Agenda item

Report of Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer.

Cabinet lead members:  Councillors Gill Mattock and Troy Tester.

(1) Proposed framework for reporting on performance of the 2016-20 corporate plan going forward agreed.

(2) Performance against national and local performance indicators and actions from the 2016-20 corporate plan for quarter 1 agreed.

(3) General fund, housing revenue account and collection fund financial performance for the quarter ended June 2016, as set out in sections 3, 4 and 7 of the report, agreed.

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

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

(6) Treasury management performance, as set out in section 7 of the report, agreed.

22.1 Councillors Freebody and Jenkins addressed the cabinet.  Councillor Freebody said he believed that some business ratepayers used the appeals process as a means delaying payment and he would be taking up the matter with the local member of parliament.  He also queried the sense of local authorities paying business rates.  Regarding progress on the Sovereign Harbour community centre development he pointed out that the ‘66%’ achievement figure quoted in the performance appendix could be seen as misleading as to date construction had not started.  He also highlighted worsened performance figures relating to calls answered within 30 seconds and the call abandonment rate.  The chairman indicated support for curbs on any abuse of the appeals system and that representations would be made as part of the government’s consultation on the future of business rates.  The need for an improved performance explanation for the Sovereign Harbour community centre project was acknowledged.

22.2 Councillor Jenkins spoke about funding for the Sovereign Harbour community centre and the impact of the re-siting of the centre due to contamination from a nearby landfill.  He asked if the additional costs incurred by the delay from the siting change could be recovered from the developers.  The chairman indicated that this matter would be the subject of investigation by the council’s lawyers. 

22.3 Cabinet considered the report of the chief executive and chief finance officer 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 2016/17.  Appendix 1 gave detailed information on non-financial performance.  Cabinet was advised that the quarter 2 figures for telephone call performance would show much improvement on those currently reported.  Reasons for the poor quarter 1 figures included the impact of elections in May, the June referendum and council tax billing.  An action plan had been put in place to improve performance alongside a recruitment drive to fill staff vacancies in the customer contact centre team.

22.4 General fund performance at the end of June showed a small variance of £14,000 on service expenditure which related to several areas of minor under and over spends which were being carefully monitored. 

22.5 The contingency fund currently stood at £147,350 which was available to fund inflationary increases and any future unforeseen one-off areas of expenditure during the year.  This might be required to fund any underachievement in the joint transformation programme savings target for the year if financial benefits from the programme were delayed.

22.6 Financial procedure rules required all virement requests over £10,000 for revenue expenditure to be approved by cabinet.  As part of the 2015/16 final accounts audit, members’ approval was sought to confirm the transfer from reserves as set out in appendix 3. These transfers were in addition to those approved by cabinet on 25 May and 13 July and were in line with the approved financial strategy.

22.7 Housing revenue account performance was currently above target by £108,000; mainly as a result of the slow take up of the under occupation scheme (£10,000), the lower provision for bad debts required (£37,000) and rental income being higher than profiled (£83,000).

22.8 The detailed capital programme was shown in appendix 4.  Actual expenditure was low compared to the budget.  There were no significant variances identified and expenditure was in line with traditional patterns of spend as at quarter one.  Expenditure was expected to increase as schemes progressed throughout the year.

22.9 Council tax collection was currently showing a £954,000 surplus; a variance of 1.63% of the total debit due for the year.  Business rates was currently showing a deficit of £367,000.  The deficit represented 1.05% of the total debit for the year.  The total number of properties with appeals outstanding as at 30 June 2016 was 260 with a total rateable value of £23,098,000.  The uncertainty of the potential value of successful appeals remained a major risk to the collection fund.

22.10 Treasury management performance was on target and all activities were within the approved treasury and prudential limits. 

Resolved (key decision): (1) That the proposed framework for reporting on performance of the 2016-20 corporate plan going forward be agreed.

(2) That performance against national and local performance indicators and actions from the 2016-20 corporate plan for quarter 1 be agreed.

(3) That the general fund, housing revenue account and collection fund financial performance for the quarter ended June 2016, as set out in sections 3, 4 and 7 of the report, be agreed.

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

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

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