Agenda item - Targeted Budget Management (TBM) 2017/18: Month 7

Report of the Executive Director, Finance & Resources

1)           That the Committee note the forecast risk position for the General Fund, which indicates a budget pressure of £1.270m. This includes a forecast overspend of £0.190m on the council’s share of the NHS managed Section 75 services.

2)            That the Committee note that total recurrent and one-off risk provisions of £1.384m are available to mitigate the forecast General Fund risk if the risks cannot be completely eliminated by year-end.

3)            That the Committee approve the requested carry forward of £0.109m for Regulatory Services (paragraph 6.3) subject to the decision made by the Neighbourhoods, Inclusion, Communities & Equalities Committee in January 2018.

4)            That the Committee note the forecast for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which is an underspend of £0.425m.

5)            That the Committee note the forecast risk position for the Dedicated Schools Grant which is an underspend of £0.154m.

6)            That the Committee note the forecast outturn position on the capital programme and approve the variations and slippage in Appendix 5 and new schemes in Appendix 6.

62.1      The considered a report of the Executive Director, Finance & Resources in relation to Targeted Budget Management (TBM) 2017/18 Month 7. The report set out an early indication of forecast risks as at Month 7 on the council’s revenue and capital budgets for the financial year 2017/18.

62.2      The Executive Lead Officer, Strategy, Governance & Law clarified that the recommendation relating to Field Officers would be subject to Neighbourhoods, Inclusion, Communities & Equalities Committee (NICE) approving the proposals in January 2018.

62.3      The Chair asked whether it was therefore necessary to move a motion to delete recommendation 2.3.

62.4      The Executive Lead Officer, Strategy, Governance & Law answered that the recommendation could either remain as it was conditional to agreement by NICE Committee or be removed.

62.5      The Chair moved a motion to amend recommendation 2.3 as shown in bold italics below:

2.1  That the Committee approve the requested carry forward of £0.109m for Regulatory Services (paragraph 6.3) subject to the decision made by the Neighbourhoods, Inclusion, Communities & Equalities Committee in January 2018.

62.6      Councillor Mitchell formally seconded the motion.

62.7      The Chair put the motion to the vote which was carried.

62.8      Councillor Sykes noted that the costs of temporary accommodation had risen £500k per year since 2014/15 and asked about the reasons behind that and the council’s ability to recoup some of those costs. Referring to the slippage of approximately £6m in the capital programme, Councillor Sykes asked if that risked LEP funding for future projects and in reference to the integrated community equipment store, Councillor Sykes noted that this had been referred to in the Budget report but not in this TBM report and asked why that was the case.

62.9      The Executive Director, Finance & Resources replied that temporary accommodation was a complex area made more so by the impact of Universal Credit. The Executive Director Finance & Resources stated that in future, there may be the introduction of capital business cases outlining options for temporary accommodation that was less expensive than the current contractual obligations. The Executive Director Finance & Resources supplemented that the key issue was of demand which was a difficult area to manage for a variety of factors. The Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture stated that the recent approval of the Valley Gardens scheme by Planning Committee and the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee which was something the LEP had been pleased to hear via the regular updates provided by officers. The Deputy Chief Finance Officer stated that the integrated community equipment store was financed via the Better Care Fund which was a joint fund with the CCG. The pressures on that Fund would be factored into the TBM projections in accordance with the risk share arrangement. There was recognition of the pressures on that budget for the next financial year and the pressure funding was identified in Item 64 of the agenda.

62.10   Councillor Wealls noted that the forecast overspend was now below risk provision however, in his view this was due to fortune rather than better financial management with the drop in concessionary bus passes a significant contributing factor. Councillor Wealls stated that the budgetary risk in demand-led services still remained. Councillor Wealls noted that the Life Events service had moved from an underspend to a significant overspend in a short space of time and asked if there was sufficient executive oversight of that workstream.

62.11   The Executive Lead Officer, Strategy, Governance & Law stated that the overspend forecast was due to a combination of an increase in market competitors and a drop in financial discipline. An organisational board comprising of senior officers were reviewing the issue in detail and the actions identified and implemented were beginning to pay dividends. The Executive Lead Officer, Strategy, Governance & Law stated that the Bereavement Service was of particular challenge as it had a very small revenue stream but maintenance expenditure. In response, the service would carefully plan and target its services and had made staff working pattern changes as well as using improved financial forecasting systems.

62.12   Councillor Hamilton stated that the possibility of extending one of the cemeteries was being considered that would help the revenue position going forward.

62.13   Referring to paragraph 3.7, Councillor Mac Cafferty asked for clarification on whether the integration plans were causing complications for service delivery pressures.

62.14   The Executive Director, Finance & Resources that this referred to significantly increased workload and competing demands for management time in creating and implementing integration plans.

62.15   RESOLVED-

1)           That the Committee note the forecast risk position for the General Fund, which indicates a budget pressure of £1.270m. This includes a forecast overspend of £0.190m on the council’s share of the NHS managed Section 75 services.

2)            That the Committee note that total recurrent and one-off risk provisions of £1.384m are available to mitigate the forecast General Fund risk if the risks cannot be completely eliminated by year-end.

3)            That the Committee approve the requested carry forward of £0.109m for Regulatory Services (paragraph 6.3) subject to the decision made by the Neighbourhoods, Inclusion, Communities & Equalities Committee in January 2018.

4)            That the Committee note the forecast for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which is an underspend of £0.425m.

5)            That the Committee note the forecast risk position for the Dedicated Schools Grant which is an underspend of £0.154m.

6)            That the Committee note the forecast outturn position on the capital programme and approve the variations and slippage in Appendix 5 and new schemes in Appendix 6.