Agenda item

(a)       That having considered the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2023/24 (month 6) report, the Committee confirms that there are no specific matters to be raised with Cabinet; and

(b)       That having considered the Capital Programme Monitoring 2023/24 (month 6) report, the Committee confirms that there are no specific matters to be raised with Cabinet.

The Strategic Finance Managers (Corporate Finance) presented the 2023/24 month 6 position for the revenue budget monitoring for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the Capital Programme, prior to consideration by Cabinet.

Revenue Budget Monitoring

On the Council Fund, the projected year-end position was an operating deficit of £3.559m (excluding the impact of the pay award to be met from reserves), leaving a year-end contingency reserve balance of £3.776m after taking account of the estimated impact of pay awards together with balances released to reserves at month 5.  A summary was given of significant variances across portfolios during the period and attention was drawn to Appendix 2 which included an additional column identifying savings from the moratorium on non-contractually committed spend.  The tracking of in-year risks included the latest position on the waste recycling infraction charge where a report was due to be considered by Cabinet.  It was projected that 99% of planned in-year efficiencies were expected to be achieved in 2023/24.

On unearmarked reserves, officers would ensure that future reports revert back to using the name Covid Emergency Fund for consistency, as requested.

On the HRA, projected in-year expenditure of £0.069m lower than budget would leave a closing un-earmarked balance of £3.266m, which was above the recommended guidelines on spend.

Whilst acknowledging fluctuations in service demand, Councillor Bernie Attridge felt that more accurate projections could have been made in some areas.  He sought further information from Social Services on the £0.307m overspend in the Physically Disabled and Sensory Impaired budget, the increased demand for Family Group meetings and the £0.821m variance for professional support (Children’s Services) including the overspend in the Leaving Care budget which he felt should have been forecasted.

The Corporate Finance Manager would refer the queries to Social Services for a response.  On other questions, he spoke about the five new out of county placements and the process for considering those arrangements.  On the temporary change of use of earmarked reserve to fund work within the Carelink Service, he said that cross-subsidy arrangements permitted this overspend to be met from the Council Fund without the need to impact on reserves.

In response to comments on increased legal costs, the Chief Officer (Governance) provided explanation on the approach to managing ongoing vacant posts including use of a specialist locum in Children’s Services to deal with the increase in child protection orders.  He said that increases in demand could not be predicted due to the nature of the services and that costs for more complex cases referred to external Barristers were within the budget for Social Services.

In highlighting the safety of children as a priority for the Council, Councillor Christine Jones referred to the challenges in predicting service demand and recruiting qualified social workers.

Councillor Bill Crease welcomed the work undertaken by Social Services to protect children.  In response to comments on more accurate forecasting, the Corporate Finance Manager spoke about the difficulty in some services and assured Members that there was detailed monitoring of the budget with contingency allocations set aside.

On the temporary change of use for earmarked reserves, Councillor Alasdair Ibbotson sought clarity on the original intended use for the Welfare Reform reserve and whether it had been used for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP).  He also asked if any other Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) earmarked funding was included in that reserve and if this was not the case, where those grants were allocated within the budget, together with details of any restrictions on the use of those reserves.

The Corporate Finance Manager explained that the Welfare Reform reserve was not required at this time and would be fully replenished for 2024/25.  He agreed to liaise with colleagues for a more detailed response to the queries.  On interest rate projections for the 2024/25 budget, he referred to ongoing modelling work to maximise contributions to the budget based on treasury management advice and forecasting.

Councillor Sam Swash queried the significant overspend in Streetscene & Transportation given the recent report on unadopted roads which stated that work undertaken in-year had been financed from existing revenue budgets.  It was explained that risk assessments were part of routine daily operations and that a response would be sought from the Chief Officer on the proportion of the overspend set aside for work on unadopted roads.  On costs relating to Storm Babet, a response would be sought from the Revenues Manager on budgeting for Council Tax exemptions given the frequency of severe weather events.

As requested by the Chair, the Strategic Finance Manager provided clarification on projected costs relating to Storm Babet which fell above the threshold for the Emergency Financial Assistance Scheme.  A separate response would be shared to clarify the ‘one off windfall’ NDR credit referenced in paragraph 1.07 and the revenue impact of additional Welsh Government grants to support Inclusion and Progression services.

At this stage, there was a brief adjournment prior to considering the remaining items.

Capital Programme

The revised programme for 2023/24 was £94.662m taking into account all carry forward sums and savings transferred back to the programme.  Changes during the period were mainly due to the introduction of grant funding streams and budget re-profiling.  The projected outturn position totalled £93.449m leaving a £1.213m underspend recommended to be carried forward for the completion of schemes in 2024/25 as detailed.  The report detailed one additional allocation which could be funded from within the current ‘headroom’ provision and no savings had been identified during the period.  The overall funding position of approved schemes indicated a surplus of £1.996m prior to the realisation of additional capital receipts and/or other funding sources.

During discussion on Table 6, the Chief Executive explained that the figures represented investment in areas during the reporting period, including any major projects.  Whilst more detail was contained in Appendix C, it was agreed that the table in future reports would be expanded to include investment over the past five years to give a broader view.

On that basis, the recommendations were moved and seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge and the Chair.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That having considered the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2023/24 (month 6) report, the Committee confirms that there are no specific matters to be raised with Cabinet; and

(b)       That having considered the Capital Programme Monitoring 2023/24 (month 6) report, the Committee confirms that there are no specific matters to be raised with Cabinet.