Families, Children & Learning (FCL)
Revenue Budget Summary
|
Forecast |
|
2024/25 |
Forecast |
Forecast |
Forecast |
2024/25 |
Net |
Net |
|
Variance |
|
Budget |
Outturn |
Variance |
Variance |
Savings |
Savings |
Savings |
|
Month 2 |
|
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Proposed |
Achieved |
At Risk |
|
£'000 |
Service |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
% |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
|
0 |
Director of Families, Children & Learning |
191 |
191 |
0 |
0.0% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1,080 |
Health, SEN & Disability Services |
9,845 |
10,754 |
909 |
9.2% |
982 |
573 |
409 |
|
441 |
Education & Skills |
12,827 |
13,250 |
423 |
3.3% |
1,665 |
1,665 |
0 |
|
(1,145) |
Children's Safeguarding & Care |
41,564 |
40,070 |
(1,494) |
-3.6% |
2,241 |
2,241 |
0 |
|
0 |
Quality Assurance & Performance |
1,720 |
1,666 |
(54) |
-3.1% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
64 |
Libraries & Information Services |
3,633 |
3,632 |
(1) |
0.0% |
132 |
132 |
0 |
|
440 |
Total Families, Children & Learning |
69,780 |
69,563 |
(217) |
-0.3% |
5,020 |
4,611 |
409 |
|
0 |
Further Financial Recovery Measures (see below) |
- |
(313) |
(313) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
440 |
Residual Risk After Financial Recovery Measures |
69,780 |
69,250 |
(530) |
-0.8% |
5,020 |
4,611 |
409 |
Explanation of Key Variances (Note: FTE/WTE = Full/Whole Time Equivalent)
|
Key |
|
|
|
|
Variances |
|
|
|
|
£'000 |
Service Area |
Variance or Financial Recovery Measure Description |
|
|
Further Directorate Financial Recovery Measures |
|||
|
(263) |
In-house Childrens Disability Services |
Anticipated additional health income for young person aged over 18 in accommodation at Drove Road from April to December. |
|
|
(50) |
Other |
|
|
|
Health, SEN & Disability Services |
|||
|
698 |
Children's Disability Agency Placements |
Increase in both volume and cost of residential and foster agency placements compared to budgeted levels. |
|
|
149 |
In-house Children's Disability Provision |
Unachieved saving due to delay of re-provisioning in-house service to accommodate existing external placements. |
|
|
175 |
Children's Disability Section 17 |
Anticipated ongoing care requirements for four young people. |
|
|
(113) |
Other |
Other variances. |
|
|
Education & Skills |
|||
|
293 |
Home to School Transport |
Based on the current data held on Mobisoft the
updated forecast overspend for Home to School Transport is
£0.293m.This forecast takes account of the current contracted
routes as at July and assumes average numbers of 503 5-16 pupils,
97 post 16 pupils and 47 post 19-25 for the remainder of the
financial year and a 2.5% increase for inflation from September.
Please note final clarification of routes and rates from September
still being finalised. |
|
|
100 |
PFI |
Due to higher PFI contractor costs. |
|
|
30 |
Other |
Minor variances. |
|
|
Children's Safeguarding & Care |
|||
|
(1,529) |
Demand-Led - Children's placements |
There are ongoing significant issues with sufficiency of foster carers and other placement types making placing children difficult and driving up unit costs. In addition the post pandemic period has seen children with increasingly complex needs coming into care. However, the significant success of ongoing initiatives and alternative service offers, attempting to reverse the trend of reducing foster carer numbers and address the complex needs of the children being referred, has meant that it is anticipated that placements for children in care and care leavers will remain within budget in 2024/25. |
|
|
118 |
Social Work teams |
The social work establishment is currently over recruited due to staff turnover rates of social workers being less than anticipated. Vacancy management, dependent on future turnover could reduce the current forecast overspend. |
|
|
(138) |
Section 17 |
Income received from ICB for children with ongoing mental health needs |
|
|
55 |
Other |
Minor variances. |
|
|
Quality Assurance & Performance |
|||
|
(54) |
Other |
Mainly relates to vacant posts in the independent Reviewing Team. |
|
|
Libraries & Information Services |
|||
|
(1) |
Other |
Minor variances. |
|
Housing, Care & Wellbeing (HCW)
