Issue - meetings

That the report be noted, including the following:

1.         That Services forecast a £8.7m revenue budget variance at year end which includes use of £7.4m central government grant, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 1 to the submitted report

2.         That Services forecast to achieve £65.1m efficiencies and service reductions by year end, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 39 of the submitted report.

3.         That total forecast capital expenditure for 2015/16, including long term investments, is £224.1m, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 47 of the submitted report.

4.         That Services’ management actions to mitigate overspends were set out throughout the report.

5.         That £0.5m virement to reduce the budget in 2015/16 for the SEND Reform Grant intended to support implementation of the new Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system, as detailed in the Annex, paragraph 3 of the submitted report, be approved.

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 Board]

The Leader of the Council presented the budget monitoring report for the eleventh month of the 2015/16 financial year, covering the period up to 29 February 2016. He said that, since the Council set its budget for 2016/17  demographic demand pressures continued to grow, which reinforced the need and resolve to find new ways of delivering Council services and that was why the Public Value Transformation programme was so important to ensure that the Council’s finances would be sustainable in the future.

As he has stated at each Cabinet meeting, the Council’s financial strategy had four key drivers to ensure sound governance in managing finances and providing value for money.

These were:

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

2.       To continuously drive the efficiency agenda

3.       To reduce the Council’s reliance on council tax and government grant income

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

Other Cabinet Members were given the opportunity to highlight key points and issues from their portfolios, as detailed in the annex to this report.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted, including the following:

1.      That Services forecast a £8.7m revenue budget variance at year end which includes use of £7.4m central government grant, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 1 to the submitted report

2.      That Services forecast to achieve £65.1m efficiencies and service reductions by year end, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 39 of the submitted report.

3.      That total forecast capital expenditure for 2015/16, including long term investments, is £224.1m, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 47 of the submitted report.

4.      That Services’ management actions to mitigate overspends were set out throughout the report.

5.      That £0.5m virement to reduce the budget in 2015/16 for the SEND Reform Grant intended to support implementation of the new Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system, as detailed in the Annex, paragraph 3 of the submitted report, be approved.

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.