Agenda item

That the reports be noted. 

Revenue Budget Monitoring 2012/13 (Outturn)

            The Corporate Finance Manager introduced a report to inform Members of the Council Fund and the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) outturn for 2012/13 (subject to audit) and the impact of the respective level of reserves at 31 March 2013.  These figures were included in the draft Statement of Accounts 2012/13 which would be reported to Audit Committee on 17 July 2013.  This report would also be submitted to Cabinet on 16 July 2013.

            The final outturn position subject to audit was a net underspend of £4.229m on the Council Fund (underspend of £4.313m at Month 12) and a net underspend of £1.076m on the HRA (underspend of £1.047m at Month 12).  The significant changes for the Council Fund from Month 12 were detailed in appendix 1 and the significant in-year variances at final outturn were detailed in appendices 2 to 6 for the Council Fund and appendix 8 for the HRA. 

Paragraphs 3.05 to 3.08 provided details of the outcome of a review undertaken by each Head of Service to look at the reasons for, and the timing of variances occurring towards the end of the year and the reasons for the variances could be classified into five main themes which were detailed.  Corporate Management Team had identified and agreed a range of actions to strengthen budget management and reporting in the light of the issues identified. 

A brief overview of the year was highlighted in paras 3.13 – 3.19 and summary on the achievement of efficiencies were reported and showed the overachievement in efficiencies of £2.205m which was mainly due to the significant reduction in spend on Out of County Placements within Community Services and Lifelong Learning. 

The latest position on Unearmarked reserves was reported and as a result of the movements, the final level of contingency reserve was £3.409m.  However, It was recommended in the report that the winter maintenance reserve be reinstated to the value of £0.250m and that the remaining £3.159m be held in the contingency reserve at this stage and its use considered within the context of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and 2014/15 budget strategy as a key strategic decision. 

On the HRA the final outturn for 2012/13 showed an underspend of £1.076m which resulted in a closing balance (subject to audit) at 31 March 2013 of £1.931m which at 6.98% of the total expenditure exceeded the recommended minimum level of 3%.  Paragraphs 6.04 to 6.06 provided a brief overview of the year.     

Capital Programme 2012/13 (Outturn)

            The Corporate Finance Manager introduced a report to provide Members with the Capital Programme outturn information for 2012/13 which would also be submitted to Cabinet on 16 July 2013. 

            He explained that an incorrect version of appendix C had been included with the report, and he therefore circulated an amended version to Members.  The report set out how the programme had changed during 2012/13 with the revised figures of final spend being £26.454m for Council Fund and £10.742m for Housing Revenue Account (HRA). 

Detailed cumulative information relating to each programme area was provided and a summary of those changes made to the programme during the last quarter was provided in appendix B.  Further savings of £0.237m within ICT infrastructure projects were identified in the final quarter, in addition to the £0.491m previously reported bringing the total to £0.728m. 

The final outturn across the whole programme amounted to £37.196m representing 87.7% of the revised total of £42.330m.  The Capital Expenditure/Outturn against revised budget was reported and the significant variances greater than £0.025m were individually listed in appendix C. 

Section 3.06 provided detail of the amount of rollover carried forward into the following year.  The final amount of rollover was £8.750m of which £3.6m was identified at month 9 in view of revised spending plans. This compared to rollover of £7.762m the previous year.

Councillor Haydn Bateman referred to paragraph 3.05.3 and asked for an explanation of the contents of the graph which the Corporate Finance Manager provided.

Update on the initial forecast – Revenue Budget Monitoring 2013/14

            The Corporate Finance Manager provided a short presentation on the initial forecast which covered the following areas:-

·        Revenue Budget Monitoring 2013/14

·        Strengthening Financial Control

·        Key Service Functions Under Review

·        Summary

He also circulated an appendix showing an early projection on Council Fund Budget Monitoring for 2013/14 and the MTFP for 2014/15. 

RESOLVED:

That the reports be noted.