Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Finance Manager.  Portfolio of the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance.

(a)       That the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2015/16 (Month 9) report be received;

(b)       That the Capital Programme Monitoring 2015/16 (Month 9) report be received; and

(b)       That the Committee confirms that it is not making any formal recommendations to Cabinet on this occasion. 

Revenue Budget Monitoring (Month 9)              

The Finance Manager – Corporate Accounting and Systems introduced a report to provide Members with the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2015/16 (Month 9) report for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) which was to be submitted to Cabinet on 22 March 2016. 

                        For the Council Fund, the projected net in-year expenditure was forecast to be £1.242m lower than budget which was a positive movement of £0.499m from Month 8.  Appendix 1 detailed the movements from Month 8 which included an additional surplus from the Council Tax Collection Fund, an underspend on the Council Tax Reduction Scheme provision, additional funding from the Department of Work and Pensions and a reduction in external audit fees and bank charges. 

Appendix 3 provided details of the latest position of the programme of efficiencies and it was projected that £10.744m (83%) would be achieved resulting in a net underachievement of £2.130m.  The Finance Manager had noted the earlier comments on efficiencies which had not been achieved but had been replaced.  Taking into account the current underspend at Month 9 and previous allocations, the balance on the contingency reserve at 31 March 2016 was projected to be £4.878m.  A summary of Earmarked Reserves as at 1 April 2015 was reported and the Month 9 estimate for the amount of reserves at 31 March 2016 was £17,261,681.   

The Month 9 Monitoring Report for the HRA was projecting in-year expenditure to be £0.082m lower than budget and a projected closing balance as at 31 March 2016 of £1.319m which was 4.25% of total expenditure. 

Councillor Richard Jones referred to the movement from Education & Youth to schools and sought an explanation of why this has occurred.  He also felt that the 83% figure for the achievement of efficiencies was incorrect as the difference between the amount achieved from Month 8 to Month 9 was £0.170m which was a difference of 1.3%.  In response, the Finance Manager explained that the movement from the Education & Youth budget related to the Additional Learning Needs delegated funding being moved from the Inclusion Service to Schools.  On the issue of efficiencies, she agreed to check the figures. 

Capital Programme Monitoring (Month 9)

            The Technical Finance Manager introduced the report to provide Members with the Capital Programme Monitoring 2015/16 (Month 9) report which was also to be submitted to Cabinet on 22 March 2016. 

Table 1 set out how the programme had changed during 2015/16 and appendix A provided detailed cumulative information relating to each portfolio.  There had been a net decrease of £2.2885m in the programme with the main decrease being a reduction in the budgeted level for the 21^st Century Schools programme.  Table 2 provided the summary of the changes and the overall decrease had been offset by grants and contributions which were reported in paragraphs 1.07 to 1.10.  Table 3 showed the current projected outturn of £140.826 which was an overall underspend of £3.513m (£2.013m for Council Fund and £1.500m for the HRA).  A total rollover to 2016/17 of £1.500m was being requested and two pressures totalling £0.088m had been identified within the Transport & Streetscene portfolio which had been offset against additional savings identified in the Flintshire Connects budget.  The surplus from 2014/15 was £1.314m but due to in-year increases and decreases, the funding available for capital schemes was £2.986m as reported in table 6.

Councillor Richard Jones referred to the increase in Welsh Government Grant for Vibrant & Viable Places of £1.357m and queried whether this related to the Deeside cycle route.  The Chief Executive suggested that the funding was for a number of schemes for the designated area and he agreed that a list of the projects could be circulated to Members. 

In response to a comment from Councillor Robin Guest about requiring more details on the need for rollover in funding, the Finance Manager confirmed that additional information was included in appendix B.  She asked Councillor Guest to let her know if there were any details that he felt were not included.            

            RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2015/16 (Month 9) report be received;

(b)       That the Capital Programme Monitoring 2015/16 (Month 9) report be received; and

(b)       That the Committee confirms that it is not making any formal recommendations to Cabinet on this occasion.