Issue - items at meetings - Targeted Budget Management (TBM) 2012/13 Month 9

Report of the Director of Finance (copy attached).

1.                  That the forecast outturn position for the General Fund, which has an underspend of £4.213m be noted;

2.                  That the forecast outturn for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which has an underspend of £1.304m be noted;

3.                  That the forecast outturn for the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) which has an underspend of £0.367m be noted;

4.                  That the forecast outturn position on the Capital Programme be noted;

5.                  That the following changes to the Capital Programme as set out below be approved:

-                The budget re-profiling and budget variations as set out in Appendix 2 to the report;

-                The carry forward of slippage into the 2013/14 capital programme to meet on-going commitments on these schemes as set out in Appendix 2 to the report; and

-                The new schemes as set out in Appendix 3 to the report.

141.1          The Director of Finance introduced the report which detailed the current financial position of the authority as at month 9.  She noted that there were underspends in certain areas and savings put forward which were on track to be met.  She also noted that the value for money programme was projected to over-achieve and that there had been some re-profiling and slippage in relation to the Capital Programme; which was accounted for 2013/14.

141.2          Councillor Littman stated that he wished to thank the finance officers involved in bringing the report forward and for their continued work on the various budget matters.  He welcomed the report and noted that a greater underspend was projected for the current year compared to last year and that the value for money programme was proving to be of benefit.

141.3          Councillor G. Theobald noted that having agreed the council tax freeze previously, a number of underspends had been still been achieved and in relation to Home to School Transport queried why the underspend had not been used to enable the continued support for the bus route to Ovingdean.  He also referred to the overspend in relation to the Traveller’s site at Horsdean and queried whether additional expenditure was forecast for next year as a result.  In regard to the Communications budget he also noted that the Head of Communications was due to leave the organisation and questioned the need for the additional £100k for the budget, which was already overspent when other service areas were having to reduce their budgets.  Finally, he also queried the costs associated with the Local Delivery Vehicle (LDV) and whether these were in relation to set up costs.

141.4          The Chair referred to the communications budget and stated that there had been an unachievable income target and no central allocation made which had put pressure on the budget area.  It was proposed that this should be harmonised and appropriate funding identified to enable the service to move forward effectively.  He also noted that the TBM position to date was one of the best that the council had experienced.

141.5          Councillor Shanks referred to the query for Home to School Transport and noted that an underspend had been achieved to date as it primarily related to the transfer of children with disabilities to and from school.  The budget for support to the bus services came under a different area and a review was in progress with the intention to report to committee in March.

141.6          The Director of Finance stated that a service pressure for the Traveller’s budget had been identified and it was an area that consistently overspent and therefore provision had to be made for 2013/14.  In regard to the LDV, provision had previously been made for the set up costs, however these had under spent and it was therefore appropriate to release the funding now that the LDV was operating.

141.7          Councillor West noted that in regard to the expenditure for travellers, it was a variable matter which was subject to changes throughout the year and he believed that the costs had been managed well to date.

141.8          Councillor Hamilton stated that there was a £259k underspends in the General Fund for Home to School Transport and a further £96k in the Dedicated School Grant (DSG).  He suggested that it should be possible to transfer funds from one area to another which would have enabled the retention of the No.96 bus service.  He sought assurance that the underspend in the Dedicated School Grant would be carried forward to 2013/14 and asked for further information to be provided to him in relation to the communications budget and the shortfall for this year and the reasoning for the additional funding for next year.

141.9          The Director of Finance confirmed that the DSG was ring-fenced and any underspend would be carried forward.  She stated that the General Fund was used to finance general aspects of the Home to School Transport budget and at the last Budget Council meeting; councillors had agreed to reduce the subsidies for supported bus routes.  With regard to the Communications budget, the income target set for advertising and sponsorship had been recognised as being unachievable and following the recent procurement exercise was now more appropriate.  She also noted that the staffing provision for internal communications amounted to a 0.5fte post and having assessed the level of service required for the organisation more funding was recommended.  She stated that she would be happy to provide further information to Members following the meeting should they require it.

141.10      The Chair noted that at the recent Staff Consultation Forum meeting the question of resources for the communications team was raised given the size of the organisation and with the Public Health element coming across to the council from the 1^st April; it was felt that additional resources were required.

141.11      Councillor Wealls referred to the value for money programme in respect of the Children’s Services and noted that £2.74m savings had been achieved against a target of £3.17m and queried where the additional savings would be coming from.

141.12      The Director of Finance stated that the Children’s Services vfm was wide-ranging and it was hoped that the high cost placements could be reduced and that there was a need to bear in mind that the number of looked after children varied throughout the year.  She believed that there was a need for a level of judgement in respect of the savings to be made for this year and the following year, however, it was one of the identified corporate critical budgets and was tracked on weekly basis.  She was happy to provide further information following the meeting and noted that for this area the vfm considerations related to day to day activities whilst for other areas of the organisation vfm took a more corporate wide view.

141.13      Councillor Mitchell referred to the breach of security at the Traveller’s site at Horsdean and the overspend on the budget that resulted and queried what actions had been taken to avoid a repetition of the breach.  She also noted that there was an outstanding dispute in relation to insurance and repairs in the transport budget and suggested that it needed to be resolved as there was already an overspend in that budget.

141.14      The Strategic Director; Place stated that the security company had been replaced and additional staff were now being used as well as improvements made to the site’s security.  He also stated that the Transport Budget was closely monitored and estimates had been identified at this point, however as various works commenced on projects a clearer picture should emerge.  He also noted that the recent poor weather had affected the road maintenance budgets.

141.15      Councillor G. Theobald queried how the targets for the communications budget had been set and when had Members been informed that they would not be achievable.

141.16      The Director of Finance stated that with the advertising and sponsorship contract there was a need to set a risk provision for that and for other aspects of the communications budget a judgement had to be made and then it could be reviewed.  There had previously been a miss-match of expectations for the budget and the service provision which it was hoped could now be addressed.

141.17      The Chair noted the comments and put the recommendations to the vote.

141.18      RESOLVED:

(1)         That the forecast outturn position for the General Fund, which has an underspend of £4.213m be noted;

(2)         That the forecast outturn for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which has an underspend of £1.304m be noted;

(3)         That the forecast outturn for the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) which has an underspend of £0.367m be noted;

(4)         That the forecast outturn position on the Capital Programme be noted;

(5)         That the following changes to the Capital Programme as set out below be approved:

-                The budget re-profiling and budget variations as set out in Appendix 2 to the report;

-                The carry forward of slippage into the 2013/14 capital programme to meet on-going commitments on these schemes as set out in Appendix 2 to the report; and

-                The new schemes as set out in Appendix 3 to the report.