Agenda item - Targetted Budget Management (TBM) 2016/17 Month 5

Extract from the proceedings of the Policy, Resources & Growth Committee meeting held on 13 October 2016; together with a report of the Executive Director of Finance & Resources (copies attached).

1)            That the Audit & Standards Committee notes the update on the council’s in-year financial position and the continuing actions taken to address forecast overspend risks.

46.1      The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Finance & Resources that provided the Targeted Budget Management (TBM) report Month 5 and an extract of the proceedings of the Policy, Resources & Growth Committee held on 13 October 2016 from which the report had been referred; together with a specific report to the Audit & Standards Committee.

46.2      Councillor Cobb enquired as to the arrangement between the council and Brighton & Hove Buses for concessionary bus fares.

46.3      The Assistant Director, Finance stated that the contract related to volume of journeys made and the council were charged a fixed price for each journey using a concessionary bus pass. Journey data was monitored and captured and formed a part of the terms of the contract negotiations between the two parties.

46.4      Councillor Sykes noted that there had been a recent 10% drop in concessionary bus pass journeys and asked if that would have some impact on the contract negotiations.

46.5      The Assistant Director, Finance confirmed that the reduction would be a factor in the upcoming renegotiation of the contract.

46.6      Councillor Taylor asked if there were remedial plans for the demand-led services should the recovery plan not deliver the forecasted £1.535m of potential cost reductions.

46.7      The Executive Director, Finance & Resources answered that the majority of this spend related to services that the council had a statutory duty to deliver and it was difficult to drive down costs determined by demand. There was currently a risk provision in the corporate budget that would mitigate against the forecast overspend in Children’s Services, Adult Social Care and Housing.  

46.8      Diane Bushell asked if the predicted overspends related to the natural uncertainty in forecasting demand-led services or if there had been over zealousness in identifying cost savings.

46.9      The Assistant Director, Finance stated that there was some difficulty in forecasting volatile, demand-led services but there had been improvement in the systems used by the council to identify service pressures. However, the Council’s annual budget must be agreed by the end of February, with draft proposals usually coming forward in December each year, meaning that forecasts were often made well in advance of the start of each financial year. This adds to the difficulty in making accurate predictions.

46.10   RESOLVED-That the Audit & Standards Committee notes the update on the council’s in-year financial position and the continuing actions taken to address forecast overspend risks.