Issue - meetings

1.       That the forecast revenue budget underspend for 2013/14, as set out inAnnex 1, page 2 of the submitted report be noted.

2.       That the forecast ongoing efficiencies and service reductions achieved by year end, as set out in Annex 1, page 12 of the submitted report be noted.

3.       That the forecast capital budget position for 2013/14, as set out in Annex 1, page 13 of the submitted report be noted.

4.       That management actions to mitigate overspends, as set out throughout Annex 1 of the submitted report be noted.

5.       That the in year virement of £757,661 from the Central HR Training Budget to most services that have service specific training budget allocations for 2013/14  as set out in Annex 1, page 3 of the submitted report be approved.

6.       That the re-profiling of -£2.5m capital budget carry forwards to 2013/14 as set out in Annex 1, page 13 of the submitted report be confirmed.

7.       That the use of Fire Capital Grant to fund vehicle and equipment replacement as set out in Annex 1, page 13 of the submitted report be approved.

Reason for Decisions

To comply with the agreed strategy of providing a monthly budget monitoring report to cabinet for approval and action as necessary.

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

The Leader of the Council presented the first budget monitoring report for the new financial year 2013/14 and stated that the Council continued to face growth in demand for services and reductions in funding as austerity continues.

On the Revenue Budget, he highlighted the following points:

·         That the forecast end of year position was for a small overspend of +£0.7m, although if none of the risk contingency (set up to mitigate against non delivery of some service efficiencies) was required, this would become an underspend of -£12.3m.

·         That the revenue budget reflected total efficiencies required of £68m and although it was early in the year, the report showed that services were making good progress in delivery of these plans: £11m had already been achieved and there was an increased confidence in many other areas. However, there was still a long way to go and there remained considerable risks and therefore, it was essential that progress was monitored closely throughout the year.

On the Capital Budget, he highlighted the following points:

·         That the council’s capital programme not only improved and maintained the Council’s service delivery, but it provided a welcome boost to the local economy in these times and it was therefore important that the authority aimed to achieve the capital budget spend, and where some schemes were delayed, others were brought forward.

·         At the beginning of the year the 2013/14 programme was reviewed and as a result a small number of schemes were reprofiled. However, forecasting was currently being reviewed to fully spend the council’s capital budget.

Other Cabinet Members made the following points:

·         The Cabinet Member for Business Services drew attention to the change in format of Annex 1, which she considered more ‘user friendly and succinct’ and with more detailed explanation in the Appendix to the Annex.

·         The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care highlighted the ‘red’ risk relating to £15.5m of the savings within his portfolio, which were reliant on the success of the new policy to maximise the use of social capital.

·         The Cabinet Member for Schools and Learning drew attention to pressures in the Children, Schools and Families Budget and said that the financial position would become clearer at the start of the new academic year in September.

·         The Cabinet Associate for Fire and Police Services referred to the Fire Capital Grant (paragraph 52, Annex 1) and was pleased that it would be used towards funding of the Fire Vehicle and Equipment Replacement programme.

RESOLVED:

1.       That the forecast revenue budget underspend for 2013/14, as set out in Annex 1, page 2 of the submitted report be noted.

2.       That the forecast ongoing efficiencies and service reductions achieved by year end, as set out in Annex 1, page 12 of the submitted report be noted.

3.       That the forecast capital budget position for 2013/14, as set out in Annex 1, page 13 of the submitted report be noted.

4.       That management actions to mitigate overspends, as set out throughout Annex  ...  view the full minutes text for item 109