Issue - meetings

Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report 2018/19

Meeting: 05/02/2019 - Executive (Item 46)

46 Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 468 KB

(To receive a report from the Executive Director of Finance and Public Protection, which provides an update on spending compared with budgets for the financial year which started on 1 April 2018)

Additional documents:

Decision:

(1)  That the current position on the revenue and capital budgets be noted.

 

(2)  That Group Leaders be invited to consider how the monitoring of the capital programme could be improved, ready to commence in the financial year 2019/20.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report from the Executive Director of Finance and Public Protection which provided an update on spending compared with budgets for the financial year which began on 1 April 2018.

 

The Technical and Development Finance Manager advised that the tables in the report had shown the actual income and expenditure for the first eight months of the financial year, along with the projections for spending and a comparison of the projections against the approved budgets.

 

It was advised that the total council revenue spending was predicted to be £6.082m less than the total budget (excluding the projected under spending on schools budgets); general reserves at the year-end were forecast to be within the 2.5% to 3.5% range of the total budget based on current spending; and net capital spending was projected to be £3.332m less than the budget at the end of the financial year.

 

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) advised that OSMB had considered the Executive report at its meeting on 31 January 2019 and had supported the recommendations in the report.  The comments of OSMB were circulated at the meeting for consideration by the Executive.

 

The Chairman of the OSMB highlighted the reported underspend of £3.081m on IMT Strategy and Support.  Officers had highlighted at the meeting of OSMB that the underspend was owing to a delay in the work on the IMT Strategy but confirmed that an IMT Board had been to be established to consider the on-going revenue budget implications of capital investment in IT Services.  The Board would consider business cases for future budget requirements in this area in the future.

 

The Chairman of OSMB also highlighted that OSMB had endorsed a suggestion that the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee receives regular capital programme budget monitoring reports from June 2019.  Furthermore, it was suggested that OSMB could receive similar capital programme reports relating to IMT.  The Executive supported these suggestions for an increase in scrutiny activity in these areas and requested that Group Leaders be invited to consider how the monitoring of the capital programme could be improved, ready to commence in the financial year 2019/20.

 

The Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services referred to the projected overspend of £1.993m in 2018/19 for adult specialist services, owing to a number of high cost placements in both Learning Disabilities and Mental Health. The Executive was advised that the projected overspend stated in the report was from November 2018 and more recent figures had suggested that the overspend had reduced to approximately £1.3m and that this area of expenditure would be closely monitored.

 

Reference was made to the projected underspend of £0.510m in the waste management budget as a result of lower composting costs and reductions in recycling charges.  It was suggested that the budget for this area be reviewed and consideration given at the coming year end to establishing an earmarked reserve for waste funded by this underspend.  This reserve would be available to,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46


 

 
 
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