Issue - meetings

Report by Executive Directors Dr Carlton Brand, Alistair Cunningham OBE and Terence Herbert.

Cllr Simon Jacobs, Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement, presented a report which presented the report which (i) advised on the Budget Monitoring, Performance & Risk Management position 2019/20 Quarter 2 (30 September 2019) for the financial year 2019/20 with suggested actions as appropriate; (ii) Provided information about the position of the 2019/20 revenue and capital budgets as at quarter 2 (30 September 2019), including highlighting any budget changes; and (iii) provided an update on the progress against the stated aims in the Council’s Business Plan including measures from the corporate performance framework as well as the latest version of the Council’s strategic risk register as at the end of September 2019.

Cllr Jacobs explained that (i) the report brings together, regular reports on Budget Monitoring and Performance & Risk Management, combining key information to give a complete picture of financial and non-financial performance; (ii) forecasts indicated a general fund variance of £2.678m, being 0.8% of the Council’s net budget, and Directors and Heads of Service were identifying compensating actions to bring this back into a balanced year end position; (iii) the Dedicated Schools Grant coming under increased pressure in Wiltshire as it is across the country, with a current forecast for a £5.9m overspend, although mitigation plans are in place to address the overspend.

In response to comments and questions from Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, about (i) the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG); (ii) underspends and whether these could have been forecast; and (iii) increasing the frequency of budget updates to Cabinet. Cllr Jacobs and the Leader of the Council reported on (i) comparisons with the previous years DSG overspend and how this could be addressed both locally and nationally; (ii) the variances with the Corporate budget relate to the receipt of several additional one off funding from government throughout the financial year; (iii) improvements to budget reporting was being planned.

The Cabinet noted that the Financial Planning Task Group, at its meeting held on 13 November 2019, considered the report and (i) suggested that a summary section indicating movement as compared to the previous year would be useful and (ii) noted that the overspend represented growth beyond the demand projections and that budget savings were being delivered.

Resolved:

1. To note:
   1. that the budget is forecast to breakeven by the end of the financial year with the General Fund Quarter 2 projected year end outturn being an overspend risk of £2.678 million, before management actions are made.
   2. the HRA Quarter 2 projected year end outturn is online.
   3. the 2019/20 capital programme as at quarter 2 (30 September 2019) has been revised to a budget of £158.696 million (including requested additions).
   4. outturns against the selected performance measures in relation to the Council’s Business Plan.
   5. the scoring and commentary on the Strategic Risk Register.

2. To approve the budget virements in the revenue budget and capital programme, per Appendices C, D & E.

3. To recommend Full Council to approve additions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 156