Agenda item

That the report be noted, including the following:

1.         That the council forecasts a £3.0m overall revenue budget underspend at year end, which includes use of £6.9m central government grant plus temporary use of a £0.8m unplanned underspend against Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards budget to offset pressures in Adult Social Care, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 1 of the submitted report.

2.         That services are forecast to achieve £63.1m efficiencies and service reductions by year end, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 41 of the submitted report.

3.         That the total forecast capital expenditure for 2015/16, including long term investments, is £196.8m, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 54 of the submitted report.

4.         That services’ management actions to mitigate overspends, were set out throughout the submitted report.

5.         That £0.9m increase to the existing B4S school improvement programme over the next two years, specifically to focus on creating a leadership development package for schools and to increase the number of high quality mainstream places for students with Special Education Needs and Disabilities, as set out in the Annex, paragraphs 3 to 6 of the submitted report, be approved.

6.       That £2.2m spending reductions Public Health, which have been identified to meet the cut in the Public Health ring fenced grant, announced by the Chancellor in June 2015 and recently confirmed by the Department of Health, as set out in Annex, paragraphs 7 to 8 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 decision on this item may be called in by the Council Overview Board]

The Leader of the Council presented the budget monitoring report for the seventh month of the 2015/16 financial year, covering the period up to 31 October 2015. He said that the County Council faced ever more intense pressures and hard choices as service demand grew and funding declined and drew attention to recommendation 6, the approval of a £2.2m in-year spending reduction because the Department of Health had confirmed that would be taken from the Council’s Public Health grant.

He confirmed, as stated at previous Cabinet meetings, that 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

The current forecast for the end of year revenue position was for an underspend of £3.0m and he was confident that Cabinet’s support for managers’ actions would make this the sixth consecutive year that the Council 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 and overall resources to achieve a small underspend was important for giving some headroom and flexibility for managing  spending plans for future years.

He stressed the importance of understanding the Council’s underlying demand and savings pressures and drew attention to the Adult Social Care forecast which include £7.7m one off support, which if left unchecked, would add to future years’ pressures.

2. To continuously drive the efficiency agenda

That, at the end of October, services forecast delivering £63.1m efficiencies. Of this, £33m had either already been implemented or were on track, £8m had some issues, £19m were additional in-year or one off savings and £3m 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 that the Revolving Infrastructure and Investment Fund was forecast to invest another £31m this year.

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 Council services, it was also a way of investing in Surrey and generating income for the Council, with the forecast capital programme of £197m investment 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 the council forecasts a £3.0m overall revenue budget underspend at year end, which includes use of £6.9m central government grant plus temporary use of a £0.8m unplanned underspend against Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards budget to offset pressures in Adult Social Care, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 1 of the submitted report.

2.      That services are forecast to achieve £63.1m efficiencies and service reductions by year end, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 41 of the submitted report.

3.      That the total forecast capital expenditure for 2015/16, including long term investments, is £196.8m, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 54 of the submitted report.

4.       That services’ management actions to mitigate overspends, were set out throughout the submitted report.

5.      That £0.9m increase to the existing B4S school improvement programme over the next two years, specifically to focus on creating a leadership development package for schools and to increase the number of high quality mainstream places for students with Special Education Needs and Disabilities, as set out in the Annex, paragraphs 3 to 6 of the submitted report, be approved.

6.       That £2.2m spending reductions Public Health, which have been identified to meet the cut in the Public Health ring fenced grant, announced by the Chancellor in June 2015 and recently confirmed by the Department of Health, as set out in Annex, paragraphs 7 to 8 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.