Issue - meetings

Report of Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer and Senior Head of Corporate Development and Governance. 

Cabinet lead members:  Councillors Gill Mattock and Troy Tester.

(1) Performance against national and local performance indicators and actions from the 2010/15 corporate plan (2014 refresh) agreed.

(2) General fund, housing revenue account and collection fund financial performance for the quarter ended December 2014, as set out in sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of report agreed.

(3) Transfer to and from reserves as set out in appendix 3 to th report approved.

(4) Amended capital programme as set out in appendix 4 to report approved.

(5) Treasury management performance as set out in section 7 of report agreed.

53.1 Cabinet considered the report of the deputy chief executive and chief finance officer and senior head of corporate development and governance reviewing the council’s performance against corporate plan priority indicators and action targets; financial performance of general fund revenue expenditure, housing revenue account and capital programme; and treasury management activities for the third quarter of 2014/15.  Throughout the year, performance against these key indicators and milestones was reported to cabinet on a quarterly basis and to scrutiny committee members each month. 

53.2 Devolved budget scheme progress was highlighted; with a record 80 projects funded and a total spend to date of £81,537.  The projected general fund revenue outturn showed an underspend of £187,000.  This was within 1.1% of the net budget and was within an acceptable tolerance level.  The contingency allowance currently stood at £112,950; £40,000 of which had been earmarked for use leaving a balance of £72,950 for funding any future unforeseen one off areas of expenditure during the remainder of the year.  The projected outturn for the housing revenue account indicated a surplus of £104,000.  Actual expenditure on the capital programme, at 47% of the budget, was lower than expected as a number of schemes had been delayed.  The 2014/15 programme would be re-profiled to reflect start dates and planned works.

53.3 Other performance matters highlighted included:

·         Time taken to process housing and council tax benefit claims where migration to a new system had necessitated a close down period and resultant backlog of work.

·         Good collection fund and investment performance.

·         The impact of tenant refusals on the decent homes programme.

·         The increase in the number of fly-tipping reports being received as a result of the new report-it app.

52.4 Resolved (key decision): (1) That the performance against national and local performance indicators and actions from the 2010/15 corporate plan (2014 refresh) be agreed.

(2) That the general fund, housing revenue account and collection fund financial performance for the quarter ended December 2014, as set out in sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the report be agreed.

(3) That the transfer to and from reserves as set out in appendix 3 to the report be approved.

(4) That the amended capital programme as set out in appendix 4 to the report be approved.

(5) That the treasury management performance as set out in section 7 of the report be agreed.

Report of Chief Finance Officer and Head of Corporate Development.

Cabinet lead members:  Councillors Gill Mattock and Troy Tester.

(1) Performance,general fund,  housing revenue account and collection fund financial performance for quarter ended September 2014 agreed.

(2) Any nationally agreed pay award to be applied across all staff in the organisation in paragraph 3.4 of report.

(3) Virements and transfer to and from reserves in appendix 3 to report approved.

(4) Amended capital programme in appendix 4 to report agreed.

(5) Treasury management performance in section 7 of report agreed.

42.1 Cabinet considered the report of the chief finance officer and head of corporate development reviewing the council’s performance against corporate plan priority indicators and action targets; financial performance of general fund revenue expenditure, housing revenue account and capital programme; and treasury management activities for the first quarter of 2014/15. 

42.2 Appendix 1 gave detailed information on non-financial performance.  A number of services were highlighted including improved performance in dealing with missed refuse collections, increased visitor numbers at theatres, Bandstand and the Redoubt, low sickness absence levels, reduction in the vacancy rate of town centre business premises and improved housing benefit processing time and telephone abandonment rate.  Appreciation was also recorded for the efforts of the neighbourhood first team in dealing promptly with instances of fly-tipping and to staff handling homelessness cases  and the award of grant money to support provision of accommodation.

42.3 The general fund position to end of September showed a variance of £77,000 on net expenditure which was a movement of £60,000 compared to the position reported at the end of the first quarter in June.  Service expenditure had a variance of £113,000 mainly as a result of one-off backdated rental income (£35,000), development control legal and consultants’ fees (£40,000), Downland water supply new contract (£33,000) and Dotto Train (£65,000). An element of this service overspend would be off-set by the saving on the contingency fund.  The contingency allowance currently stood at £161,050 and as a consequence there would be no funding available for any future unforeseen one-off areas of expenditure during the remainder of the year.

42.4 A new 2-year pay award had been agreed by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC) and employee organisations based on a 2.2% increase from 1 January 2015 plus one off lump sum payments. However, staff outside NJC pay scales or who were above SCP 49 would not receive the pay award.  The cost of this pay award would be met within existing budgets.

42.4 Housing revenue account performance was currently above target due to a number of factors including underspending on council tax for void properties, new insurance contract and reduction in provision for bad debts required.  The detailed capital programme was shown at appendix 4.  Actual expenditure was low compared to the budget, due to delays in the start dates of housing major projects, sheltered accommodation remodelling projects and several general fund projects.  Expenditure was expected to increase as schemes progressed however the spending patterns would be reviewed at quarter 3 and re-profiled into the 2015/16 year where appropriate.

42.5 Council tax is collection rates were currently showing a £172,950 surplus, due to higher than budgeted number of chargeable properties and a reduction in the number of single person discounts awarded.  The business rates deficit of £1,314,414 was as a result of a bigger than anticipated provision made in 2013/14 for outstanding appeals, giving rise to a higher than budgeted for balance carried forward as at 1 April 2014. Currently there were 93 properties  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42

4.1 Cabinet considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive reviewing the council’s performance against corporate plan priority indicators and action targets; financial performance of general fund revenue expenditure, housing revenue account and capital programme; and treasury management activities for the third quarter of 2013/14.  (The financial aspects and associated appendices were circulated in a supplementary report on this occasion in view of the need to complete work to enable production of provisional end-year figures as at 31 March 2014.)  Throughout the year, performance against these key indicators and milestones was reported to Cabinet on a quarterly basis and to Scrutiny Committee members each month. 

4.2 Resolved (key decision): (1) That the performance against national and local performance indicators and actions from the 2010/15 corporate plan (2013 refresh) be agreed.

(2) That the provisional general fund outturn on services expenditure for 2013/14 of £14.593m, a net over spend of £25,000 against the revised budget, be agreed.

(3) That the transfers to and from reserves, as set out at appendix 3 to the report, be agreed.

(4) That the provisional balances on non-earmarked revenue reserves as at 31 March 2014 as shown in paragraph 3.1 of the report, be agreed.

(5) That the provisional housing revenue account surplus for 2013/14 (of £274,000) be agreed.

(6) That the final capital programme and outturn for 2013/14 of £16.2m, a variance of 3.7% against the final programme, be agreed.