Agenda item

(Report by Mr Nick Chard, Cabinet Member for Finance and Lynda McMullan, Director of Finance)

(1)     The report detailed the provisional revenue and capital budget outturn for 2006 - 07 and detailed where revenue projects had been re-scheduled and/or were committed and where there was under or over spending.  Also set out in Appendix 1 of the report were details of the re-phasing of projects funded from Performance Reward Grant.  Appendix 2 of the report detailed the final monitoring of key activity indicators for 2006 - 07.The report also provided the year-end prudential indicators and detailed the impact on reserves. 

(2)     Mr Chard said that for the seventh consecutive year the Council had been able to demonstrate sound financial management by containing its revenue expenditure within the budgeted level and he placed on record his thanks to his fellow Members, and also to Officers, for the part they had played in that achievement.  Mr Chard said that the budget for 2007-08 would be challenging and that budget planning had been made more difficult now that CSR ’07 had been delayed until the Autumn.  Mr Chard then said that the £7.740m underspend on the current budget would be transferred to the rolling budget reserve, pending a decision by Cabinet at its meeting in July as to its use.  It was intended that, consistent with previous practice, Directorates would roll forward both their underspends and their overspends into 2007-08.  Mr Chard also said that the 2007-08 Capital Programme would be revised to reflect the re-phasing and other variations of the 2006-07 Capital Programme.  The details of the changes that would need to be made would be included in the first quarters’ monitoring report of the 2007-08 budget to be reported to Cabinet at its meeting on 17 September 2007.

(3)     During discussion Mr Gilroy said that KCC was leading on co-ordinating some work on behalf of other “floor” authorities likely to be most affected by CSR ’07 and would be submitting a paper to the Local Government Association on this.

In addition it was likely that the Government grant regarding community safety budgets would be reduced, and that was likely to have significant implications as to the ability of local authorities to meet performance targets, and there was also likely implications for staff.  This was a matter which the County Council would be taking up directly with the Government. 

(4)     Cabinet then agreed to:-

          (a)       note the provisional outturn position for 2006 – 07;

          (b)       the transfer of the 2006 - 07 revenue budget underspending to the rolling budget reserve, pending a decision by Cabinet at its meeting in July as to its use;

          (c)        note the re-phasing of projects funded from Performance Reward Grant as summarised in Appendix 1 of the Cabinet report;

          (d)       note the final monitoring of the key activity indicators for 2006 - 07 as detailed in Appendix 2 to the Cabinet report;

          (e)       note the final monitoring of the prudential indicators for 2006 - 07 as detailed in Appendix 3 to the Cabinet report;

          (f)         note the impact of the 2006 - 07 provisional revenue budget outturn on reserves as detailed in Section 3.5 of the Cabinet report; and

          (g)       note that the 2007 - 08 Capital Programme would be adjusted to reflect the re-phasing and other variances of the 2006 - 07 Capital Programme.