Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources informing Members of the final Council position against agreed budgets, key savings targets and key performance indicators for the 2017/18 financial year.  It seeks for the final outturn position to be noted and approval for movement to and from earmarked revenue reserves.

RESOLVED that:

(1)  it be noted that:

                      i.        The savings achieved in year total £1.849m

                    ii.        The year-end position for the financial year 2017/18 is a decrease of the General Fund balance by £19k

                   iii.        The General Fund balance has decreased from £1.655m to £1.636m at the end of 2017/18.

                   iv.        That the level of earmarked reserves has reduced by £64k to £4.205m.

(2)  The transfers to and from earmarked reserves as detailed in the table in section 6 of this report be approved

Cabinet considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources that informed Members of the final Council position against agreed budgets, key savings targets and key performance indicators for the 2017/18 financial year. It sought for the final outturn position to be noted and approval for movement to and from earmarked revenue reserves.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economy summarised the principal features of the report and reminded Members that not having internal re-charging impacted some portfolios disproportionately.  He commented that the finance team had worked hard to achieve the improvement recognised by the recent Peer Review Challenge and that this journey would continue.

RESOLVED that:

(1)  it be noted that:

                      i.        The savings achieved in year total £1.849m

                    ii.        The year-end position for the financial year 2017/18 is a decrease of the General Fund balance by £19k

                   iii.        The General Fund balance has decreased from £1.655m to £1.636m at the end of 2017/18.

                   iv.        That the level of earmarked reserves has reduced by £64k to £4.205m.

(2)  The transfers to and from earmarked reserves as detailed in the table in section 6 of this report be approved

To receive the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources informing Members of the final Council position against agreed budgets for the 2017/18 financial year.

66.1    The Chair welcomed Councillor Norman, Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources, the Head of Policy and Resources and the Accountancy Manager.

66.2    Councillor Norman provided an overview of the Financial Outturn report for 2017/18. The Committee were informed that the figures show an in year improvement quarter on quarter, with an improvement of £300,000 from quarter one.

66.3    Councillor Norman advised that £1.8m of savings were achieved in 2017/18 and those savings that had not been achieved would be added to the current year’s target. He commended the Finance Team for their advice and guidance which has ensured the Council’s financial situation continues to improve.

66.4    Councillor Hilton noted that there had been a slight improvement in Outturn for the year. However it appeared this was mainly due to corporate funding received from Kings Walk. He asked whether without this money the Council financials would be in worse position.

66.5    Councillor Norman replied that the Council was not solely funded by corporate income and the Council use all revenue streams wisely.

66.6    The Accountancy Manager stated the £15 million from Kings Walk was not being used to replenish this year’s accounts and has resulted in £250,000 income from interest. This money meant that the Council was able to safely invest which is beneficial in the long term.

66.7    Councillor Wilson enquired whether all staff are charged in full to the service area they predominately work in. He noted a previous statement from Councillor Noakes who stated that staff were being charged to her portfolio when they only carry out a small amount of work for Culture and Leisure.

66.8    The Accountancy Manager replied that a section was included in the report that stated staff times are not split across areas, that some Officers will carry out work for other sectors within the Council and the Budget reflects this.

66.9    Councillor Wilson noted that the cost for providing the Housing Subsidy had resulted in an overspend of £252,000 in the last quarter. He queried whether this would mean there would be an overspend of excess of £1 million in the coming year. He also stated that all of the portfolios have seen an increase in bad debt.

66.10 The Head of Policy and Resources replied that the increase in Housing Subsidy had resulted from the change to Universal Credit and the 2018/19 Budget would reflect this change. It was only a small negative swing in the last quarter therefore it only differed slightly from the year-end target.

66.11 The Accountancy Manager stated that there had not been an increase in bad debt, simply some debt had aged without collection.

66.12 Councillor Pullen thanked Councillor Norman for his report and honesty. He questioned whether it was beneficial to keep rolling over the debt from previous years and if there was a better solution.

66.13 In reply Councillor Norman agreed with Councillor Pullen and stated that the Cabinet were planning to introduce long term portfolio budgets in the coming year to rectify  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66