Agenda item

Finance and Budget Monitoring Report to 28 February 2017

Meeting of Cabinet, Tuesday, 28 March 2017 2.00 pm (Item 55/17)
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Decision:

RESOLVED:

Cabinet noted:

1. forecast revenue budget outturn for 2016/17 is ?£6.8m underspend, an improvement from -£3.5m last month (Annex, paragraph 1);

2. forecast efficiencies and service reductions for 2016/17 is £66.4m, up by £0.1m from last month (Annex, paragraph 50); and

3. the Section 151 Officer’s commentary and the Monitoring Officer’s Legal Implications commentary (main report, paragraphs 16 to 23).

That Cabinet approve:

4. the transfer of -£2.0m underspend on the New Homes Bonus grant allocated to infrastructure projects to the Budget Equalisation Reserve (Annex, paragraph 27); and

5. the reprofilng of £0.15m capital contribution to the Godalming flood alleviation scheme from 2016/17 to 2017/18 (Annex, paragraph 61).

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 may be called in by the Council Overview Board]

Minutes:

The item was introduced by the Leader of the Council who stated that SCC’s forecast position for the end of the 2016/17 financial year was an -£6.8 million underspend, a significant improvement on the +£22.4 million overspend which had been forecast in September 2016. He stressed, however, that many of the steps taken to return the Council to a balanced budget were one-off measures and that the problem of rising demand on services, particularly social care, represented a significant challenge to the Council’s financial stability. Mr Hodge emphasised that despite the significant budget reductions already achieved it was incumbent upon officers and Members to continue to identify and deliver savings in the Council’s budget in order to return SCC to a sustainable MTFP. He further stated that the Cabinet would continue to press the case for Surrey to get a fairer funding deal from Central Government.

The Leader of the Council asked each Cabinet Member to provide a statement on the forecast position for their portfolio for the end of the 2016/17 financial year:

· The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence indicated that there had been a £1 million improvement in the projected outturn for Adult Social Care but highlighted that there was still a forecast overspend of +£14 million across the Directorate. He stressed that SCC had saved £250 million on adult social care spending over the past few years despite a coeval spike in demand for these services.

· Mrs Kemeny informed the Cabinet that there was a projected overspend of +£10 million for Children’s Services arising from increased pressure on social work teams. Out of county placements and an increase in the number of asylum seeking children coming into the care of SCC as a corporate parent had also placing additional pressures on the Children’s Services budget. The graduation of the first cohort to be trained at the Council’s Social Work Academy did, however, mean that it was likely that spending on locums would reduce significantly in the short term.

· Mr Furey advised that the Highways Service had a projected outturn of - £1.8 million for the year despite increased spending on roads and pavements. Extra funding from the Thames Regional Flooding Funding Committee and contributions from district and borough councils as well businesses had ensured that investment in funding on flood mitigation measures had been maintained.

· The Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience stated that there had been underspends in the Orbis Partnership and the New Homes Bonus both of which had been used to balance the budget for 2016/17.

· Mr Goodman indicated that there was anticipated to be a very slight overspend in the budget for his portfolio but that this would not have a material impact on the Council’s budget position at the year end.