Summary Statement of Accounts 2008/09 - Wigan Council

Summary of Accounts 2008-9_Layout 1 08/12/2009 13:01 Page 1
Summary
of Accounts
2008/09
This document provides a
summarised user friendly
version of the council’s full
Statement of Accounts

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About the Borough
Wigan is one of the four oldest boroughs in Lancashire, receiving a charter
from Henry III in 1246. It is the 9th largest metropolitan district in the country
covering 77 square miles; and lies mid-way between Liverpool and
Manchester.
Over 300,000 people live in Wigan with over 137,000 residential properties.
Over three quarters of the Borough is open country and it has three country
parks, more sites of Special Scientific Interest than anywhere else in the
region and a wealth of wildlife and rare plants.
The Wigan Borough has been split into ten areas called Townships.
Each Township has a manager and their role is to work with Councillors and
local residents to develop more opportunities for local people to have their
say about their area.
The ten townships are:
• Atherton
• Ashton and Bryn
• Golborne and Lowton
• Hindley and Abram
• Leigh
• Orrell, Billinge and Winstanley
• Standish, Aspull and Shevington
• Tyldesley and Astley
• Wigan North
• Wigan South
To find out more please contact the
Community Engagement Team
Telephone 01942 828030
Website: www.wiganlife.com

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The Council’s Vision
Building the future together.
❝
A place where people matter
❞
and you can afford to live the life you want
Wigan Council has four key priorities, these are:
• Ambitious communities
• Realising aspirations
• Living healthier and longer
• Strong communities

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What did we spend
The cost of council services
The cost of running our services between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009 is
shown in our Income and Expenditure Account. The account also shows
where the money came from to finance those costs, along with any surplus
at the year end. The major items included within Effective Governance are
those associated with the democratic process together with other various
costs like the cost of local tax administration and coroners court recharges.
2008/09
Gross
Expenditure
£’m
2008/09
Gross
Income
£’m
2008/09
Net
Expenditure
£’m
Expenditure On Services
Adult Social Care 121.2
Children’s & Education Services 321.8
49.0
247.5
72.2
74.3
Cultural, Environmental, Regulatory
& Planning Services
76.3
20.1
56.2
Effective Governance & Central Services 58.6
Highways & Transport Services 44.6
Housing Services 177.1
Net Cost of Services 799.6
Other Operating Income & Expenditure
29.3
10.1
147.7
503.7
29.3
34.5
29.4
295.9
-57.0
Total Net Cost of Services
238.9

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The money comes from different sources:
Council Tax - money paid by residents as a local taxation.
National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) - business rates set by and paid to
the government. An amount based on population is then paid back to Wigan.
Revenue Support Grant - a government grant paid to councils from
national taxation to provide funding to operate local services.
Wigan Council received funding of £256.1m. The largest share of this was
made up of NNDR.
Total Funding
256.1m
Council Tax
Income
108.7m
Non- Domestic
Rate Income
109.3m
General
Government Grants
38.0m
Collection
Fund Surplus
0.1m
£’m
Cost of Services 238.9
Total Income 256.1
Surplus for the Year 17.2
During the year the opportunity was taken
to review all available funds held by the
council.
Items that were previously earmarked for
environmental risks that were no longer
required were transfered to balances to
support planned future intiatives.

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The Balance Sheet
What we owe and own
As at 31 March 2009
£’m
Land, Buildings, Equipment & Other 1,437.2
Stock 1.2
Money Owed to the Council 89.2
Cash at Bank 10.8
Money Owed by the Council within the next year -78.5
Money Owed by the Council after one year -741.2
718.7
Supported by:
Non Useable Reserves 638.9
Useable Reserves 79.8
Total Net Worth 718.7

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The Balance Sheet
This shows what the council owns, is owed, what it owes and the capital
funding as at 31 March 2009.
Money owed by the council after 1 year includes the estimated value of
future pension payments to staff, which is matched elsewhere in the balance
sheet and does not impact upon the level of Council Tax.
The net worth of the council as at 31 March 2009 was £718.7 million.
Useable Reserves are amounts set aside for a specific purpose in one year
and carried forward to meet expenditure in future years. The council
maintains a prudent level of reserves to meet legislative duties.
Cash Flow
1 April 2008
to 31 March 2009
CASH AT
START OF
YEAR
£9.2M
This summarises the
amount of cash held by
the council at the start
and end of the year,
together with the movements
in cash during the year.
CASH LEFT
AT END OF
YEAR
£10.8M
CASH PAID
OUT IN
YEAR
£911.2M
CASH
RECEIVED
IN YEAR
£912.8M