Revenue Budget Summary
|
Forecast |
|
2024/25 |
Forecast |
Forecast |
Forecast |
2024/25 |
Net |
Net |
|
Variance |
|
Budget |
Outturn |
Variance |
Variance |
Savings |
Savings |
Savings |
|
Month 2 |
|
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Proposed |
Achieved |
At Risk |
|
£'000 |
Service |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
% |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
|
2,305 |
Adult Social Care Operations |
83,498 |
84,045 |
547 |
0.7% |
4,282 |
4,060 |
222 |
|
1,600 |
S75 Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust (SPFT) |
20,648 |
21,804 |
1,156 |
5.6% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
89 |
Commissioning & Partnerships |
5,482 |
5,535 |
53 |
1.0% |
259 |
259 |
0 |
|
93 |
Life Events |
249 |
407 |
158 |
63.5% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
Public Health |
3,134 |
3,134 |
0 |
0.0% |
171 |
171 |
0 |
|
2,488 |
Housing General Fund |
12,950 |
15,679 |
2,729 |
21.1% |
2,042 |
896 |
1,146 |
|
6,575 |
Total Housing, Care & Wellbeing |
125,961 |
130,604 |
4,643 |
3.7% |
6,754 |
5,386 |
1,368 |
|
(2,361) |
Further Financial Recovery Measures (see below) |
- |
(633) |
(633) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
4,214 |
Residual Risk After Financial Recovery Measures |
125,961 |
129,971 |
4,010 |
3.2% |
6,754 |
5,386 |
1,368 |
Explanation of Key Variances
|
Key |
|
|
|
|
Variances |
|
|
|
|
£'000 |
Service Area |
Variance or Financial Recovery Measure Description |
|
|
Further Directorate Financial Recovery Measures |
|||
|
(353) |
Adult Social care |
The directorate has developed an over-arching Financial Recovery Plan to address the above pressures including the following measures: The total target is £5,954m with £5,068m achieved and £0.353m left to be achieved as at Month 5 while £0.533m at risk. |
|
|
|
|
- Targeted reviews. |
|
|
|
|
- Reducing voids within block contracts. |
|
|
|
|
- Avoiding unnecessary long term residential admissions. |
|
|
(280) |
Housing General Fund |
To pilot the procurement of the management element of block booked emergency accommodation with estimated cost reduction of £0.080m in 2024/25.The service is also taking action to improve the turnaround times for empty properties to further reduce forecast costs by £0.050m this year. There is a further recovery measure of £0.150m as the service is trying to maximise opportunities within council owned stock to provide TA, where appropriate. |
|
|
Adult Social Care Operations |
|||
|
520 |
Demand-Led Community Care - Physical & Sensory Support and Substance Misuse |
Overspend mainly due to one client, the subject of a court case with West Sussex County Council. The outcome that BHCC has liability for this client - £1.133m. Other increased costs related to increased unit costs have been offset by an increase in S117 income forecast |
|
|
(254) |
Assessment teams |
This is due to a number of temporary vacancies across the Assessment teams as well as an increase in forecast income. |
|
|
832 |
In-house provision |
Overspends on in-house provision for adults with Learning Disabilities, Resource centres and Hostels is mainly due to use of agency and sessional staff partly offset by increased S117 income forecast at Wayfield Avenue |
|
|
(150) |
Demand-Led Community Care - Adult LD |
Underutilisation of Direct Payments. |
|
|
(401) |
Other |
Vacancies and reduced use of Community Equipment Store due to cyber attacks |
|
|
S75 Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust (SPFT) |
|||
|
650 |
Demand-Led - Memory Cognition Support |
The overspend is the result of high unit costs within the nursing care provision. |
|
|
333 |
Demand-Led - Mental Health Support |
The overspend is the result of high unit costs and above budgeted number of clients in the nursing care provision. |
|
|
172 |
Staffing teams |
Pressure due to number of operational managers unfunded. Negotiations over funding responsibilities are still ongoing with SPFT. |
|
|
Commissioning & Partnerships |
|||
|
54 |
Legal fees |
Internal recharges for legal costs have increased in recent years offset by vacancies. Unbudgeted expenditure for Wellington Road |
|
|
Life Events |
|||
|
277 |
Bereavement services |
Reduced number of cremations partly due to chapel closure for repairs affecting income. |
