Agenda item

 (Mr A Wood, Head of Financial Management and Mr D Honey, Finance Manager CED were present for this item)

(1)              Mr Wood introduced the report and explained that this was the first time that the Financial Monitoring Report had been brought to the Policy Overview Committees.  Financial Monitoring reports would now be submitted to each Policy Overview Committee, broadly on a quarterly basis to give Members good base information to help them in their budget process considerations.  It was intended that the Policy Overview Committees would receive the latest quarterly monitoring report that had been received by the Cabinet.

(2)              Mr Wood stated that the Chief Executive’s Directorate Budget was a low risk Budget despite there being significant income attached to this Budget. Unlike the Budgets of Directorate such as Adult Social Services it was not subject to the vagaries of demand.  He highlighted the variations to the Budget within his report.

(3)              Members then were given the opportunity to ask questions or made comments on the quarterly monitoring report, which included the following issues:-

·               Regular quarterly monitoring reports to all the Policy Overview Committees were welcomed.

·               In response to a question on how confident we were that we would achieve a reasonable level of Capital Receipts and avoid the risk that the 5% top slice of those actually achieved would be insufficient to meet the capitalised revenue costs of property groups disposal activity Mr Wood stated that £14 million would be needed to meet this 5% cost. However, if they were below £14 million then there would be a need to look at how to fund the deficit in the current year.

·               Members were informed that at the auction in September some properties sold and some did not.  However, KCC had taken a realistic but cautious approach to property disposal.

·               It was confirmed that the receipts forecast was still on target.

·               Members were informed that the home computer initiative issue was a technical accounting issue and not a real funding problem.

·               Regarding outdoor advertisements the contract was about to be signed,  this would enable the use of our roundabouts and libraries etc for advertisements and it was a contract that Commercial Services were negotiating on behalf of the County Council.

·               In relation to computing it had been said at a staff conference in Ashford that only half of KCC staff had access to PCs in work time.  The Leader confirmed that work in progress to address this and a report on investment in technology would be submitted to the next meeting of this Policy Overview Committee before it was considered by the Cabinet.

·               An explanation was sought for the underspend in public health which was apparently due to a delayed start.  It was explained that in relation to Health Check there was a need to re-tender at the end of the first two year contract.  A delay in re-tendering had been caused by the need to evaluate the first scheme.  It was agreed that an explanation would be circulated to all Members of the Policy Overview Committee on how this delay in re-tendering had occurred.

·               It was confirmed that the underspend for public health would be spent, part of the issue was working in partnership with two Primary Care Trusts and the logistics of drawing resources together.  There were exciting activities planned for the next year and therefore it would be good to have money to roll forward.  Mr Gibbens undertook inform the Policy Overview Committee Members how the additional £150,000 rolled forward would be spent.

·               Although Policy Overview Committees would now be receiving their own quarterly monitoring reports for their specific POC Members felt that there was still a need for the Budget Issues IMG to meet on a more regular basis to look at the County Council’s budget as a whole.

(4)              RESOLVED that :-

(a)               the projected out-term figures for Chief Executive’s Directorate as at the first quarter and the comments made by Members be noted; and

(b)               a report would be submitted to the next meeting of the Policy Overview Committee on  ISG Technology Investment