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Housing Services
The Housing Revenue Account
It is a legal requirement that all income & expenditure on council houses is
kept separate from the main council Income and Expenditure Account. This
information is contained in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) however any
HRA balance sheet items are incorporated into the council balance sheet
The council owns 22,831 council properties. 17,408 of these are houses, with
the remaining 5,423 being flats. The total value of Housing assets is £785m.
The number of properties owned has been reduced over the last year by 57
mainly through sales to tenants.
In 2008/09 the percentage of rent lost from unlet houses was 1.04%
compared to 1.18% in 2007/08.
Income
£’m
Rents 65.6
Service & Facility Charges 3.5
HRA Subsidy Receivable
Total Income
0.5
69.6
Expenditure
Repair & Maintenance 20.9
Supervision & Management 16.2
Fixed Asset Depreciation 13.8
Interest Payments 15.1
Capital Expenditure funded by HRA 1.6
Other Costs
Total Expenditure
2.0
69.6

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Capital Spending
What is Capital Spending
Capital spending represents money spent by the council to purchase,
upgrade or improve assets such as buildings and roads. The distinction
from revenue expenditure is that the council and its residents essentially
receive the benefit from capital expenditure over a longer period of time.
How much did we spend
The council spent over £88 million on its capital programme in 2008/09. The
programme underpins the council’s overall vision and objectives, providing
for investment in long term assets which are used to deliver the council’s
services.
The largest spending areas were:
• Wigan and Leigh Housing (WALH) ongoing programme to renovate the
council’s housing stock to the Government’s decency standard (£15.5m).
• Children and Young People’s programme of expenditure on school
buildings including the pre school Surestart projects (£29.7m).
• Leigh Sports Village project (£6.5m)
The council’s other major investment areas were highways improvements
and maintenance (£8.4m), aids and adaptations for disabled persons
(£3.3m), Bickershaw Colliery reclamation (£1.4m) and a programme of
capital repairs to maintain the fabric of council buildings (£2.2m).

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Capital Expenditure 2008/09
Other
Capital Repairs Council Buildings
Bickershaw Colliery Reclamation
Aids & Adaptations
Highways
Leigh Sports Village
Children and Education Services
Wigan and Leigh Housing Programme
0 10 20
£m
30 40
Where did the capital income come from
The majority of the £88m spent on capital came from Government grants
and contributions. Other sources of funding include Capital Receipts £6m,
£14.3m borrowing and operating leases £2.4m.
Capital Income 2008/09
Leasing
Capital Receipts
Borrowing
Grants & Contributions
0 20 40
£m
60 80

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Director’s Statement
and Financial Review for 2008/09
The following statement by the Service
Director of Corporate Services
describes some of the key points from
the council's stewardship of public
funds.
The savings identified during 2008/09
provide the opportunity to address some
of the major pressures and issues facing
the council, particularly on Residual
Waste Treatment, Wigan Schools for the
Future, the Joint Service Centre, Pay and
Rewards and Affordable Housing. The
council has an excellent record over
many years of bringing in aggregate
expenditure below budget and the
council, as a result, has been able to use
the flexibility of balances to help maintain
low Council Tax rises, enhance services
and provide valuable additional funding
to the capital programme when
necessary. If the level of balances held
fall too low then this can place stress on
the financial framework and potentially
create instability and difficulties for the
medium term forecast.
The council remains committed to sound
financial management. This has been
demonstrated by the operational
efficiencies and effective budget
management by departments during the
year.
The national and international climate is
currently undergoing significant change
and this will need to be factored into any
forward planning to ensure financial
stability is in place to safeguard the
continuing delivery of service priorities.
The full Statement of Accounts is
prepared in accordance with the
requirements of the Accounting Codes of
Practice published by the Chartered
Institute of Public Finance and
Accountancy (CIPFA), and are subject to
inspection by the Audit Commission. For
the purpose of this document, some
modifications have been made in an
attempt to provide more meaningful and
useful information to non-technical users.
At Wigan Council, we value the input and
views of our stakeholders and would
welcome any comments you make
regarding this summary. Was the
information contained useful Was there
anything you did not understand Was
there anything else that should have
been included
Please do not hesitate to get in touch
with me or my team at the contact point
below regarding your views or any other
information you require. A full version of
the Statement of Accounts is available
on the internet at
www.wigan.gov.uk/Services/Council
Democracy/PerformanceInformation.
Paul McKevitt
Service Director of Corporate Services
Paper copies are also available upon
request.
Wigan Council
Business Support Services,
Corporate Accountancy Section,
Civic Centre, Millgate,
Wigan, WN1 1DD
Tel: 01942 827272

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This leaflet can be made available in other languages, on audio tape, CD,
large print or other formats on request.
Contact the Accountancy Section at
Wigan Council
Civic Centre Millgate,
Wigan
WN1 1DD
Telephone: 01942 827272 Fax: 01942 827454
Web:www.wigan.gov.uk
MCT-09-71 December 2009