The Head of Financial Services and the Head of Business Improvement have submitted a report which updates Members on Finance, Risk and Performance as at the end of Quarter 1, 30 June 2015.

Officer Recommendations: That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.         Note the projected General Fund outturn of £0.385 million which will be funded from corporate contingencies, the break-even position on the Housing Revenue Account and projected Capital underspend and slippage of £0.921 million

2.         Note the performance and associated risk positions as set out in paragraphs 11-15;

3.         Approve a £0.300 million virement from the corporate policy contingency to the Culture service;

4.         Recommend to Council to resolve that additional budget of £115,289 for parks works be included in the Capital Programme to be financed from external grant funding; and

5.         Approve the recommendation to apply a temporary moratorium on General Fund and HRA capital expenditure in accordance with paragraphs 14 and 15.

The Head of Financial Services and the Head of Business Improvement submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which detailed the Council’s projected outturn for finance and performance and the risks faced at the end of Quarter 1, 30 June 2015.

Councillor Turner, Board Member for Finance, Corporate Asset Management and Public Health presented the report.  He said that the overall position was satisfactory but drew attention to Recommendation 5 which was in response to the Chancellor’s July Budget Statement proposals which would significant ramifications for the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan and the Housing Revenue Account.  He said that the Council needed to be cautious at this stage and that it was hoped that there would be greater certainty about the situation at the time of the budget consultation.

The Board noted that the Scrutiny Finance Panel would be meeting to scrutinise the budget proposals and agreed that this should include the proposed deferment of some capital projects.

The Head of Financial Services undertook to provide a written response to Cllr Fooks’ query regarding the % estimated savings that relate to the total budget.

The Leader of the Council expressed concern about the following Financial Services performance indicators:

·         % of invoices paid on time – currently 85.2% of invoices paid on time against a target of 98%;

·         Time to process new benefit claims – currently at 15.66 days against a target of 14 days.

He acknowledged the hard work of the Financial Services staff but stressed that these were performance indicators for two very important Council functions which had a direct impact on residents and businesses. 

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.         Note the projected General Fund outturn of £0.385 million which will be funded from corporate contingencies, the break-even position on the Housing Revenue Account and projected Capital underspend and slippage of £0.921 million

2.         Note the performance and associated risk positions as set out in paragraphs 11-15;

3.         Approve a £0.300 million virement from the corporate policy contingency to the Culture service;

4.         Recommend to Council to resolve that additional budget of £115,289 for parks works be included in the Capital Programme to be financed from external grant funding; and

5.         Approve the recommendation to apply a temporary moratorium on General Fund and HRA capital expenditure in accordance with paragraphs 14 and 15.

Cllr Turner left the meeting at the end of this item.