Decision details

Reason for the decision

Given the Council’s financial position, Cabinet now receives a monthly monitoring report setting out the latest forecast and actions being taken to balance the budget by the end of the financial year.  Adjustments to the capital budgets require approval from Cabinet.

Background – Provide brief additional context

The report on the Council’s financial position as at the end of December 2023 will be reported to Cabinet on 21 March 2024 which shows a forecast overspend of £30.0m before management action.  The forecast overspend presents a significant risk to the Council’s financial sustainability.  The report identifies management action to help reduce the budget gap for 2024-25 and the MTFP.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

The finance monitoring report could continue to be provided quarterly but it is critical that the financial position is considered more regularly to ensure the decisions needing Cabinet approval to balance the budget can be taken as quickly as possible.

How the proposed decision supports the Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy 2022-2026

Framing Kent’s Future (FKF), the KCC Strategic Statement, was approved at County Council in May 2022 and sets out the council’s ambition and strategic priorities until 2026. FKF acknowledged the significant financial and demand pressures the council would be facing over the coming four years, whilst concurrently delivering an ambitious agenda for Kent residents, businesses, and local communities. The Securing Kent's Future plans and this related Finance Monitoring report 2023-24 reflects the need to confirm a re-prioritisation of Council business within the framework of Framing Kent's Future - further details are set out within the “Securing Kent's Future” Cabinet report.

How the proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s Future

Securing Kent’s Future (SKF) acknowledges that given the significance of adults and children’s social care within the council’s budget, and that spending growth pressures on the council’s budget overwhelming (but not exclusively) come from social care, that the priority of delivering New Models of Care and Support must take precedence over the other priorities in Framing Kent’s Future.  This creates an expectation that council services across all directorates must collectively prioritise delivering the new models of care and support objective as a collective enterprise.

The Finance Monitoring report for 2023-24 provides the detail of the latest financial position and the relevant information on the progress being made in terms of the savings and management actions to reduce the budget gap for 2024-25 and the MTFP.

The Cabinet agree to:

a)    note the capital and revenue budget position; and

b)    approve required budget adjustments (Capital budget adjustments as per Section 14)