Agenda item

Report of the Chamberlain

The BHE Board considered a report of the Managing Director of BHE and the Chamberlain updating Members on the central contingency budgets held by BHE within the original 2021/22 budget, with a request for an uplift to be approved to enable the BHE Board to meet unforeseen and/or exceptional items that may be identified during the year. In response to points raised by Members, the Chair confirmed that the contingency budget would be directly overseen by the Board, and that requests for allocations would need to demonstrate why the costs cannot, or should not, be met from existing budget provisions in the usual way.

RESOLVED – That the BHE Board, in discharge of functions for the City Corporation as Trustee of Bridge House Estates (charity reg. no. 1035628) and solely in the charity’s best interests:

a)    Note the central contingency budgets currently held by BHE for 2021/22 which include a central contingency budget of £50,000, as well as provisions of £175,000 for apprentice costs and £40,000 for contribution pay (paras 1-3);

b)    Approve that £50,000 be held as a contingency for consideration for joint projects undertaken with the City Corporation acting in its other capacities;

c)    Approve that £40,000 originally held as contingency for contribution pay be transferred to a central contingency fund;

d)    Recommend an uplift in central contingency budgets of £810,000 for onward approval by the Court of Common Council, which shall be held with the central contingency sums approved under recommendations b) and c) above to create a total contingency budget of £900,000 for 2021/22; and

e)    Subject to approval of recommendation d) and Item 8 on your Agenda to recommend the use of currently held contingency budgets of £108,000 as stated in this report for onward approval by the Court of Common Council.