Agenda item - Targeted Budget Management (TBM) Provisional Outturn 2016/17

Report of the Executive Director for Finance & Resources (to follow).

              RESOLVED:

1)         That the Committee note that the provisional General Fund outturn position is an underspend of £1.350m and that this represents an improvement in resources of £0.812m compared to the projected and planned resource position at Month 9 taken into account when setting the 2017/18 budget.

2)         That the Committee note the provisional outturn includes an overspend of £0.600m on the council’s share of the NHS managed Section 75 services.

3)         That the Committee note the provisional outturn for the separate Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which is an underspend of £2.206m.

4)         That the Committee note the provisional outturn position for the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant, which is an underspend of £0.585m.

5)         That the Committee approve carry forward requests totalling £2.689m as detailed in Appendix 3 and included in the provisional outturn.

6)         That the Committee approve the transfer of Temporary accommodation budgets from Families, Children & Learning and Health & Adult Social Care to Neighbourhoods, Communities & Housing (paragraph 6.2) in accordance with Financial Regulations.

7)         That the Committee agree that the Thompson Bequest, Royal Pavilion Renewals Fund and Brighton & Hove Natural History Society Reserve are transferred to the Royal Pavilion and Museums Foundation ‘Restricted Funds’ (paragraph 6.3) in accordance with Financial Regulations.

8)         That the Committee note the provisional outturn position on the capital programme.

9)         That the Committee approve changes to the capital programme including the variations and re-profiles requested in Appendix 5 and new schemes detailed in Appendix 6.

161.1    The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director for Finance & Resources in relation to Targeted Budget Management (TBM) Provisional Outturn 2016/17. The report set out the provisional outturn position (i.e. Month 12) on the Council’s revenue and capital budgets for the financial year 2016/17.

161.2    In response to a series of questions from Councillor G. Theobald the following responses were provided. Temporary accommodation budgets had been put together which provided greater freedom to enter into more long-term agreements, the change identified in the report was largely administrative to formalise this arrangement. At the previous meeting the Committee had agreed to pool a series of community funds; however, those for the Royal Pavilion and Museums would be held separately, to be better used for their specific purpose. The large underspends in the HRA related to a significant redesign, that would not be fully realised until the follow financial year, and underspends on capital works – the latter were currently being reviewed. The transport service redesign was now in its final stage near completion, but had taken longer due to changes to the proposed new structure during the process. The agreed reductions in Members’ SRAs were currently being worked through at Officer level before concrete proposals were taken to the Constitutional Working Group and Independent Remuneration Panel for consideration, any agreed changes would have to be approved at Full Council. The increased number of DOLs cases related to a series of moves that had been undertaken, and a further review was needed for each move.

161.3    In response to questions from Councillor Sykes the following responses were provided. The contribution to some of the underspends had been in part down to managers holding vacancies open, but it was acknowledged that this could leads to delivery issues. There was also been instances where vacancies had not been filled due to lack of competitiveness. Greater work was being undertaken to understand workflows and assess where service pressures would be - it was hoped this would prevent emergency measures to address budget measures.

161.4    Councillor Hamilton highlighted that the accounts were still interim at this stage, and that the final accounts would be signed off by the Director, after formal consideration by the Audit & Standards Committee.

161.5    The Chair then put the recommendations to the vote.

161.6    RESOLVED:

1)         That the Committee note that the provisional General Fund outturn position is an underspend of £1.350m and that this represents an improvement in resources of £0.812m compared to the projected and planned resource position at Month 9 taken into account when setting the 2017/18 budget.

2)         That the Committee note the provisional outturn includes an overspend of £0.600m on the council’s share of the NHS managed Section 75 services.

3)         That the Committee note the provisional outturn for the separate Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which is an underspend of £2.206m.

4)         That the Committee note the provisional outturn position for the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant, which is an underspend of £0.585m.

5)         That the Committee approve carry forward requests totalling £2.689m as detailed in Appendix 3 and included in the provisional outturn.

6)         That the Committee approve the transfer of Temporary accommodation budgets from Families, Children & Learning and Health & Adult Social Care to Neighbourhoods, Communities & Housing (paragraph 6.2) in accordance with Financial Regulations.

7)         That the Committee agree that the Thompson Bequest, Royal Pavilion Renewals Fund and Brighton & Hove Natural History Society Reserve are transferred to the Royal Pavilion and Museums Foundation ‘Restricted Funds’ (paragraph 6.3) in accordance with Financial Regulations.

8)         That the Committee note the provisional outturn position on the capital programme.

9)         That the Committee approve changes to the capital programme including the variations and re-profiles requested in Appendix 5 and new schemes detailed in Appendix 6.