Agenda item
Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring 2013/14 - July
Minutes:
– report of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement and Andy Wood, Corporate Director for Finance and Procurement)
Cabinetreceiveda reportproviding formembersthe budget positionfor July 2013-14 for boththerevenue and thecapital budget. Thereportalso includedanupdateon keyactivity.
TheDeputy Cabinet Member,Miss SusanCarey wasin attendanceto introducethe itemfor members. Sheexplained thatshe wasdeputising fortheDeputy Leaderon thisoccasionas hedeputisedfor MrCarter inthe Chairand reportedthefollowing in relation to the revenuebudget:
(i) Thatan underspendof£3.67millionwas currentlypredicted forthe end ofthe
2013-14financial yearbut was expectedto increaseto £4.475millionfollowing plannedmanagementactivityand roll forwards.
(ii)Thatsignificantfinancial pressures continuedin SpecialistChildren’sServices, ofwhich thecost ofsupportingunaccompaniedasylum seekingchildrenwho had exhaustedall rightsofappealremaineda significantone.
(iii)Changes tothe Hometo schooltransportpolicyhad shown a reductionin costs and itwas hopedthat thiswould continuehowever predictingneedfor thiskind ofserviceswasdifficult.
(iv)Thatsome of the NHSfundingrecently receivedin relationto socialcare supportwould beusedto supportthe budget whenit wouldbe under additionalwinter pressures.
(v)Measures takento stop commercialwaste beingprocessed byhousehold wasterecyclingcentreshad been successful andhad saved £2million
(vi)A numberofgrants and projectshad been rephasedto 2014-15.These includedany underspendon the socialfund, the healthreform budgetand the fundingor theKent YouthEmploymentprogramme.
(vii) Pressures hadbeen identifiedon the delegatedschoolbudgetsand thesewould need to be addressed.
(viii) That£5million ofadditionalfundinghad beenreceived fromcentral governmentsincethebudget wasset. It hadhelpedtomeet someone of costs thathad been incurred and wouldbe held centrallyfor the shortterm futureinorderto meetany shortfall insavingstarget. Shouldno shortfallarise the monieswill be transferredto the reservesto protectagainst future uncertainties.
(ix)Thata further £4millionofthe Icelandinvestmentshad been recovered,taking the total to£42million.It was expectedthat 100% ofthemonieswould eventually be recoveredand that some interestmight alsobe repaid.
(x)Thatofficershad workedhardto deliver savingsand that themonitoringreport showed that goodwork to be continuing.
MissCarey turnedto the CapitalBudgetand reported:
(i) Thata £21m underspendwas predictedbut only£4.4million relatedto real savingas opposed to rephasingofprojects.
(ii)Thata largeportionofthe Capitalbudgetrelatedto the provisionofschool places forchildren inthe Countyand excellentwork continuedto deliverextra classrooms beforeSeptember2013and workcontinuedtoward 2014.
MrsCarey reiteratedtheconclusionswithin thereport;thatthemonitoringnews was goodbutmembersandofficersshouldremaincautiousin orderthat savings be delivered.
It was resolved that:
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Cabinet Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring 2013/14 – July 14 October 2013 |
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1. |
That the latest monitoring position on both the revenue and capital budgets be noted |
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2. |
That the changes to the Capital Programme as detailed in the actions column in table 2 of the annex reports be noted or agreed as appropriate |
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REASON |
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1. |
In order that Cabinet can properly conduct its monitoring activities |
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2. |
In order that the programmes can continue despite continuing pressures |
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ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED |
To not agree the changes to the budget would not provide security and would risk project completion in some cases. |
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CONFLICTS OF INTEREST |
None |
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DISPENSATIONS GRANTED |
None |
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