join the FAN Linkedin Group.
LinkedIn Discussions
CIPFA has its own LinkedIn group where you can find up to date
announcements and discussions on all the latest issues in the
public sector. Why not join in one of the discussions or start a
conversation of your own?
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