Agenda item

That the report be noted, including the following:

1.         That as at 31 August 2015, services forecast a £3.4m revenue budget variance as at year end, as set out in paragraph1 of the submitted Annex.

2.         That service managers be required to confirm actions that will achieve a balanced budget.

3.         That services forecast efficiencies and service reductions for 2015/16 at £66.3m, as set out in paragraph 24 of the submitted Annex.

4.         That the total forecast capital expenditure, including long term investments be £188.4m, as set out in paragraph 34 of the submitted Annex.

5.         That a virement of £930,000 to reflect expenditure and income in relation to the DCLG Troubled Families Programme, as set out in paragraph 3 of the submitted Annex 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 decision on this item may be called in by the Council Overview Board]

The Leader of the Council presented the third budget monitoring report for the 2015/16 financial year, covering the period up to 31 August 2015 and including changes in the months of July and August.

He drew attention to Table 1 which set out the current budget, including all approved adjustments and said that the impact of these changes was that the Council would still need to draw £3.7m from the Budget Equalisation Reserve.

Referring to Table 3 – the 2015/16 Revenue Budget which set out the budgetary performance by service, he said that the majority of services had no significant variance.

He also confirmed that the Council’s financial strategy remained, as he had previously stated, and 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

Current forecast for the end of year revenue position was for an overspend of +£3.4m. However, Cabinet had a strong commitment to financial management and the second recommendation was to require service managers to confirm actions to manage an overall balanced budget, which he was confident, with Cabinet’s support for managers’ actions would make this the sixth consecutive year that the Budget had a small underspend or balanced outturn across the Council.

He said that the Council’s multi-year approach to financial management aimed to smooth resource fluctuations over five years and managing budgets to achieve a small underspend was important for giving the Council some headroom and flexibility for managing spending plans for future years.

2.         To continuously drive the efficiency agenda

That, at the end of August, services forecast delivering efficiencies at their target level of £66.3m. Of this, £30m had either already been implemented or were on track, £13m had some issues, £19m were additional in year or one off savings and of a total of £66.3m, £4m were considered to be at risk.

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

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 invested £2.5m so far this year and forecast investing £19m by the year end.

4.         To continue to maximise our investment in Surrey        

Finally, he said that the Council’s £696m capital programme for 2015-20, not only improved and maintained services, it was also a way of investing in Surrey and generating income for the council, with forecast investment of £188m in 2015/16.

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:

That the report be noted, including the following:

1.         That as at 31 August 2015, services forecast a £3.4m revenue budget variance as at year end, as set out in paragraph1 of the submitted Annex.

2.         That service managers be required to confirm actions that will achieve a balanced budget.

3.         That services forecast efficiencies and service reductions for 2015/16 at £66.3m, as set out in paragraph 24 of the submitted Annex.

4.         That the total forecast capital expenditure, including long term investments be £188.4m, as set out in paragraph 34 of the submitted Annex.

5.         That a virement of £930,000 to reflect expenditure and income in relation to the DCLG Troubled Families Programme, as set out in paragraph 3 of the submitted Annex 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.