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Meeting: 13/03/2019 - Cabinet (Item 313)

313 Budget Monitoring: Month 10 pdf icon PDF 71 KB

Report of the County Treasurer (CT/19/35) on the budget monitoring position at Month 10, attached.     

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Councillors Dewhirst, Way and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

 

The Cabinet considered the Report of the County Treasurer (CT/19/35) on the month 10 budget monitoring position, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

 

The Report outlined the financial forecast for the Authority at month 10 as a breakeven position for the year end, which was a reduction of £4.8 millions from month 8. This continued to assume that a request to carry forward £2.4 millions to next year’s Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) would be agreed by the Devon Education Forum. It also reflected the impact of the corporate savings initiatives, confirmation of additional funding to support high needs pressures and a refund received from the national Business Rates Retention Scheme Levy Account.

 

In relation to Adult Care and Health Services, the service was forecast to underspend by £636,000, compared to Month 8 which had been forecasting an underspend of £385,000. Work associated with the additional allocation of £3.6 millions to support winter pressures was underway.

 

Children’s Services were showing a forecast overspend of £12 millions, which was an increase of £900,000 from month 8. £7.6 millions of the overspend was in Children’s Social Care with pressures within residential placements and the disabled children short breaks service as well as legal disbursements. The DSG was also forecast to overspend by £3.7 millions.

 

Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste was forecasting an underspend of £3.0 millions at month 10, a £600,000 increase from month 8. As part of the corporate savings initiatives adopted in November 2018 a review of the capital programme took place to determine if increased capital works could enable revenue savings, which resulted in a forecast underspend of £2 millions within highways.

 

Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity (COPHEP) were forecasting an underspend of £1.2 millions, compared to £762,000 at month 8.

 

In Corporate Services, the position was an underspend of £156,000 compared to a breakeven position at month 8. Pressures within County Solicitor’s and HR were being offset by forecast underspends within Digital Transformation and Business Support.

 

Non-service items were forecasting a £7.1 millions underspend, whereas at month 8 the position had been £2.8 millions.  The change was due, in the main, to further additional investment income from higher interest rates, an increase in capitalisation and the release of some non-ringfenced grants.

 

The approved capital programme for the Council was £150.6 millions with a year-end forecast of £125.9 millions. Slippage had increased by £3.6 millions since month 8 and was now forecast at £24.7 millions. The main areas of net slippage were attributed to scheme variations and programme delays in Adult Care and Health (£2.5 millions) and Planning and Transportation (£13.9 millions) which reflected the complexity of the major schemes within the service areas.

 

To summarise, the Cabinet noted the good news that the projection at month 10  ...  view the full minutes text for item 313


Meeting: 13/09/2017 - Cabinet (Item 51)

51 Budget Monitoring: Month 4 pdf icon PDF 47 KB

Report of the County Treasurer (CT/17/20)  on the position at Month 4, attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Councillors Biederman, Connett, Dewhirst and Hannaford attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

 

The Cabinet considered the Report of the County Treasurer (CT/17/20) on the financial position at Month 4 outlining areas of specific pressures on budgets, potential under and overspendings in the current financial year and on the management action being taken where individual budget lines were experiencing pressures.  

 

The Cabinet noted that, overall, an underspend of £1,996,000 was forecast for the year-end acknowledging the need for caution in various service areas over the possible impact of winter pressures.

 

The forecast for Adult Care and Health indicated an underspend of £3.772m, allowing for £1.936m of management action to be achieved, arising in the main from better contract negotiation and demand management and the recently agreed Promoting Independence policy.  Adult Commissioning and Health was expected to show an underspend of £296,000 from temporary vacancy savings in the commissioning teams. The Learning Disability Service continued to be an area of concern due to increasing numbers of packages and the service still faced other risks such as the impact of the pending HMRC action regarding the National Living Wage compliance for ‘sleep-in’ night shifts and winter pressures.

 

Children’s Services was forecasting an overspend of £1.643m due again to increasing number of placements within the independent sector and difficulties in securing “step down” from independent residential care through lack of alternative placements. Disabled children’s services were also looking at an overspend of £716,000 on children in need short breaks.  These overspends would be partially offset by vacancy management, lower legal disbursement and other minor variations which with other savings would reduce that current overspend.  The non DSG element of Education and Learning was likely to overspend (on personalised transport and the unplanned Special Educational Needs (SEN) contract cost increases) as was DSG spending on High Needs with a continuing upward trend across SEN provision in numbers and cost. 

 

The Secretary of State had recently announced increased funding for Education of £1.3 billion which, it was anticipated, would include an increase to High Needs funding.  Further detail on that level of funding should be known in September and it was assumed that any overspend in this area would not therefore impact on the general fund.

 

Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste services were showing a breakeven position, acknowledging the potential for winter pressures and Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity was showing a forecast overspend of £133,000 and Corporate Services were also forecasting a breakeven position.

 

In relation to capital expenditure, the approved programme was £154,500,000 with a year-end forecast of £140.5m and slippage of £14m (arising from the projects for Marsh Barton station, Newcourt Station, South Devon Highway and a number of School expansion projects).

 

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors set out in the County Treasurer’s Report and/or referred to above having been considered

 

It was MOVED by Councillor Clatworthy, SECONDED by Councillor Hughes, and

 

RESOLVED that the position  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51



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