Issue - items at meetings - Targeted Budget Management (TBM) 2009/10 Month 4

Report of the Director of Finance & Resources (copy attached).

1.      That Cabinet notes the forecast outturn for the General Fund, Section 75 Partnerships and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for 2008/09 as at month 4.

2.      That Cabinet notes that further recovery measures will be identified by month 6 to achieve a balanced budget.

3.      That Cabinet notes the forecast outturn position on the capital budgets as at month 4.

4.      That Cabinet approves the changes to the capital budget as summarised in Appendix 3 and detailed in Appendices 4 – 6.

73.1         The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Finance & Resources concerning the forecast outturn position on the revenue and capital budgets as at the end of July 2009 (for copy see minute book).

73.2         Councillor Mitchell expressed concern at the identification of a £3 million overspend across the Council's directorates and noted that further steps were required to tackle to situation.

73.3         In response to questions from Councillor Mitchell the following comments were made:

§         Councillor Young agreed to circulate details of the assets being marketed to achieve the level of capital receipts budgeted for, as well as details of vacant posts being held open across the Council.

§         Councillor Brown reported that following the case of Baby P the Council had seen a 33% increase in the number of children with a child protection plan and 12% increase in the number of looked after children. While these numbers were difficult to control, thresholds had been tested and children were only taken into care when necessary; the Council had put a significant number of measures in place to help control costs.

§         Councillor Norman maintained that while managing growth could be difficult, no changes would be made to assessment criteria for clients across the Adult Social Care directorate; the Council would be seeking to improve value for money across all services whilst still meeting the needs of clients.

§         Councillor Theobald explained that it was important for the Council to defend the decision of its Planning Committee in relation to the Marina development and that while £250,000 had been set aside for this, it was impossible to estimate the total cost. The budget had been affected by a reduction in the number of large residential planning schemes as a result of the economic downturn, but Councillor Theobald was pleased to report that the income from parking was back up to capacity following a shortfall.

§         Councillor Young confirmed that if a break even revenue outturn position did not materialise, financial support for the Building Schools for the Future programme would be factored into the next budget.

73.4         RESOLVED - That, having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Cabinet accepted the following recommendations:

(1)         That the forecast outturn for the General Fund, Section 75 Partnerships and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for 2008/09 as at month 4 be noted.

(2)         That further recovery measures will be identified by month 6 to achieve a balanced budget.

(3)         That the forecast outturn position on the capital budgets as at month 4 be noted.

(4)         That the changes to the capital budget as summarised in Appendix 3 and detailed in Appendices 4 – 6 be approved.