Agenda item

Report of Chief Finance Officer and Head of Corporate Development.

Members considered the report of the Chief Finance Officer and Head of Corporate Development updating Members on the Council’s performance against Corporate Plan Priority actions, indicators and milestones for Quarter 1 2014/15.

As part of the 2014 refresh the Council had removed a number of Performance indicators (PI) which were either not directly related to Eastbourne Borough Council activity, were no longer related to the Council’s priority activities or were measured in a different way.

The removed PIs included:

·         JSA Claimant Count

·         Towner Visitors

·         Online accommodation referrals made

·         Number of incidents of homelessness prevented and relieved

·         Number of homeless applications

·         Number of homes where category 1 hazards have been remedied

·         Number of young people engaged in positive activities

·         Number of people engaged in the Youth Forum

·         Number of buildings tackled with success

A new PI had been added to measure environmental crime:

·         Reduction in the number of reported fly-tipping incidents

Appendix 1 to the report provided a detailed report on the 2014/15 activities and outturns of the performance indicators listed within the Corporate Plan.  The first section of Appendix 1 listed all the Corporate Plan priority actions whose in-year milestones had already been fully completed this year.  The second section of Appendix 1 listed the ongoing actions showing all milestones that were scheduled for completion within the first quarter of the 2014/5.

Of the 27 Key Performance Indicators reported in the Corporate Plan this quarter, 7 were currently showing as “Red,” 13 were showing as “Green,” 5 are showing as “Amber” and 2 were “data only” or contextual PIs.  The off target PIs were:

·         DE_011 - Reduction in the number of reported fly-tipping incidents

·         CD_008 - Decent Homes programme

·         CD_056 - Average number of days for assistance with adaptations

·         CD_156-  Number of households living in temporary accommodation

·         ECSP_002 - Shoplifting rate compared to 2013/14

·         ECSP_004 - Violent crime in a public place

·         ECSP_016 – Serious Acquisitive Crime (robbery, car crime and burglary dwelling) rate compared to 2013/14.

Members queried the removal of PI’s as reported, particularly the JSA Claimant Count, and Towner Visitors and were advised that there were either no priority projects relating to those PI’s in the Council’s emerging refreshed Corporate Plan,  or that they could not be directly influenced by the Council.  However, the removed PI’s would still be monitored by the relevant Council departments. 

The addition of the new PI relating to fly-tipping was intended to reduce duplication in reporting incidents and the actual number of incidents, with Neighbourhood Teams playing a more active role in re-educating the residents of Eastbourne as a preventative  measure.

Members noted the position of the General Fund as of the end of the June showed a small variance of £17,000. This related to several areas of minor under and over spends which were being carefully monitored. These included:

·         Additional grant income (£40k)

·         Dotto Train income not met £65k

The committee were advised that there were a number of risks around the Revenues and Benefits area, which included staff resources, additional work with the implementation of the new Revenues and Benefits computer system and the introduction of universal credit. Recovery work had been put on hold over the last month whilst data was migrated to the new system, which may have implications for collection rates in the short term. This was being monitored and any variances would be reported in the Quarter two monitoring report. 

The contingency fund currently stood at £170,000, of which £5,000 was currently committed, leaving a balance of £165,000, available to fund inflationary increases and any future unforeseen one off areas of expenditure during the year.

HRA performance was currently above target by £10k this was as a result of a number small variances which were carefully being monitored.

The detailed capital programme was shown at Appendix 3 to the report. Actual expenditure was low compared to the budget. There were no significant variances and expenditure was in line with traditions patterns of spend as at quarter one. Expenditure was expected to increase as schemes progress throughout the year. 

The projected Collection fund for the year was highlighted within the report.

Council Tax was currently showing a £10,000 surplus a variance of 0.02% of the total debit due for the year.  The Business Rates deficit of £534,000 was as a result of a bigger than anticipated provision made in 13/14 for outstanding appeals, giving rise to a higher than budgeted for balance carried forward as at 1 April 2014. There were 106 properties with appeals outstanding with a total rateable value £18m. The valuation office was expecting to settle all these claims within the next 12 months. The uncertainty of the potential value of successful appeals was a major risk to the Collection Fund at this time. The deficit represents 1.57% of the total debit for the year.