Decision details

Quarter 1 Budget Monitoring Report - Revenue

Decision Maker: Cabinet

Decision status: For Determination

Is Key decision?: No

Is subject to call in?: Yes

Decisions:

JanetteWilliamson UPDATED - To be used in minutes

Councillor Janette Williamson, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources said:

 

The Council set a balanced, sustainable and fair budget in March 2018, despite significant government cuts and increasing demand for costly, specialist children’s social care services. No additional funding from government has been forthcoming to support this national crisis. Setting the budget for 2018/19 under such difficult circumstances was tough but we continued to protect those services most important to our most vulnerable and target our resources to the areas that matters most to our communities.

 

Already during Quarter 1 we are feeling the extent of our reduced funding with pressures already mounting in some areas as demand continues to rise. We have a robust programme of recovery with intervention and demand management taking shape to ensure we can mitigate pressures in year.

 

At the end of Quarter 1 we are forecasting an overspend of 0.2% of the net budget. This is early and while cautious it is prudent to ensure we forecast a realistic representation, I am confident that the plans and restrictions we have in place will once again enable us to deliver a balanced budget for the coming year.”

 

Councillor Janette Williamson introduced a report that set out the projected revenue position for 2018/19 as at the end of Quarter 1 (30 June 2018).

 

Councillor Williamson informed that the forecast outturn position as at the end of Quarter 1 was a potential overspend of £0.617m. It was anticipated that mitigating savings could be identified to offset the potential overspend, however, as these were yet to be formalised, it was prudent to report an overspend position.

 

The Cabinet noted that since the 2018/19 budget was agreed in March 2018, several areas of significant pressure had been identified across the Council as a result of increasing demand and there was a robust mitigation programme in place to ensure these pressures did not materialise.

The report provided an update on the achievement of savings proposals for 2018/19, some of which were currently not being realised.  However, areas to offset these via other means were being explored so that the total savings target could be met by the end of the year.

 

In addition to formal Quarterly reporting to the Cabinet, the budget position was reported monthly at Directorate Management Team meetings and to the Strategic Leadership Team. This approach ensured any early warning highlighting pressures could be collectively resolved.

 

The Cabinet noted that the outcome of the quarterly monitoring and any medium to long term effects were being fed into the Medium Term Finance Strategy to ensure the impact could be assessed against the council’s future financial sustainability.

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This was a key decision which affected all Wards within the Borough.

 

The report had been provided for monitoring purposes but Members noted that any options to improve revenue budget monitoring and accuracy would be considered.

 

Councillor Williamson outlined the Council’s financial performance and thanked all of the Finance Officers, who had worked around the clock, for their hard work to achieve the Council’s present financial position.

 

Councillor Phil Davies also thanked the staff for their efforts, informed that it was important to closely monitor the revenue budget and reminded Members of the pressures that were continuing to be experienced in social care.  He was disappointed that the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government had not made an announcement, at the Local Government Conference, about extra funding for social care.  This was a challenging time for local authorities, he had been shocked to hear from other councils about their budget pressures and lack of reserves and was firmly of the view that the local government funding system was in crisis.  Councillor Davies proposed that a letter be sent to the Secretary of State asking him to provide a steer on what the Government was doing about it.

 

Councillor Bernie Mooney informed that councils, all over the country, were struggling financially.  The effect of the Government’s austerity measures was that more and more people were being forced into hardship and deprivation and this was putting more pressure on local authorities.

 

Councillor Mooney thanked Councillor Williamson and her team for the extra funding they had found for Children’s Services.  Real progress was now being made within the Service.  She also thanked Cabinet Members for their help and for doing their very best.

 

RESOLVED: That:

 

(1)  the Quarter 1 forecast to the year-end of a £0.617m overspend which incorporates a number of adverse variances across the range of portfolios, be noted;

 

(2)  it be noted that Officers continue to identify actions and take measures to effectively manage the overall budget and reduce the impact of any adverse projected pressures that may result in overspends; and

 

(3)  a letter be sent to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government,The Rt Hon JamesBrokenshire MP, asking as a matter of urgency, that the Government give consideration to providing funding for social care and copies be sent to the four Wirral MPs.

Publication date: 09/08/2018

Date of decision: 16/07/2018

Decided at meeting: 16/07/2018 - Cabinet

Effective from: 17/08/2018

Accompanying Documents: