The Committee had regard to two reports and attached Appendices and Annexes of the Interim Director of Resources that had been prepared for and considered by the Cabinet at its meeting held on 11 July 2013.

The reports detailed the Council’s capital and revenue positions for 2013-14 at Month 2 (May 2013) and the actions taken to minimise risk.

The Interim Director of Finance introduced both reports and referred to the projected revenue forecast for the year at Month 2 which showed a projected under spend General Fund position of £41,000.  He told the Committee that this was both pleasing and not surprising as budgetary issues had been addressed ensuring a robust budget at the beginning of the financial year.

The Interim Director drew the Committee’s attention to the Savings Tracker detailed at Annex 5 of his Revenue Monitoring report informing that performance had been good at month 2 and had been improved upon in month 3 and to Budgetary Issues identified at month 2 detailed in Annex 12 informing that the Strategic Directors had to find savings and report back in month 3 action now being taken to ensure that the potential overspends had been addressed.

A Member drew attention to the numerous references to slippage in Annex 5 due to the late departure of employees leaving their employment with the Council.  The Interim Director responded informing that the restructuring process had taken longer than anticipated.  He had included a £2m allowance for slippage which he considered to be adequate at the moment.  The extent of the slippage was £1.6m approximately.

The Member also made reference to Income and Debt at Annex 9 and raised the issue of Business Rates noting that 19.5% of National Non-Domestic Rates had been collected in the period 1 April to 31 May 2013 compared with 21.02% during the same period in 2012.  He asked if this was causing any concerns.  The Interim Director informed that this was not a concern at the moment but he would continue to monitor the situation and report back to Members at a future Committee meeting.

The Member then made reference to the Capital Monitoring Report and to the fact that Mary Bagley, Service Manager, Cultural Services – Parks and Countryside Support whose name was mentioned on a number of occasions within it was leaving her employment with the Council.  He asked who would now be responsible for monitoring her budgets.  The Head of Streetscene and Waste replied informing that this would now be his responsibility as he had been the Service Manager’s line manager.

A Member referred back to Annex 5 of the Revenue Monitoring Report and raised concerns regarding the £4k of slippage per month in respect of the Household Waste Collection because the increase in the range of charges for replacement wheelie bins had not yet been implemented due to resource problems within the CRM.  However, the Head of Streetscene and Waste reported that this issue had now been addressed.

A Member referred to Budgetary Issues identified at month 2 set out in Annex 12 of the Revenue Monitoring Report and queried how the Strategic Directors had made the savings required.  The Interim Director of Finance informed that this would be explained in Annex 12 of future reports to the Committee.

A Member queried why Capital in month 2 was so much less than in previous months.  The Interim Director of Finance reported that the report was realistic in terms of capital spend and that most capital spend occurred in the second half of the financial year.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet’s recommendations as set out in the two reports be noted.