|
|
(50) |
Coroner |
Negotiations with WSCC regarding Assistant Coroners. |
|
|
(69) |
Registrars |
Increased Statutory fee income. |
|
|
Housing General Fund |
|||
|
2,424 |
Temporary Accommodation |
The budget for Temporary Accommodation (TA) is
forecast to overspend by £2.424m for 2024/25. |
|
|
219 |
Seaside Homes |
There is a forecast overspend on management costs of £0.188m, primarily due to increased insurance costs for 2024/25. Additionally, there is a forecast overspend of £0.097m on the loss of rent from void properties, due to higher turnover within these properties. However, these overspends are partially offset by underspends of (£0.036m) on the repairs and maintenance budgets and (£0.030m) on the provision for bad debt. |
|
|
2 |
Private Sector Housing |
Unachieved savings for fine income of £0.052m offset by a vacancy on the adaptations team (£0.050m). |
|
|
70 |
Commissioned rough sleeper and housing related support services |
Overspend relates to a reduction in rent income for these 29 leased properties due to a change in HB eligibility. |
|
|
14 |
homemove |
The overspend is attributed to delays in concluding the Home Connection service. The additional costs will not be invoiced to partners. |
|
City Services
Revenue Budget Summary
|
Forecast |
|
2024/25 |
Forecast |
Forecast |
Forecast |
2024/25 |
Net |
Net |
|
Variance |
|
Budget |
Outturn |
Variance |
Variance |
Savings |
Savings |
Savings |
|
Month 2 |
|
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Proposed |
Achieved |
At Risk |
|
£'000 |
Service |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
% |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
|
1,903 |
City Transport |
(6,965) |
(6,424) |
541 |
7.8% |
978 |
621 |
357 |
|
(220) |
City Environment |
33,882 |
33,662 |
(220) |
-0.6% |
2,137 |
2,137 |
0 |
|
538 |
City Development & Regeneration |
3,371 |
3,837 |
466 |
13.8% |
950 |
560 |
390 |
|
(16) |
Culture, Tourism & Sport |
10,432 |
10,477 |
45 |
0.4% |
817 |
787 |
30 |
|
1,521 |
Property & Design |
2,938 |
3,931 |
993 |
33.8% |
1,919 |
1,599 |
320 |
|
(88) |
Safer Communities |
3,761 |
3,668 |
(93) |
-2.5% |
238 |
238 |
0 |
|
3,638 |
Total City Services |
47,419 |
49,151 |
1,732 |
3.7% |
7,039 |
5,942 |
1,097 |
Explanation of Key Variances
|
Key |
|
|
|
|
Variances |
|
|
|
|
£'000 |
Service Area |
Variance or Financial Recovery Measure Description |
|
|
City Transport |
|||
|
474 |
Parking Services |
Parking Services are forecasting an under
achievement of £0.474m (Underachievement of 1.04% of expected
income targets) against a £28.889m net income budget. This is
a significant improvement of £0.682m since Month 2 which
reflects actions being undertaken as part of the 24/25 Parking
Services Financial Recovery Plan. |
|
|
651 |
Concessionary Bus Fares |
Concessionary travel is forecasting £0.651m overspend this year following increases to the Government Reimbursement Tool, which is estimated to place the total cost at £10.600m. There is a push for 24/25 to be at the same rate as the 2023/24 deal, however it is not possible to negotiate down to a level within 2023/24 rates and the use of the Government Reimbursement Tool applied, this will generate the pressure listed. |
|
|
80 |
Network management |
Road Works Permit income forecast £0.158m less than budgeted target. This is comparable to previous year actual income, which was supported by reserve, that is now fully utilised. This pressure is partly offset by Traffic Regulation Order net income £0.035m and Events net income £0.035m forecast to achieve more than budget. |
|
|
(664) |
Transport Projects and Engineering |
Payments to Bus Operators for both base and enhanced services funded by the DfT Bus Service Improvement Plan grant where services are enhanced. |
|
|
City Environment |
|||
|
(220) |
City Clean |
£0.150m overspend in street cleansing due to increased costs required for litter picking the A27 and A23. These are mitigated by forecast surpluses in commercial and green waste collections due to increased customers. |
|
|
City Development & Regeneration |
|||
|
510 |
Development Planning |
Underachievement of Planning and Building Control income of £0.846m as there is still some uncertainty over levels of service post-covid and legal fee overspends of £0.187m relating to The Gasworks appeal. This is offset by staffing underspends £0.574m. |
|
|
6 |
Planning Policy Major Projects |
Minor overspend from 1% turnover target greater than actual vacancies in year. |
|
|
(50) |
Business Development and Customer Services |
Held vacancies in the service. |
|
|
Culture, Tourism & Sport |
|||
|
(16) |
Sport and Leisure |
Underspends of £0.038m on Golf Course contracts, offset by additional sports facilities responsive repairs costs |
|
|
19 |
Venues |
Minor overspend from 1% turnover target greater than actual vacancies in year and surplus incomes. |
|
|
64 |
City Parks |
Overspend from 1% turnover target greater than actual vacancies in year. |
|
|
(22) |
Tourism and Marketing |
Held vacancies in service. |
|
|
Property & Design |
|||
|
573 |
Estates Management |
Vacant Properties within both the In-house & Commercial portfolio's have caused pressures from the loss of rental income and the additional premises related costs until new tenants can be attracted resulting in forecast pressures of £0.247m. There are initial pressures of £0.289m regarding the letting of Barts House 3rd and 4th floors where current rents and anticipated occupational savings from vacating are not achieving the full savings target for this year, though this is under review to ensure savings can be delivered going forward. |
|
|
420 |
Facilities & Building Services |
£0.475m forecast overspend relating to essential only responsive repairs functions due to rising costs and conditions of facilities. Post room services has a forecast overspend of £0.112m due to additional surcharges from Royal Mail whilst the service is not barcode compliant, though work is underway to ensure the council is compliant to mitigate costs. These overspends are partly offset by forecast underspends in security costs of £0.122m in other supplies & services within Facilities & Building Services. |
|
|
Safer Communities |
|||
|
(93) |
Safer Communities |
There is a net underspend forecast across the service, largely as result of vacancy management. |
|
Corporate Services
Revenue Budget Summary
|
Forecast |
|
2024/25 |
Forecast |
Forecast |
Forecast |
2024/25 |
Net |
Net |
|
Variance |
|
Budget |
Outturn |
Variance |
Variance |
Savings |
Savings |
Savings |
|
Month 2 |
|
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Proposed |
Achieved |
At Risk |
|
£'000 |
Service |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
% |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
|
38 |
Policy, Communications & Leadership Office |
1,855 |
1,917 |
62 |
3.3% |
24 |
24 |
0 |
|
(30) |
Legal & Democratic Services |
3,548 |
3,498 |
(50) |
-1.4% |
335 |
335 |
0 |
|
0 |
Elections & Land Charges |
418 |
281 |
(137) |
-32.8% |
20 |
20 |
0 |
|
(10) |
Customer, Modernisation & Performance Insight |
1,447 |
1,427 |
(20) |
-1.4% |
35 |
35 |
0 |
|
0 |
Finance |
2,206 |
2,552 |
346 |
15.7% |
144 |
16 |
128 |
|
0 |
Procurement (Mobo) |
(39) |
(39) |
0 |
0.0% |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
87 |
HR & Organisational Development |
3,917 |
3,996 |
79 |
2.0% |
222 |
199 |
23 |
|
0 |
Information Technology & Digital |
8,132 |
8,032 |
(100) |
-1.2% |
649 |
323 |
326 |
|
0 |
Welfare Revenue & Business Support |
7,652 |
7,498 |
(154) |
-2.0% |
327 |
327 |
0 |
|
0 |
Communities, Equality & Third Sector |
2,642 |
2,642 |
0 |
0.0% |
581 |
581 |
0 |
|
0 |
Contribution to Orbis |
2,925 |
2,942 |
17 |
0.6% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
Directorate wide |
0 |
278 |
278 |
0.0% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
85 |
Total Corporate Services |
34,703 |
35,024 |
321 |
0.9% |
2,339 |
1,862 |
477 |
|
0 |
Further Financial Recovery Measures (see below) |
- |
(278) |
(278) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
85 |
Residual Risk After Financial Recovery Measures |
34,703 |
34,746 |
43 |
0.1% |
2,339 |
1,862 |
477 |
Mobo = Specific budget items held by Orbis but Managed on behalf of the relevant partner i.e. they are sovereign, non-partnership budgets. Under or overspends on Mobo budgets fall directly to the relevant partner whereas any budget variance on ‘Orbis Services’ is shared in accordance with the Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA).
