Corporate
Portfolio Holder outlines financial key successes and future priorities
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A Portfolio Holder briefing about finance, procurement and the council’s commercial strategy will take place at a council meeting in Walsall on Wednesday 26 February 2025.
Councillor Mark Statham, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance at Walsall Council, will present the report, which outlines recent key successes and future priorities.
“ Walsall Council has a track record of strong financial management, and we are committed to achieving value for money services across the whole of the council.
It’s important that we maximise the Walsall Pound with our local supply chain and drive as much social value through our third-party contracts as possible to support our local communities in the best way. We want to ensure that our local suppliers get more opportunities to bid for and win contracts to deliver for the council.
I’m delighted to present this Portfolio Holder report, and I would like to thank the Finance Team at the council for all their hard work. “
The Portfolio Holder report outlines the council’s approach to financial planning and management and how it plays a key role in ensuring the council can deliver on its Council Plan priorities and the long-term We Are Walsall 2040 vision for the borough.
The finance and procurement function supports many national and regional initiatives and works closely with neighbouring councils and the West Midlands Combined Authority as well as local partners, schools, the voluntary and community sector and businesses.
Several key achievements over the last 12 months are highlighted in the report.
These include:
- A successful external audit of the accounts putting Walsall Council in the top 10% of local authorities for having up to date accounts and a good value for money opinion.
- A proposed balanced budget for 2025/26 and a less than £12 million gap over the following three years.
- Improvements to the Early Payment Supplier Scheme, which has increased contractual savings through early payment to suppliers by over £275k for this financial year and nearly a cumulative £1million since inception.
- Implementation of a Freepay solution to pay local SME suppliers as promptly as possible.
- Accurate forecasting of year end expenditure from both a revenue and capital perspective resulting in the achievement of good returns on cash balances whilst ensuring any borrowing is kept to a minimum.
- Shortlisting of the Finance Team for two years in a row at the Public Finance Awards for ‘Finance Team of the Year’ and for excellence in governance and reporting.
- Cabinet approval in September 2024 for a five-year Commercial Strategy. This strategy will empower the council to generate an additional £15 million by exploring new business opportunities, improving service delivery, leveraging existing council-owned assets and identifying appropriate opportunities for income generation.
- Improvements to the council’s contract register and integration of its OneSource ERP system with the procurement tender system, Intend.
- Commissioning of a new social value portal to track our contractual spend and social value commitments from our suppliers/providers.
Councillor Statham also outlines future priorities and plans in the report.
These include:
- A balanced Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFO) for the next three-to-four-year period.
- Continued delivery by the Finance Team of a quality set of accounts, ensuring compliance with changes to the accounting standards and legislation including the new Procurement Act.
- Continued delivery by the treasury function to manage the council’s cashflow in line with the capital programme and will keep costs as low as possible whilst obtaining the best returns on any investments.
- The commercial strategy focusing on a number of prioritised areas including pyrolysis, advertising and sponsorship, EV charging, traded services, the Town Hall, Walsall Arena, Saddlers Centre, bereavement services, venue hire, public health and a BI Portal, alongside service transformation plans and budget setting.
- A restructure of the Procurement and Contract Management Team to add capacity and strengthen the council’s contract management function and support the procurement and delivery of the council’s key regeneration and capital schemes.
This council meeting takes place on Wednesday 26 February 2025 and starts at 6pm. It is a public meeting.
Details about how the public can access the meeting and associated papers can be found at:
To view the meeting online, visit:
http://www.walsallcouncilwebcasts.com/
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