Issue - meetings

Report of the Interim Section 151 Officer attached.

Decision made (Unanimously):

That:

1.    Cabinet notes the report.

2.    Cabinet approves a virement of the £150,000 turnover savings target budget to reflect staffing savings achieved in the first period to the end of July 2019.

3.    Cabinet approves the creation of a new budget of £75,000 for hosting a music event in the Borough in summer 2020, to be funded from the forecasted underspend in the 2019/20 revenue to cash flow the initial phase of the festival preparations.

In the absence of the Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Assets, the Leader of the Council presented a report of the Interim Section 151 Officer updating the Council’s overall financial position as at the end of July 2019. 

The report provided a forecast of the projected outturn to 31 March 2020 compared against the current approved budget and explaining the differences and impact.  The report included more detailed information as part of the Cabinet’s commitment to transparency. 

It was reported that the report had been considered by the new Scrutiny Budget and Performance Panel on Monday, 9 September 2019, which had welcomed the level of detail in the report and looked forward to monitoring the budgets on a quarterly basis going forward.

The overall revenue outturn forecast for 2019/2020 was a net budget saving of £681,000 which represents a variance of 4.7% of the total net budget requirement.  The report provided a breakdown of the forecasted variance which were attributed to savings in staff costs, increase in garden waste income, increase in the vehicle maintenance contract income and business rates compensatory grant funding.

The report included updates on the capital budget slippage from 2018/2019 and committee approval for schemes during the year to date to reflect the current available budget.  The current capital budgets have been reviewed to establish the forecast outturn expenditure and any re-phasing of schemes into future years.  The total capital budget forecast for 2019/20 is £14,939,000, with £1,986,000 potential slippage identified at this stage in the year.  It was reported that the Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Assets would be going through the capital programme to ensure it is managed in a smarter way and ensure it is deliverable.

The Leader expressed concern at the variance on staffing budgets and had asked the Interim Chief Executive to ensure that vacant posts are recruited to and that a review of resource requirements is carried out.  It was also acknowledged that extending shared services would also provide greater capacity and resilience. 

An additional recommendation would be proposed to allocate funding of £75,000 to organise a music festival for South Ribble to be funded from the forecasted underspend to cash flow the initial phase of the festival preparations.  A report would be brought forward to Cabinet in future months on the music festival for the Borough.

Decision made (Unanimously):

1.    Cabinet notes the report.

2.    Cabinet approves a virement of the £150,000 turnover savings target budget to reflect staffing savings achieved in the first period to the end of July 2019.

3.    Cabinet approves the creation of a new budget of £75,000 for hosting a music event in the Borough in summer 2020, to be funded from the forecasted underspend in the 2019/20 revenue to cash flow the initial phase of the festival preparations.

Reason(s) for decision:

Robust financial monitoring, including scrutiny and challenging information, is a crucial aspect of running a successful and effective organisation. 

Alternative options considered and rejected:

None applicable to this report.