Explanation of Key Variances
|
Key |
|
|
|
|
Variances |
|
|
|
|
£'000 |
Service Area |
Variance or Financial Recovery Measure Description |
|
|
Further Directorate Financial Recovery Measures |
|||
|
(278) |
Directorate wide |
The directorate will identify mitigations to offset the additional 1% vacancy factor. |
|
|
Policy, Communications & Leadership Office |
|||
|
31 |
Monitoring Officer |
Overspend resulting from acting up costs in service. |
|
|
19 |
CEO |
A combination of recruitment cost, staff training and expected overspends on staffing cost. |
|
|
12 |
Communications |
Overspends in subscriptions to organisations, graphic design and an increase in professional fees. |
|
|
Legal & Democratic Services |
|||
|
(61) |
Legal team |
Combination of vacancy contribution and external income generation. |
|
|
11 |
Democratic Services |
shortfall in income contribution and other small overspends which have been offset by underspends in mobile phone rentals. |
|
|
Elections & Land Charges |
|||
|
(137) |
Local Land Charges |
Increased income forecast as HMLR transfer not expected before Q3 2024/25 at the very earliest. |
|
|
Customer, Modernisation & Performance Insight |
|||
|
(20) |
Performance team |
Vacancy contribution. |
|
|
Finance |
|||
|
345 |
Financial Services |
Overspend due to an increase in audit and agency fees. |
|
|
1 |
Insurance Administration |
Small overspends in operations budgets. |
|
|
HR & Organisational Development |
|||
|
47 |
Policy and Initiatives |
A permanent pressure bid has been submitted
for a permanent Asbestos Resource which has been agreed by CLT.
£0.019m for 0.5fte savings adjustments for Union facilities
time in Unison and 2 x 0.5fte in GMB with 1 of these Union
facilities savings pressures transferring from City Clean. This has
been offset by recruitment income £40k. |
|
|
32 |
Occupational Health and Safety |
Comprised of £0.033m staff pressure for 7 x months of M10 Asbestos resource in H&S. |
|
|
Information Technology & Digital |
|||
|
(100) |
IT&D |
At month 5, IT & Digital are forecasting an underspend of £100,000 which is an improvement of £100,000 from last month. Service has been able to mitigate the Traded Services saving target by implementing a recruitment freeze within the whole of the IT&D Service from 1 April 2024. This has led to in-year cost avoidance, but it should be noted that this is having a detrimental impact on the service provision. Within Traded Services, the £415K saving has been partially offset by 3 vacancies but this is having an impact on the ability to deliver services to Schools. Traded Services are also having to absorb additional costs relating to Schools closures and mergers although we are exploring whether some of these can be charged elsewhere, dependent on the future use of the site. Following a deep review of contracts and spend, service is now expecting some in-year savings on telephony spend following the migration of services to a cloud platform. However, the service is also experiencing continuing pressures with inflation increases on contracts and services which will be mitigated as much as possible by reviewing licences and usage but are still seeing increased costs. There is a new pressure of £46K for licences for the council’s trial of Microsoft 365 co-pilot. |
|
|
Welfare Revenue & Business Support |
|||
|
(48) |
HB, CTAX & NNDR Running Expenses incl Discretionary payments |
Forecasted staffing underspend of £416k that has been offset by overspends in postage and designing £90k, underachievement of court cost recovery of £215k, overspends in Professional fees £60k and other small overspends in the service. |
|
|
(40) |
Social Fund & Welfare |
Forecasted staffing underspends. |
|
|
(48) |
WRBS Systems Teams |
Forecasted staffing underspends. |
|
|
(129) |
Corp Debt & Banking |
Forecasted staffing overspends offset by small underspends and misc income in the service. |
|
|
52 |
Payroll & Pensions |
Staffing overspends. |
|
|
59 |
Management & Admin |
Staffing overspends. |
|
|
Contribution to Orbis |
|||
|
17 |
Orbis Partnership Budget |
There is currently a forecast overspend of £0.074m on the overall partnership budget. This is mostly due to overspends on Insurance and Procurement partially offset by an underspend in Finance. The Council's share of this is £0.011m. In addition there is a small pressure of £0.006m due to a small under provision on the base budget. |
|
|
Directorate wide |
|||
|
278 |
Directorate wide |
Overspend arising from additional 1% vacancy factor. |
|
Centrally-held Budgets
Revenue Budget Summary
|
Forecast |
|
2024/25 |
Forecast |
Forecast |
Forecast |
2024/25 |
Net |
Net |
|
Variance |
|
Budget |
Outturn |
Variance |
Variance |
Savings |
Savings |
Savings |
|
Month 2 |
|
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Proposed |
Achieved |
