Agenda item

To receive a report providing the provisional revenue and capital budget outturn position for 2015-16, including a final update on key activity data.

Cabinet received a report providing the revenue and capital budget outturn position for 2015-16 and including a final update on key activity data.  The report also sought approval for various necessary re-phasing and roll forward of funds as set out within it and detailed below.

Ms Susan Carey, Deputy Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement introduced the item for members, first reporting that this was the sixteenth year in which a balanced budget had been delivered and thanking officers for the hard work that had been required to achieve it.  Ms Carey referred to work of particular note within each directorate, as detailed in the report, to manage pressures that had occurred during the year and which would, in some cases, continue in the future, such as support for unaccompanied asylum seeking children.  She continued, and referred to the following:

Revenue budget:

1. That after necessary rephasing and roll-forward of funds an underspend of approximately £3.6million had been achieved.  Of this approval was sought to allocate £1.1million to ‘Find and Fix’ pothole repairs and just under £2.5million to support future budgets.
2. Savings would continue to be expected with a further £81million to be found from the 2016-17 budget and therefore efforts must continue if a balanced budget were to be delivered in the next financial year.

Mr Peter Oakford, Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services spoke to the item.  He reported that in June the Home Office had invited KCC to attend two meetings on the matter.  The first to announce the dispersal programme, and the second, a meeting of all South East authorities, to discuss how the programme would move forward.  The meetings had been positive and there was there was an understanding of the challenges that Kent faced in this area but as yet the programme remained voluntary.  Nationally some Local Authorities had started to sign up to the programme but the details of what that sign up would mean and the proposed dispersal numbers were not yet known.    KCC already had 270 young people placed outside of Kent and it was hoped that the first step in any programme could be to see those authorities with which they were placed take full responsibility for them.  KCC had a further 163 young people ready to move in to new accommodation should other Local Authorities volunteer to take them. 

He reported that KCC continued to liaise with government regarding the programme and had sought assurances regarding a move to a mandatory programme of dispersal should numbers of arrivals rise to the levels of 2015, something which, as yet, had not occurred.

Mr Andrew Ireland, Corporate Director for Social Care, Health and Wellbeing identified two key issues for his Directorate.  Firstly, the introduction of a dispersal scheme, which he was confident would occur but as yet had no indication of timelines or of the voluntary or mandatory nature of any scheme and secondly, the fact, reported previously that a significant number of the young people in question were close to turning 18 and at that point the financial arrangements relating to their care would become more disadvantageous for the local authority. 

It was RESOLVED that: