Financial performance 2023-24
The Statement of Accounts sets out our annual financial performance. These accounts are audited and scrutinised by the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO). Despite the challenging financial position faced by the council going into 2023-24 we worked to deliver the financial strategy for 2023-24. We reported a £48K underspend [Footnote 27] in service delivery at the end of 2023-24, in comparison to a £2 million overspend [Footnote 28] in service delivery at the end of 2022-23. Even with the sustained, well-documented financial challenges we continue to deliver services and our objectives within budget and to recover from the economic legacy of Covid-19.
Key achievements and improvements include:
- Maintained proper arrangements to secure economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the use of our resources for at least the preceding 3 years (NIAO Annual Audit Letter).
- Identified as being financially resilient (NIAO Annual Audit Letter 2022-23).
- Produced financial statements which were certified without qualification for at least the three years (Belfast City Council Financial Reports).
- Maintained an adequate and effective framework of governance, risk management and control for the preceding four years (Annual Governance Statement).
- Implementation of a range of audit recommendations, including the closure of a significant number of outstanding audit recommendations.
- Developed a draft Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and presented to committee and full council.
- Finalised the implementation of a new finance system that will reduce costs, waste, and improve cash flow to our suppliers (75 per cent of whom are suppliers within Northern Ireland, representing over £80m of expenditure to local businesses [Footnote 29]) – system will be rolled-out in 2024-25.
How we compared – financial performance
Performance benchmarking – prompt payments
Prompt payment of invoices is an indicator of a healthy organisation with effective internal controls and corporate governance. However, prompt payment of invoices is also important to support the cash-flow of small and medium sized enterprises Therefore, in 2024-25, we will use this as an indicator of how well we are helping small businesses, including social enterprises and co-operatives, to develop and grow.
| Council area or organisation | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 Target | 2023-24 Actual | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 86% | 82% | 86% | 89% | 80% | 80% | 84% | ||
| Ards and North Down | 81% | 90% | 93% | 96% | 98% | 97% | 96% | ||
| Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon | 60% | 82% | 67% | 91% | 95% | 95% | 96% | ||
| Belfast | 88% | 91% | 93% | 93% | 94% | 92% | 90% |
93% On target or exceeded target (within 1% or better) |
Positive change |
| Causeway Coast and Glens | 82% | 86% | 79% | 87% | 92% | 82% | 87% | ||
| Derry City and Strabane | 82% | 78% | 81% | 79% | 65% | 74% | 82% | ||
| Fermanagh and Omagh | 87% | 94% | 94% | 94% | 94% | 96% | 94% | ||
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 76% | 85% | 91% | 87% | 91% | 87% | 88% | ||
| Mid and East Antrim | 84% | 83% | 86% | 84% | 95% | 87% | 81% | ||
| Mid Ulster | 98% | 94% | 94% | 95% | 99% | 100% | 99% | ||
| Newry, Mourne and Down | 86% | 90% | 90% | 86% | 89% | 86% | 94% | ||
| Northern Ireland | 83% | 87% | 87% | 89% | 90% | 89% | 90% | ||
| Northern Ireland Civil Service | 97% | 98% | 97% | 97% | |||||
| Dublin City Council | 94% | ||||||||
| Our key achievements include: Councils are encouraged to pay suppliers as promptly as possible, although, unlike the Northern Ireland Civil Service, we do not have statutory prompt payment targets. Regardless, we endeavour to pay 90 per cent of valid invoices within 30 days. We have continued to steadily improve our prompt payment performance since 2017-18. We process almost 3 times more invoices than any other council in Northern Ireland and are ranked 4th in 2023-24 for prompt payment. | |||||||||
Performance benchmarking – staff attendance and service availability
Our staff are our greatest asset in ensuring service continuity and availability as well as the delivery of our corporate objectives. Our performance in relation to the other councils is set out below. Councils’ individual remits and staffing profiles vary which can impact upon absence levels and should be considered when comparing performance.
