The Senior Finance Manager (Client) introduced his report summarising the financial position of the Cobtree Manor Estate as at 31 July 2021.  The report covered the Golf Course, Kent Life, the Manor Park and the residential properties.

The Senior Finance Manager (Client) advised the Committee that:

·  The position as at 31 July 2021 was an underspend of £29,774 against the profiled budget, with a targeted surplus of £50,000 at the end of the financial year.

·  Mytime had now settled all their outstanding debts in respect of the Golf Course contract.

·  There had been a higher than anticipated level of spend against the parks hard landscaping budget due to the need for a new door at the Visitor Centre and the construction of a new parking area.  The Officers would review the budgets to identify funding for any further hard landscaping works that might be needed.

·  Car parking income continued to exceed the budgeted figure as visitor numbers to the Manor Park remained high.

·  Repairs and maintenance budgets for Kent Life and the residential properties were currently unspent.

·  An updated cashflow projection would be reported to the next meeting of the Committee when the opportunity had been taken by the Officers to review proposals for future capital expenditure.  The receipt of the outstanding sums from Mytime had alleviated the potential pressure on the cashflow and the bank account balance was now at a healthy level.  This meant that it would be possible to make further loan repayments to the Borough Council for the car park capital works.

·  The value of the Charity’s investment in Charifund was continuing to recover and now stood at £867,762 compared to the value of £866,198 in July 2021.  However, this was still lower than the value of £930,938 in January 2020.  Further updates would be provided at future meetings of the Committee.

In response to questions, the Senior Finance Manager (Client) advised the Committee that:

·  Charifund was a specialist investment fund for charities which tended to focus on less risky investments and was widely used within the charity sector.  The value of the Charity’s investment had been impacted by the pandemic but was continuing to recover.

·  The repairs and maintenance budgets for Kent Life and the residential properties were contingency budgets in case any repair and maintenance work for which the Charity was responsible was required.  The works to Garden Cottage were being funded separately.

During the discussion, reference was made to the need to raise with the operator of Kent Life the issue of drainage at the site to prevent damage to the buildings and historic farm machinery and equipment.

RESOLVED:  That the financial position of the Cobtree Manor Estate as at 31 July 2021 be noted.