Issue - meetings

Cllr John Brady, Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Risk presented a report which advised Cabinet of the revenue budget monitoring position as at the end of Period 3 (June 2012) for the financial year 2012/2013. The report also highlighted significant new cost pressures or changes since the budget setting report on 15 February 2012.

It was noted that officers had continued to monitor budgets with a focus on those budgets assessed to be subject to a higher risk of volatility due to factors such as changes in demand or assumptions. This had identified the areas where costs had risen quicker than forecast.

Budget monitoring was an ongoing process and budgets and expenditure were reviewed between budget managers and accountancy regularly, on a risk based approach.

The report presented included a detailed summary of the forecast variances set out by service areas. It was however, noted that budgets were profiled to reflect actual spend within the year.This leads to some variances between the current profiled budget and actual and committed to date. This was due to timing differences and work would continue to refine budget profiling within the year.

Resolved:

That Cabinet note the outcome of the Period 3 (June) budget monitoring.

Reason for Decision:

To inform effective decision making and ensure a sound financial control environment.