Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Committee receives the Revenue Budget Monitoring 20161/17 (Month 6) monitoring report;

(b)       That the Committee confirms that on this occasion, there is nothing which is wishes to bring to the attention of Cabinet; and

(c)       That the Committee receives the Capital Programme 2016/17 monitoring (Month 6) and confirms that there is nothing which it wishes to bring to the attention of Cabinet.

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced a report on the revenue budget monitoring position for 2016/17 for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the Capital Programme as at Month 6.

Revenue Budget Monitoring

On the Council Fund, the projected position was that net spend would be £1.553m higher than the budget.  This was likely to be impacted by the outcome of negotiations with the Welsh Government (WG) on an additional transport grant and funding for replacement bus service provision following the collapse of GHA Coaches.  Progress on efficiencies had resulted in a revised target of £10.521m, with 91% expected to be achieved in year.  Amongst the risks were potential changes to the Minimum Revenue Provision which would form part of the budget discussions at the forthcoming special meeting of the Committee.

On the HRA, the year end closing balance was projected to be £1.061m which was above the recommended minimum level at 3.3% of total expenditure.

Councillor Robin Guest acknowledged the actions which had been taken on the orphaned industrial site at Sandycroft and asked about the expected timing of the site closure.  The Chief Executive said that a conclusion was expected within the calendar year and that a fuller separate response would be circulated.

Following a request from Councillor Ian Smith, the Corporate Finance Manager agreed to look into whether the finance system could generate appendices with larger print.

In response to comments from Councillor Ian Dunbar on GHA Coaches, the Chief Executive gave a brief update and explained that school transport provision was the responsibility of the Council and that this budget pressure was being calculated for 2017/18.

Capital Programme

Changes to the Capital Programme showed a revised position of £60.551m.  A summary of changes during the quarter was included in Section 1.05 being a net increase of £1.404m on Council Fund and £0.083m on the HRA mainly relating to changes in grant funding.

An update on expenditure reported the position on spend to be £30.170m out of the £60.551 revised budget; this was in excess of the 30% spent at the same time in 2015/16.

Two requests for resources had been made for an upgraded microphone system for the Council Chamber and the installation of an average speed camera system along the A548 Sealand Road.

The Chairman asked for details on the funding and costs arising from the latter.  The Chief Executive agreed that a written response would be shared.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee receives the Revenue Budget Monitoring 20161/17 (Month 6) monitoring report;

(b)       That the Committee confirms that on this occasion, there is nothing which is wishes to bring to the attention of Cabinet; and

(c)       That the Committee receives the Capital Programme 2016/17 monitoring (Month 6) and confirms that there is nothing which it wishes to bring to the attention of Cabinet.