A report by the Director of Finance provided details of the departmental revenue budgets following the setting of the 2011/12 Budget.

Councillor S Foulkes again made reference to Financial Out - Turn 2010/11 Report and the £5.3m overspend (Minute No. 26 above refers).  He understood that this would have effects on front line services and that services may not be provided in the same way in future.  Consequently, the Cabinet would work to mitigate the circumstances it found itself in and intended to be open and honest with the public.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)  the revised departmental budgets which take account of the decisions of the Council at its meeting held on 1 March 2011 be agreed;

(2)  Chief Officers along with the Director of Finance be requested to monitor their budgets and report to Cabinet, as part of the quarterly Performance Report;

(3)  the monthly Financial Monitoring Statement be sent to all Members;

(4)  Cabinet notes the very late delivery of the Departmental Budgets, which in the past have formed part of the Budget Blue Book in February;

(5)  Cabinet recognises that substantial changes have been made to Departmental Budgets in order to achieve the very high level of savings required in 2011/12;

(6)  Cabinet also notes that, in order to set a legal budget, all Chief Officers have agreed that the savings in their departments are deliverable;

(7)  in the light of the overspends reported elsewhere on the agenda (Minute No. 26 above refers), the Cabinet, therefore, takes this opportunity to remind Chief Officers that they have a Constitutional responsibility, as outlined in the report:

  “to ensure that spending remains within the services overall cash limit and that individual budget heads are not overspent, by monitoring the budget and taking appropriate corrective action where significant variations from the approved budget are forecast.”