Issue - meetings

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Resources, which provides an update on capital spending compared with budgets for the financial year which started on 1 April 2019)

That the current position on the capital budget be noted.

Consideration was given to a report from the Executive Director – Resources, which updated on capital spending compared with budgets for the financial year which started on 1 April 2019.

The Assistant Director – Strategic Finance presented the report to the Executive and in doing so highlighted that the tables in the report detailed the actual expenditure and any grants and contributions for the first five months of the financial year to 31 August 2019, along with the projections for spending and a comparison of the projections against the approved budgets. 

It was advised that the net capital spending was projected to be £47.824m less than the budget at the end of the financial year; and gross capital spending was projected to be £56.625m less than the budget at the end of the financial year.

The report had shown that there was likely to be significant slippage in the 2019/20 Capital Programme.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board advised that the Board had considered the report at its meeting on 26 September 2019 and had agreed to note the current position of the capital budget. The comments of the Board were circulated prior to the meeting. 

It was highlighted that the Board had questioned the slippage in the 2019/20 Capital Programme and highlighted the need to ensure effective budget profiling across the life of schemes/projects. 

The Board had recommended the need for a defined programme of work for the IMT capital projects in order to ensure the required outcomes were delivered. Officers confirmed that additional assurance on the IMT capital projects would be included as part of the January 2020 capital budget monitoring report.

During the discussion, the following points were noted: -

·         Officers confirmed that the capital programme comprised schemes which often span a number of financial years and could be challenging to profile over multiple years.  However, officers would continue to improve the way in which schemes were profiled, with an aim of factoring in any potential delays.

·         It was highlighted that the capital budgets for IMT were towards the middle to late stages of the project and that the underspend, as detailed in the report, was expected to reduce as the project progressed.  Officers confirmed that a better awareness of IMT requirements had been achieved and would be reflected in future budget setting. 

·         The Holbeach Food Enterprise Zone was discussed and it was advised that there were issues with the power supply to the site.  Officers at the County Council were liaising with Western Power to try and address the issue.  Furthermore, it was highlighted that there was a similar issue at Teal Park, Lincoln.  It was suggested that the issue of power supply could be an area of consideration by the relevant scrutiny committee. 

RESOLVED

That the current position on the capital budget be noted.