Agenda item

(1)       The Committee received a report which updated them on the projected outturn figures for the Chief Executive’s Directorate as at the third quarter.

(2)       In relation to Capital Receipts and the £20 Anticipated in the Medium Term Financial Plan for the 2007/08 financial year, Mr Wood reported that as at the end of the previous week approximately £15m had been realised and it was hoped that the remaining £5m would come in before the end of the financial year.

(3)       Mr Gilroy undertook to share the final draft of the Kent Works review with this Committee.

(4)       Ms McMullan and Mr Wood questions from Members on the CED Budget Monitoring report. 

(5)       Issues covered by Members included the following:-

·                    In response to a question from Ms Harrison, Mr Wood confirmed that £3.3m from the Kent Property Enterprise Fund had been used as a one-off payment to support the 07/08 revenue budget.   Ms McMullan explained the process for using the £3.3m Capital Receipt from the Kent Fund to support the revenue budget.

·                    In relation to a question on the remaining amount of the target for Capital Receipts, Mr Wood stated that this was looked at each quarter along with corporate property and consideration was given as to when the spend was likely to happen. He emphasised that KCC always ensured that it was getting the best market price for the asset even if this meant that it was not realised within the target period. .

·                    In response to a question from Ms Dean, Ms Oliver confirmed that “What’s On in Kent” was hosted by Kent TV but there could be a Link from Kent.gov to this.

·                    In relation to a question from Mrs Dean on Capital Receipts for Building Schools for the Future Programme, Mr Wood stated that there was a total capital receipts target of £187m in the Medium Term Plan which needed to be delivered. Where a back-to-back receipt cannot be delivered until new provision was in place, prudential borrowing was built in to the revenue budget to reflect the need for short-term bridging finance.   A new group was being set up to look closely at how the £187m was being delivered.

·                    In relation to a question on the percentage allowed for disposal costs, Mr Wood confirmed that the figure that officers normally worked to was an average of 5% but it varied depending on the scheme and sometimes it was necessary to spend more on disposal to gain a higher receipt.

·                    In response to a question on the underspend on personnel and development in two key areas, Mr Gilroy confirmed that the contract for health checks was in place and the programme was due to be implemented before the end of Spring.

·                    In response to a question from Mr Hotson on how much the Council had made from interest earned on cash balances, Mr Wood confirmed that it was approximately £3.5m above the budget figure. Ms McMullan explained the work of her Treasury team and how they worked with a company called Butlers on a daily basis.  Butlers also reviewed KCC’s Treasury function on an annual basis.

·                    In response to a question from Mrs Dean on how the £3.5m gained from the financial markets had been dealt with in the budget process, Ms McMullan stated that the 08/09 budget fully reflected this higher level of interest income.  She confirmed that there was a total underspend of £7m.

·                    Mrs Dean asked whether at a future meeting the Committee could receive a list of land to be disposed of she acknowledge that this would need to be an exempt paper.

(6) RESOLVED that the projected outturn figures for the directorate as at the third quarter be noted.