Agenda item

            (a)       That the report be noted;

(b)       That a request be prepared for the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the income received from recycling; and

(c)        That the Member Engagement Manager provide members with the additional information indentified in the body of the minutes.

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced a report on the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2012/13 position for Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account (at Month 4) which was to be presented to Cabinet on 16 October 2012.  He reported a projected overspend on the Council Fund of £1.028m and a projected underspend of £0.052m on the Housing Revenue Account.  He highlighted the individual position of the directorates on page 14. 

The Corporate Finance Manager highlighted that it was Management’s intention to contain the Council Fund projected overspend within the overall approved budget.  He also highlighted the risks and assumptions associated with the projection at point 3.05. 

An allocation of £0.707m for Non standard inflation has been set aside in the budget to cover Energy, Fuel and Food and current projections indicated that these amounts would be required in full.

Based on the current projection the level of contingency reserve at the end of the financial year would be £0.397m, however as stated previously it was Management’s intention to bring expenditure back in line with budget by the end of 2012/13.  The HRA position was reported as a projected  under spend of £0.052m which would result in a closing balance for 2012/13 of £1.6 m, which at 6% of total expenditure satisfied the target of ensuring a minimum level of 3%.  The Corporate Finance Manager reported an additional allocation of £0.250m from balances to fund additional CERA contribution towards funding of the HRA Capital Programme.

            Councillor G.H. Bateman asked for more detail about the efficiencies that would be explored in the Medium Term Financial Plan on point 3.04 on page14. The Leader of the Council in response, said that the Head of ICT and Customer Services would address this in his Flintshire Futures report.  The Leader of the Council advised that the Council faced a number of challenges, such as the Leisure Services overspend, Welfare Reform and the cost of out of county places.  The Leader urged members to attend the Welfare Reform workshop arranged for 12 November 2012 as it would impact heavily on the Council budget.

Councillor G.H. Bateman asked for more detail about the possible impact of Single Status on the Housing Revenue Account.  The Corporate Finance Manager in response said that any change in the cost base would need to be built into the Housing Revenue Account.

Councillor C.A. Thomas asked if the increase in admission charges to leisure centres had contributed to a drop in admissions.  The Leader of the Council in response said that the Lifelong learning action plan would address the impact on the budget.  Councillor Thomas asked why the school music service had overspent by £102,000 despite the introduction of charges. The Leader of the Council said that an officer working group would look at the in-year overspend. The Corporate Finance Manager said that he would send details of the membership of the working group and details of the budget to Councillor Thomas.  Councillor C. Thomas asked if measures had been taken to reduce postage charges and if lower quality paper could be used to print documents.  The Head of ICT and Customer Services said that lower grade paper had been used previously by the Council, but had not been well received, as it had a tendency to cause jams in printers and photocopiers.  He said that he would look at the option of a single paper contract for the whole of the council.  The Head of ICT and Customer Services said greater use of IT could help reduce the amount of documents posted out and that he was reviewing the postage services and investigating alternative providers.

                        Councillor G.H. Bateman asked for more information about the £0.035m movement on the Council’s share of the Clwyd Pension fund deficit.  The Corporate Finance Manager explained that this relates to a current projected shortfall in superannuation contributions compared to the agreed payments to the Clwyd Pension Fund.  Councillor  Bateman asked for more information about the £0.039m deficit at the indoor market in Mold.  The Corporate Finance Manager said that he would forward information about Mold Market to Councillor Bateman after the meeting.

                        Councillor R.G. Hampson asked if money had been set aside to cushion the impact of Welfare Reform.  The Leader replied that a Welfare Reform Board had been set up which included all political group leaders.  He said that early discussions had centred on how to identify affected tenants and ways to mitigate benefit cuts.

                        Councillor M. Bateman asked if the Council could consider sharing a Chief Executive with a neighbouring authority.  The Leader of the Council said that the Chief Executive was a valuable asset to the Council. He said that the Welsh Government had advised that shared senior posts could be considered by local authorities as and when posts became vacant.

                        The Chair asked if the Council would request funds from central government to assist with an increase freeze on council tax.  The Leader of the Council said he would issue a response to the Local Government Draft Settlement, due 16 October 2012 and would try to get the best settlement possible.

                        Councillor G.H. Bateman asked if a breakdown of recycling income could be produced.  The Director of Environment said that recycling income was used to offset the costs of the service and that he would prepare a report for the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

                        Councillor P.J. Curtis asked if waste collections from shops could be carried out after 9 am when the shops were open.  The Chair said that this should be directed to Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

            CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2012/13 QUARTER 1

                        The Corporate Finance Manager introduced a report on the Capital Programme 2012/13 for Quarter 1.  He reported that the original programme total of £33.223 million had now increased to £40.770 million, being £29.882m for the Council Fund and £10.888m for the Housing Revenue Account.  The Corporate Finance Manager reported that recorded capital expenditure to date stood at £3.3 million at Quarter 1, which represented 8% of the projected level of expenditure at this stage.

The table on page 41 also showed a comparison of spend against profiled budget (the amount expected to have spent at this stage of the financial year) and as detailed in 3.05.2 80.96% of the profiled budget has currently been spent.  Appendix C provided information on the reasons for some of the variances that are occurring and the actions being taken to address them.  The cumulative position by directorate was also displayed in chart form on page 42.

Section 3.06 provided an update on how all of the revised programme will be financed by way of general and specific funding.

RESOLVED:

            (a)       That the report be noted;

(b)       That a request be prepared for the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the income received from recycling; and

(c)        That the Member Engagement Manager provide members with the additional information indentified in the body of the minutes.