A report by the Interim Director of Finance informed that under Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003, the Council’s Chief Financial Officer (Director of Resources) was required to report on the robustness of the estimates made for the purposes of the Council’s budget calculations and the adequacy of the adequacy of the General Fund balances and reserves. 

The Cabinet noted that Budget estimates were exactly that, being estimates of spend and income made at a point in time. The Statement about the robustness of estimates could not give a guaranteed assurance about the Budget, but gave reasonable assurances that the budget had been based on the best available information and assumptions.

In order to meet the requirement on robustness a number of key processes had been put into place, including:

·  the issuing of clear guidance on preparing budget growth and savings options for the three year period 2013/16;

·  peer review by finance staff involved in preparing the standstill [base] budget i.e. the existing budget plus inflation;

·  the use of budget monitoring, and the bad budget review, in 2012/13 in order to re-align budgets with current demand, for 2013/14 and future years;

·  a review by the Management Team, supported by a series of officer challenge sessions, of proposed savings and their achievability;

·  a Member review and challenge of each proposal through the Overview and Scrutiny Committees and the Cabinet;

·  the Chief Financial Officer providing advice throughout the process on robustness, including inflationary factors, avoiding unallocated savings and reflecting current demand and service standards (unless standards and eligibility are to be changed through a change in policy); and

·  extensive consultation with the public and various groups including the business community and voluntary sector.

Notwithstanding these arrangements, which were designed to test the Budget throughout its various stages of development, considerable reliance had been placed on Managers having proper arrangements in place to identify issues, project demand for services, and consider value for money and efficiency.

A key part of improving these processes was to develop data and information to monitor service volume and unit costs and track changes in both. This would also assist in the Council’s Medium Term Strategy Planning.

RESOLVED:

That the statement of the Chief Financial Officer be noted.