At Risk |
|
£'000 |
Service |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
% |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
|
350 |
Bulk Insurance Premia |
3,822 |
4,522 |
700 |
18.3% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
Capital Financing Costs |
7,997 |
7,572 |
(425) |
-5.3% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
Levies & Precepts |
242 |
242 |
0 |
0.0% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
Unallocated Contingency & Risk Provisions |
64 |
64 |
0 |
0.0% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
Unringfenced Grants |
(32,113) |
(32,113) |
0 |
0.0% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
200 |
Housing Benefit Subsidy |
399 |
988 |
589 |
147.6% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
3,845 |
Other Corporate Items |
15 |
2,589 |
2,574 |
17160.0% |
2,475 |
1,271 |
1,204 |
|
4,395 |
Total Centrally-held Budgets |
(19,574) |
(16,136) |
3,438 |
17.6% |
2,475 |
1,271 |
1,204 |
|
(2,635) |
Further Financial Recovery Measures (see below) |
- |
(1,364) |
(1,364) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
1,760 |
Residual Risk After Financial Recovery Measures |
(19,574) |
(17,500) |
2,074 |
10.6% |
2,475 |
1,271 |
1,204 |
Explanation of Key Variances
|
Key |
|
|
|
|
Variances |
|
|
|
|
£'000 |
Service Area |
Variance or Financial Recovery Measure Description |
|
|
Further Directorate Financial Recovery Measures |
|||
|
(1,364) |
Organisational Redesign |
A programme of work to undertake Phase 2 of the Organisational Redesign is underway alongside reviews of some functions to explore savings through functional alignment and other changes. Savings will be part-year in 2024/25 in most cases, but the council will utilise unilateral spending and vacancy controls to ensure the saving is met this year in lieu of full-year savings being identified and realised in 2025/26. |
|
|
Bulk Insurance Premia |
|||
|
700 |
Insurance claims. |
Settlement of insurance claims in the first five months is considerably higher than previous years and includes two claims costing £0.100m each. The annual budget has now been used meaning that future settlement of claims for the remainder of the year represents an overspend and it is currently forecast that this figure will be £0.700m |
|
|
Capital Financing Costs |
|||
|
(425) |
Investment income |
Higher than expected investment income due to higher balances than forecast. |
|
|
Housing Benefit Subsidy |
|||
|
589 |
Housing Benefit Subsidy |
Based on the mid year estimate submitted to DWP there is now an estimated pressure of £0.589m. The main element of this is a pressure of £0.709m on a certain benefit type for vulnerable tenants which is not fully subsidised. This pressure has continued to rise since last year but is being investigated to assess what steps can be taken to reduce it. This pressure is partially offset by a forecast surplus of £0.120m on the net position of the recovery of overpayments. |
|
|
Other Corporate Items |
|||
|
(90) |
Corporate Pension Costs |
An underspend of £0.090m relating to an overpayment on the 2023/24 unfunded pension costs budget. |
|
|
1,364 |
Organisational Redesign savings |
A programme of work to undertake Phase 2 of the Organisational Redesign is underway alongside reviews of a number of functions to explore savings through functional alignment and other changes. Savings will be part-year in 2024/25 in most cases but the council will utilise unilateral spending and vacancy controls to ensure the saving is met this year in lieu of full-year savings being identified and realised in 2025/26. As a contribution towards this a 1% reduction has been applied on a one-off basis to salary budgets in 2024/25 which has generated an in year saving of £1.271m. |
|
|
1,300 |
2024/25 Pay Award |
Estimated additional cost of 2024/25 pay award above amount provided for in budget. |
|
Housing Revenue Account (HRA)
Revenue Budget Summary
|
Forecast |
|
2024/25 |
Forecast |
Forecast |
Forecast |
|
Variance |
|
Budget |
Outturn |
Variance |
Variance |
|
Month 2 |
|
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
|
£'000 |
Service |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
% |
|
421 |
Repairs & Maintenance |
18,449 |
18,425 |
(24) |
-0.1% |
|
(200) |
Tenancy Services |
14,900 |
15,314 |
414 |
2.8% |
|
(35) |
Housing Management & Support |
6,432 |
6,518 |
85 |
1.3% |
|
(243) |
Housing Investment & Asset Management |
2,924 |
3,623 |
699 |
23.9% |
|
41 |
Housing Strategy & Supply |
1,578 |
1,578 |
0 |
0.0% |
|
(4) |
Council-owned Temporary Accommodation |
958 |
1,046 |
88 |
9.2% |
|
0 |
Rent & Service Charges |
(73,472) |
(74,005) |
(533) |
-0.7% |
|
(20) |
Service Area Total |
(28,231) |
(27,501) |
730 |
2.6% |
|
0 |
Capital Financing Costs |
8,509 |
8,711 |
202 |
2.4% |
|
0 |
Direct Revenue Funding |
19,722 |
