Agenda item

(Item 4 – Report by Mr J Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance & Business Support and Mr A Wood, Corporate Director of Finance and Procurement).

            Cabinet received a report of the Member and officer named above.  Mr Simmonds introduced the report to Cabinet and in particular referred to the following details contained within it pertaining to the revenue Budget:

·        That the current underspend had increased since the report taken to cabinet in July to £3.297m

·        That this figure was expected to further increase to £4.568m following the implementation of management action within the ELS and BSP&HR portfolios.

·        That Specialist Children’s Services continued to face budgetary pressures owing to the continuing rise in demand for services.

·        That the Asylum budget was predicted to break-even following positive discussions with other Councils and UKBA.  However caution continued to be exercised until the outcome of arrangements in place for those young people who were considered to have ‘All Rights Exhausted’ were known.

·        That the Adult Social Care budget was forecast a £3.5m underspend and that this was largely a reflection of a fall in demand for direct payments and other services. 

·        That savings had been realised on debt charges as a result of the decision taken to use cash flow to enable no new borrowing to have occurred in the first quarter of 2012-13.

Mr Simmonds continued to describe the key points within the report pertaining, this time, to the Capital Budget as follows:

·        That the capital programme currently forecast a variance of   -£6.290m, but he reminded Cabinet members that this was set against a total budget of £621m that stretched over a three year period, 2012 – 2015.

·        This variance was partially attributable to delays in Planning and other functions; in particular he highlighted Drovers Roundabout and the Multi Agency Strategic Hubs.

Mr Simmonds brought to the attention of Cabinet the successful completion of three projects, delivered on time and within budget and providing excellent services and recreational benefits to the people of Kent, namely the Kent History and Library Centre, East Kent Access phase 2 and the A2 Cyclopark.

In drawing to a close Mr Simmonds referred Cabinet to further information of interest on reserves, staffing levels, debt maturities, levels of debt owed to Kent County Council and the settling of debts by KCC.  On this last point Mr Simmonds reported that the Council had struggled, on occasion, to meet its deadlines for payment and that this was under review.  Options being considered were centralisation of payment services and / or e-invoicing

Mr Simmonds urged cabinet to agree the recommendations contained within the report, which would enable technical actions to be completed such as virement of monies, which were needed following the conclusion of the directorate restructure in April 2012.

In conclusion he reiterated the positive nature of the messages contained within the report.

In response to a question from the Leader the Director of Finance and Procurement reported that in the two and a half months from the end of the quarter referenced in the report, trends had continued in the same manner, and that this was consistent with the prediction of an approximate underspend of £5m at year end.

The Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services, Ms Whittle, addressed cabinet in relation to the overspend reported within her Portfolio.   She offered assurances that work was being undertaken both in-house, and with partners and providers in order to reduce costs and achieve benefits for children in receipt of those services.

In addition she welcomed the news of the successful negotiation of costs for All Rights Exhausted children in the asylum system and reported that work would continue to ensure that these negotiations came to a practical fruition.  The Leader of the County Council, Mr Carter, reported that lobbying of Home office ministers continued to ascertain a firm commitment that KCC would not be liable for the cost of ARE young people who remained in the country after 13 weeks, but this was yet to materialise.

The Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste, Bryan Sweetland, echoed praise already received for the East Kent Phase 2 project and commended the strategy and implementation involved.  In light of this success, and the reshuffle at central government level that had seen 3 of 4 transport ministers changed, he argued that KCC’s bid to build the extension to the A21 be further pursued.  The Leader of the County Council, Mr Carter endorsed that view and hoped that government could be persuaded of the benefits of local procurement and local delivery.

RECORD OF DECISION