| Council area or organisation | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 Target | 2023-24 Actual | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 11.9 | 13.7 | 13.2 | 11.1 | 19.7 | 13.3 | |||
| Ards and North Down | 16.2 | 14.2 | 14.2 | 10.6 | 14.2 | 15.7 | |||
| Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon | 16.1 | 16.7 | 18.3 | 15.7 | 20.5 | 19.9 | |||
| Belfast | 13.7 | 13.7 | 13.6 | 10.8 | 16.3 | 17.1 | 14.85 |
17.00 Adrift of target (5% or more) |
Positive change |
| Causeway Coast and Glens | 15.8 | 17.1 | 17.7 | 12.4 | 19.2 | 17.0 | |||
| Derry City and Strabane | 14.0 | 12.3 | 14.5 | 10.4 | 16.8 | 16.5 | |||
| Fermanagh and Omagh | 12.9 | 10.4 | 13.8 | 9.7 | 13.1 | 11.9 | |||
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 16.7 | 13.3 | 13.8 | 11.5 | 13.6 | 15.8 | |||
| Mid and East Antrim | 17.1 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 4.7 | 15.2 | 17.9 | |||
| Mid Ulster | 12.4 | 12.9 | 11.7 | 9.7 | 12.1 | 13.1 | |||
| Newry, Mourne and Down | 17.1 | 14.7 | 15.8 | 13.6 | 20.7 | 23.3 | |||
| Northern Ireland | 14.9 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 10.9 | 16.5 | 16.5 |
Our key achievements include: Following a decrease in staff absence during Covid-19 in 2020-21 (when staff were furloughed or working from home), absence rates increased for the majority of councils from 2021-22 to 2022-23, and out of all NI councils we were ranked 8th in 2022-23.
In addition to our ongoing training programme, wellbeing initiatives and departmental attendance improvement plans, we continue to take the following action to support the health and wellbeing of all our employees:
- Approved our Workplace Health and Wellbeing Strategy and action plan for launch in 2024-25.
- Promotion of the council’s active travel plan, including access to Cycle to Work scheme and discounted leisure centre membership.
- Introduced enhanced leave provisions in February 2023.
- Understanding the Attendance Policy training is now mandatory for new managers.
The general trend towards increased sickness absence in Belfast City Council and the reasons for absence (Covid-19, aging population, poorer overall health, homeworking and workstyles and NHS waiting lists) are commensurate with the wider national trend [Footnote 32].
That said, the table below shows that the percentage of staff with 100 per cent attendance increased during 2023-24 which is higher than pre-Covid-19 levels.
| % of staff with 100% attendance [Footnote 33] | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37.08% | 61.85% | 39.37% | 37.43% | 41.78% |
Footnotes
[Footnote 27] 2023-24 Annual Statement of Accounts – will be available on our website by 30 September 2024.
[Footnote 28] https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/getmedia/0b373e87-8437-4b1b-9182-202a6e2e7929/belfast-city-council-statement-of-accounts-2023.pdf
[Footnote 29] Belfast City Council Annual Procurement Report 2022-23
- 2017-18 – 2021-22 Appendix 8 Local Government Auditor Report 2023
- 2022-23 Northern Ireland Audit Office
- 2023-24 Target – Minutes of the Audit and Risk Panel 13/06/23
- 2023-24 BCC Actual provided by HR – Actual performance of other councils not available from NIAO until approximately Autumn 2024.
- 2017-18 – 2021-22 Appendix 8 Local Government Auditor Report 2023
- 2022-23 Northern Ireland Audit Office
- 2023-24 Target – Minutes of the Audit and Risk Panel 13/06/23
- 2023-24 BCC Actual provided by HR – Actual performance of other councils not available from NIAO until approximately Autumn 2024.
[Footnote 32] UUEPC, December 2023, Sickness Absence: Lessons for Northern Ireland Businesses and Managers