19,472 |
(250) |
-1.3% |
|
(20) |
Total Housing Revenue Account |
0 |
682 |
682 |
0.0% |
Explanation of Key Variances
|
Key |
|
|
|
|
Variances |
|
|
|
|
£'000 |
Subjective Area |
Variance Description |
|
|
Repairs & Maintenance |
|||
|
(1,518) |
Employees |
Capitalisation of salaries in respect of the EICR programme (£0.900m), plus forecast underspend against the net staffing budget largely from vacancy management. The underspend equates to approximately 18% of the net salary budget. |
|
|
1,058 |
Premises |
There is a forecast overspend against the subcontractor business as usual budget, based on spend to date. A proportion of this spend relates to the disrepair claims, these costs are difficult to forecast based on the volume and timing of claims being made. This continues to be a source of financial pressure for the HRA and will be closely monitored over the course of the financial year. |
|
|
446 |
Supplies and Services |
The service continues to experience significant costs arising from disrepair claims. These by their very nature are difficult to forecast and will be closely monitored each month, this assumes that a new legal resource is in place to manage the claims early in the process, enabling better management of spend. |
|
|
(10) |
Transport |
Minor variance. |
|
|
Tenancy Services |
|||
|
179 |
Employees |
There is a forecast overspend against staffing costs, mainly due to the proposed service redesign and anticipated costs in response to the new duties under the Building Safety Act 2022 and Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. |
|
|
122 |
Premises |
Forecast overspend of £0.083m within Sheltered services on cleaning costs, based on the first four months expenditure. There are also overspends on tree maintenance costs of £0.050m and council tax costs of £0.050m. These overspends have been offset by an estimated underspend against utility cost budgets, based on Information provided by the corporate energy team. |
|
|
58 |
Supplies and Services |
Forecast overspend on the use of temporary accommodation of £0.050m for council housing tenants, linked to the current policy for Temporary Accommodation across the authority and in some part to the number of empty properties held in the HRA. |
|
|
50 |
Income |
Th closure of Chapel Street Car Park is part of the emergency Large Panel System response leading to a loss of income generated from the car park. |
|
|
5 |
Other |
Minor net variance |
|
|
Housing Management & Support |
|||
|
50 |
Employees |
There is a forecast net overspend on staffing costs, a saving of £0.054m due to the interim management arrangements. This has been directly offset following the recruitment of an interim Programme Director of Housing Regulatory Response. |
|
|
35 |
Premises |
Information provided by the corporate energy team estimate result in an estimated underspend against utility cost budgets. However, this is offset by business rates charge for the Housing Centre being higher than budgeted by £0.077m. |
|
|
Housing Investment & Asset Management |
|||
|
(81) |
Employees |
There is a forecast underspend against staffing costs, mainly due to a number of vacancies across the service. |
|
|
256 |
Premises |
Additional contractor capacity is currently being procured to provide new water risk assessments. Three contractors have been approached with a view to mobilise as soon as possible through a procurement waiver. Re-tendering the water safety contract and separating risk assessment from completion of remediation actions, is being taken forward as a priority. |
|
|
725 |
Large Panel Systems - revenue costs |
Enhanced building safety measures for the eight Large Panel System blocks, with significant costs arising from the introduction of a 24-hour security service to help manage items being taken into the building and to support with floor walks and maintaining clear egress and exits to the building. The current forecast includes additional staffing costs for 24-hour security, a dedicated Fire Safety consultant, weekend floor-walks, temporary plant hire and additional temporary staffing resources. |
|
|
(137) |
Supplies & Services |
In consultation with the leaseholder service manager there is no contribution to Leaseholder Bad Debt provision resulting in a saving of £0.152m. |
|
|
(64) |
Income |
Additional professional fee income in respect of Leasehold extension matters. |
|
|
Housing Strategy & Supply |
|||
|
(38) |
Employees |
An increase in capitalised salaries for housing new supply is offset by a reduced level of capitalised salaries against ICT budgets. The delivery of new software is entering into a new phase which will require costs associated with business as usual are met from revenue budgets. |
|
|
38 |
Supplies & Services |
An overspend against software costs. |
|
|
Council-owned Temporary Accommodation |
