Agenda item

That the report be noted, including the following:

1.         That the council forecasts a £5.0m overall revenue budget underspend at year end, which includes use of £6.9m central government grant plus temporary use of £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 forecast to achieve £64.4m efficiencies and service reductions by year end, as set out in Annex, paragraph 31 of the submitted report.

3.         That total forecast capital expenditure for 2015/16, including long term investments, is £225.5m, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 39 of the submitted report.

4.         That the quarter end positions for: balance sheet, earmarked reserves, debt and treasury management be noted, as set out in Annex 1, paragraphs App 7 to 20 of the submitted report.

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

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 ninth month of the 2015/16 financial year, covering the period up to 31 December 2015. He stated that this saw the Council continuing to face ever more intense pressures and hard choices as service demand grew and funding declined.

He explained that in December, the Government’s Provisional Settlement set out severe, shock reductions in grant funding. In these circumstances, the budget would be sustainable provided that the Council received transitional funding from Government; that existing savings plans were delivered in full; and that considerable base budget cost reductions were quickly identified through the Public Value Transformation programme. These cuts, imposed centrally, almost inevitably meant some service reductions locally.

He confirmed, as stated at each Cabinet meeting that, the Council’s financial strategy had four key drivers to ensure sound governance in managing finances and providing value for money for Surrey residents.

These were:

Keep any additional call on the council taxpayer to a minimum

That the current forecast end of year revenue position was for an underspend of -£5.0m and managing the budgets and overall resources to achieve an underspend this year was vital for giving some headroom and flexibility for managing future spending plans. He confirmed that he was confident Cabinet’s support for managers’ actions would make this the sixth consecutive year there was a small underspend or balanced outturn across the Council.

Overall, -£5.0m underspend was forecast at year end and most services forecast a balanced outturn or small underspend which was important for delivering services this year and sustaining capacity to do so in future. He highlighted the underlying demand and savings pressures within this, in particular Adult Social Care’s forecast balanced out turn includes £7.7m one off support.

Continuously drive the efficiency agenda

That at the end of December, services forecasted delivering £64.4m efficiencies and of this, £36m had either already been implemented or was on track, £7m had some issues, £21m was additional in year or one off savings and only £0.5m is considered to be at risk.

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 budgets over the longer term. The Revolving Infrastructure & Investment Fund was part of this strategy and forecasted investing £63m this year.

Continue to maximise our investment in Surrey  

That the Council had a £696m capital programme for 2015-20 to improve and maintain services, invest in Surrey and generate income for the Council and that the Council forecast capital investment of £225m this year.

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 £5.0m overall revenue budget underspend at year end, which includes use of £6.9m central government grant plus temporary use of £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 forecast to achieve £64.4m efficiencies and service reductions by year end, as set out in Annex, paragraph 31 of the submitted report.

3.           That total forecast capital expenditure for 2015/16, including long term investments, is £225.5m, as set out in the Annex, paragraph 39 of the submitted report.

4.           That the quarter end positions for: balance sheet, earmarked reserves, debt and treasury management be noted, as set out in Annex 1, paragraphs App 7 to 20 of the submitted report.

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

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.