Issue - meetings

1.      That the Council forecasts an improved revenue position for 2014/15 of £0.5m underspend, as set out in Annex1, paragraph 2 of the submitted report.

2.      That services forecast achieving an improved position on efficiencies and service reductions by year end of £69.4m, as set out in Annex1, paragraph 54 of the submitted report.

3.      That the council forecasts investing £207m through its capital programme in 2014/15, as set out in Annex1, paragraph 59 of the submitted report.

4.      That services’ management actions to mitigate overspends, as set out throughout Annex1 of the submitted report, be noted.

5.    The new fee for amendments to the common land register, as set out in Annex1, paragraph 8 of the submitted report, be noted.

Reasons for Decisions:

This report is presented to comply with the agreed policy of providing a monthly budget monitoring report to Cabinet for approval and action as necessary.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee]

The Leader of the Council presented the budget monitoring report for month seven of 2014/15, the period up to 31 October 2014 and said that the forecast revenue position was currently an underspend of £500,000 at year end, an improvement of £900,000.  

He asked Cabinet to note that the Planning and Regulatory Committee had set a reasonable fee for applications to amend the commons register.

He also said that the Council continued to face demand growth and funding reductions as austerity continued and that the council’s financial strategy had four key drivers to ensure sound governance to manage the finances and provide value for money.

These were:

(1)  To keep any additional call on the council taxpayer to a minimum

Currently, the end of year revenue forecast was for services to underspend by £0.5m. Also, that the Chief Executive and Director of Finance had held support sessions with Heads of Service and concluded that the key efficiency strategies were valid but in order to maintain progress with the rigour of services’ savings plans, these support sessions would continue and they would continue to report progress at the Council’s regular briefings to all Members.

(2)  To continuously drive the efficiency agenda

       He considered that this was critical for the long term survival of the County Council and informed Cabinet that, at the end of October, services forecast delivering efficiencies of £69.4m against a target of £72.3m, which was a £400,000 improvement on the position last month.

(3)  To develop a funding strategy to reduce the council’s reliance on council tax and government grant income

He said that reducing reliance on government grants and council tax was key to balancing the Council’s budgets over the longer term and the Revolving Infrastructure and Investment Fund had already invested £5.5m this year and forecast delivering £0.5m net income.

(4)  To continue to maximise the Council’s investment in Surrey

Finally, he said that the Council’s capital programme not only improved and maintained the Council’s services, it was also a way of investing in Surrey and generating income for the Council and that the reprofiled capital programme planned £780m investment for 2014-19, including £200m in 2014/15.   The current forecast was to overspend by £2.7m, including long term investments.

Other Cabinet Members were invited to highlight the key points and issues from their portfolios, as set out in the Annex to the report.

RESOLVED:

1.      That the Council forecasts an improved revenue position for 2014/15 of £0.5m underspend, as set out in Annex1, paragraph 2 of the submitted report.

2.      That services forecast achieving an improved position on efficiencies and service reductions by year end of £69.4m, as set out in Annex1, paragraph 54 of the submitted report.

3.      That the Council forecasts investing £207m through its capital programme in 2014/15, as set out in Annex1, paragraph 59 of the submitted report.

4.      That services’ management actions to mitigate overspends, as set out throughout Annex1 of the submitted report, be noted.

5.    The new fee for amendments  ...  view the full minutes text for item 234