|||
|
146 |
Premises |
Council-owned Temporary Accommodation can by its nature be volatile, in respect of empty properties and repairs costs, at this stage of the year it is assumed that there will be an overspend, based on spend to date. |
|
|
(68) |
Supplies and Services |
There is a forecast underspend against the Transfer Incentive Scheme budget. |
|
|
10 |
Employees |
Minor variance. |
|
|
Rent & Service Charges |
|||
|
(403) |
Rents & Service Charges |
Net overachievement in rents and service charge income, predominantly relating to new housing supply and fewer homes forecast to be sold under the Right to Buy scheme. |
|
|
(146) |
Empty Property rent loss |
Regular meetings of the empty property action grouped has resulted in the average number of empty homes reducing. The forecast for 2024/25 is for there to be an average of 115 empty homes per month, down from 150 per month in 2023/24 a reduction of 30%. |
|
|
16 |
Garages & Car Parks |
At Month 5 it is anticipated that income from garages, car parks and permits will be close to breakeven across the year, however this is offset by a greater level of rent loss than anticipated. Current forecasts show a total rent loss of £0.400m an overspend against budget of £0.021m. Current rent loss budgets for garages and car parks equate to 23% of the income budget, with the forecast spend increasing this to 24% of rental income due. |
|
|
Capital Financing Costs |
|||
|
202 |
Capital Financing costs |
There is an anticipated increase in financing costs due to the projected increase in interest costs and assumed timing of borrowing being taken on by the HRA. |
|
|
Direct Revenue Funding |
|||
|
(250) |
Depreciation |
A forecast underspend against the depreciation budget due to the impairment of Large Panel System block assets following assessment of accounting treatment for 2023/24 agreed with the council's external Auditors. The depreciation figure is required to be funded by revenue resources and transferred to the Major Repairs Reserve at year end to fund the capital programme. |
|
|
0 |
Contribution to Reserves |
As per the 2024/25 budget paper, £3.266m is expected to be contributed to reserves to fund future years pressures. If the in year overspend cannot be managed down then the contribution to reserves will be reduced by £0.682m. |
|
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)
Revenue Budget Summary
|
Forecast |
|
2024/25 |
Forecast |
Forecast |
Forecast |
|
Variance |
|
Budget |
Outturn |
Variance |
Variance |
|
Month 2 |
|
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
Month 5 |
|
£'000 |
Service |
£'000 |
£'000 |
£'000 |
% |
|
0 |
Individual Schools Budget (ISB) |
137,798 |
137,798 |
0 |
0.0% |
|
(30) |
Early Years Block (excluding delegated to Schools) (This includes Private Voluntary & Independent (PVI) Early Years 3 & 4 year old funding for the free entitlement to early years education) |
25,566 |
25,536 |
(30) |
-0.1% |
|
389 |
High Needs Block (excluding delegated to Schools) |
39,652 |
40,936 |
1,284 |
3.2% |
|
97 |
Exceptions and Central Services |
3,397 |
3,501 |
104 |
3.1% |
|
0 |
Grant Income |
(205,139) |
(205,139) |
0 |
0.0% |
|
456 |
Total Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) |
1,274 |
2,632 |
1,358 |
106.6% |
Explanation of Key Variances
|
Key |
|
|
|
|
Variances |
|
|
|
|
£'000 |
Service Area |
Variance Description |
|
|
Early Years Block (including delegated to Schools) |
|||
|
(30) |
Central Early Years Block |
Underspend due to recruitment delays. |
|
|
High Needs Block (excluding delegated to Schools) |
|||
|
312 |
Post-16 High Needs |
There has been a significant increase in the number of high needs learners accessing FE colleges in the last year and there has also been a movement of high needs learners moving into the city with responsibility for education falling to Brighton and Hove. |
|
|
175 |
Children with Medical Needs |
This budget has been increased by a further £0.250m in 2024/25 but is still showing an expected overspend of £0.175m. There is a continued significant increase in the number of pupils receiving education through bespoke tuition due to their medical needs. |
|
|
261 |
Independent non maintained school agency placements |
The Independent non-maintained school agency placements budget continues to be under pressure due to increasing demand, higher unit costs and a lack of suitable local provision. |
|
|
222 |
Special School Placements |
Placements in the city's special schools for new academic year in excess of commissioned numbers. |
|
|
295 |
Mainstream School Top-up Funding |
Increase in the unit costs and number of children with Education Health and Care plans in mainstream schools since April |
|
|
19 |
Other |
Other compensating variances. |
|
|
Exceptions and Growth Fund |
|||
|
104 |
Other |
Other variances. |
|