Issue - items at meetings - Targeted Budget Management Provisional Outturn 2010/11

Report of the Director of Finance (copy attached).

RESOLVED- That the Audit Committee notes the report.

14.1      The Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance that set out the provisional outturn position (month 12) on the revenue and capital budgets for the financial year 2010/11. The report had been considered and approved by Cabinet on 9 June 2011.

14.2      Councillor Follet asked why concessionary fares had a significant variance of -12.3% for month 12.

14.3      The Director of Finance explained the local authority had secured a fixed price deal with the local providers. She was delighted that such a deal had been agreed as variables such as in-year changes in schemes and fares, made it very hard to determine a budget for the service leading to variance both plus and minus. This decrease would be applied in the budget of 2012/13.

14.4      Councillor Pissaridou enquired how underspends were incorporated into the budget.

14.5      The Director of Finance clarified that sometimes underspends, ideally within the threshold, were needed to off-set unexpected overspends in other sectors. The Director of Finance added that departments that regularly overspend were held to account for this by the Overview and Scrutiny Commission. In cases of an overall budget underspend, this was added to the unallocated general reserves unless there is a need to allocate funds to a specific reserve. 

14.6      Councillor Wealls noted that he believed the Future Jobs Fund programme had stopped with immediate effect yet the report suggested funding for a future extension of this programme had been secured.

14.7      The Director of Finance replied that she too was unsure of the current status of the Future Jobs Fund. She would investigate the matter and provide clarification.

14.8      RESOLVED- That the Audit Committee notes the report.