Council and councillors

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 206/2015 from the Director for Resources was received.

The Portfolio Holder for Places (Development and Economy) and Resources, Mr T King, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to inform Cabinet and all Members of the full year forecast position as at Quarter 2 for 2015/16 and to alert them to issues that may impact on the Medium Term Financial Plan to enable them to maintain sound financial management of the Council’s operations.

During Consideration the following points were noted:

      i)        There was concern regarding the high level of movements in some budget areas in particular the Homecare budget;

     ii)        The overall picture was good as there was overspends in some areas and underspends in others;

    iii)        The information had been presented in a clear and concise way and members were encouraged to focus on the detail in order to understand the variations, as this would assist in informing the budget setting process in the future;

   iv)        The granularity of the information was very important and would help to understand where the activity is taking place so that next year budgets can be allocated in relation to the activity taking place within that area, this in turn should lessen the variants;

    v)        There was a small risk that reducing spending on highways could lead to increased expenditure in the future; and

   vi)        Separating the New Homes Bonus figures out on the Medium Term Financial Plan is a sensible approach in light of any possible changes in the Government settlement.

DECISIONS

1)    Cabinet NOTED the 2015/16 revenue and capital outturn position as at Quarter 2;

2)    Cabinet NOTED the proposed transfers from earmarked reserves as shown in the table at Appendix 1, para 1.44 (to be finalised and agreed in the 2015/16 outturn);

3)    Cabinet NOTED that there are a number of functions which are forecast to be £25k overspent (highlighted in Appendices 4 to 6) but these forecast over spends can currently be contained within overall Directorate budgets;

4)    Cabinet NOTED that there is one function (Homecare) which is forecast to be in excess of £100k over budget but this can be contained within the overall Directorate budget as set out in Appendix 7;

5)    Cabinet NOTED that the MTFP includes the Highways saving previously agreed by Cabinet and that work is ongoing to identify further savings and pressures for the future;

6)    Cabinet NOTED that some Care Act pressures built into the MTFP for 16/17 and beyond can be removed;

7)    Approve a £25k investment into school improvement from General Fund resources as set out in Appendix 3B;

8)    Cabinet APPROVED a sum of £75k for market supplements for social workers for inclusion in the MTFP for 2016/17 onwards as set out in Appendix 3B;

9)    Cabinet RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that £812k of the Oakham North contribution from Larkfleet is used to fund decisions already made as per para 2.12 – 2.15 of Appendix 1; and

10)Cabinet NOTED that the MTFP has been updated since Q1 to reflect various changes as set out in para 3.2 of Appendix 1.

Reason(s) for the Decision(s)

As the Council is required to make savings over the medium term, the Q2 continues to be positive with the Council under budget.

Report No. 191/2017 from the Director for Resources was received.

The Portfolio Holder, Mr Mathias, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to inform Cabinet and all Members of the full year forecast position as at Quarter 2 for 2017/18 and to alert them to issues that may impact on the Medium Term Financial Plan to enable them to maintain sound financial management of the Council’s operations.

DECISION

1.    Cabinet NOTED the 2017/18 revenue and capital outturn position as at Quarter 2 (Appendix A, section 1 and section 2, to Report No. 191/2017).

2.    Cabinet APPROVED the use of £80k from the Invest to Save reserve to fund Green Waste costs (as requested in Appendix A para 1.7.3 to Report No. 191/2017) to be repaid over a 3 year period and £20k from the Legal reserve (as requested in Appendix A para 1.7.4 to Report No. 191/2017).

3.    Cabinet NOTED the proposed transfers from earmarked reserves as shown in the table in Appendix A, para 1.7 to Report No, 191/2017 (to be finalised and agreed in the 2017/18 outturn).

4.    Cabinet APPROVED the removal of the £594k funding for OEP capital investment from the capital programme pending further proposals.

5.    Cabinet NOTED the changes to the Approved Capital Programme as outlined in Appendix A para 2.2.1 to Report No. 191/2017.

Reason for Decision

1.    The Quarter 2 position was broadly as expected.