Issue - meetings

That the Committee notes the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2017/18 Month 8 report and confirms on this occasion that the issues which it wishes to have brought to the Cabinet’s attention are concerns at the overspend on Out of County placements, as referred to in paragraphs 1.05 and 1.06 of the Cabinet report.

The Corporate Finance Manager presented the report on the revenue budget monitoring position for 2017/18 as at Month 8 for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA), prior to consideration by Cabinet.

On the Council Fund, the projected net in-year position (without mitigation to reduce cost pressures and improve the yield on efficiency planning) was that spend was forecast to be £0.846m higher than budget, reflecting a decrease of £0.416m from Month 7.  The most significant projected variances were the underspend on the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) where demand would continue to be monitored, and positive variance on the Council Tax collection fund due to the conclusion of the Single Person Discount review work.  A significant increase was also reported in the underspend in Central & Corporate Finance, primarily due to a reduction in the in-year pension costs.

It was estimated that 94% of overall planned efficiencies would be achieved by year end.  The potential impact of this on the 2018/19 budget was being closely monitored, along with a number of new risks emerging in-year such as possible use of reserves from the winter maintenance budget, dependent on weather conditions.

An update on reserves and balances showed £4.236m of contingency reserves projected by year end.

On the HRA, in-year expenditure was projected to be £0.035m lower than budget, with a closing balance of £1.081 of unearmarked reserves which was above the recommended minimum level.

Members asked that their thanks be expressed to the teams in Streetscene and Social Services for their work during the recent bad weather.

As discussed previously, the Corporate Finance Manager agreed to ensure that the red bracketed figure be reinstated for underspends in future budget monitoring reports.  He also agreed to provide clarification on the Animal & Pest Control charges shown on Appendix 3 to the Cabinet report, as requested by Councillor Johnson.

Members raised concerns at the continuing overspend in Out of County Placements and asked that the matter be referred to the Social & Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee for consideration.

The Democratic Services Manager summarised the resolution, as agreed by Members, and would advise the Leader and statutory officers by email, with the Committee copied in.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2017/18 Month 8 report and confirms on this occasion that the issues which it wishes to have brought to the Cabinet’s attention are concerns at the overspend on Out of County placements, as referred to in paragraphs 1.05 and 1.06 of the Cabinet report.