Agenda item

(Director of Resources) To consider the attached report (FPM-015-2016/17).

The Assistant Director (Accountancy) presented the Quarterly Financial monitoring report for the period 1 April to September 2016, which provided a comparison between the original and profiled budgets for the period ending 30 September 2016 and the actual expenditure or income. The report provided details of the revenue budgets for both the Continuing Services Budget and the District Development Fund and the capital budgets including details of major capital schemes. The reports were presented based on the directorate that was responsible for delivering the services to which the budgets related and the budgets themselves were the Original Estimate.  The Assistant Director (Accountancy) advised that investment interest was lower than the budget due to lower interest rates but this wasn’t entirely unexpected.

The Cabinet Committee noted that the salaries budget showed an underspend of £338,000 or 3%. Resources showed the largest underspend of £121,000, which related to Revenues and Housing Benefits, Neighbourhoods showed an underspend of £117,000 relating mainly to Forward Planning and Grounds Maintenance and Communities showed an underspend of £83,000 which related to the Housing Works Unit. Variances on Governance and the Office of the Chief Executive were less significant.

Within the Governance Directorate the Development Control income was £151,000 higher than the budget to date and pre-application charges were £15,000 higher. Building Control income was £56,000 higher than the budgeted figure and the ring-fenced account was expected to show an improved position. Furthermore there was a lot of scanning work required for Building Control files and it was proposed to use some of the accumulated surplus to finance this work over the next few years. Local Land Charge income was £3,000 below expectations and there had been fewer searches undertaken in recent months, so the position would need to be monitored.

Within the Neighbourhoods Directorate Public Hire licence income and other licensing was above expectations, although the Public Hire figures included £25,000 which related to future years, so in reality income relating to 2016/17 was £4,000 down. Income from MOT’s carried out by Fleet Operations was £27,000 below expectations, although the account itself was budgeted to be deficit by £4,000, due to salary savings. Car Parking income was £3,000 above the estimate, although there were still some delays being experienced with income receipts. The actual for Recycling income was low when compared to the expectations; however the outstanding income for waste service enhancement and recycling credit income were all received in the first half of October. An overspend was showing on Recycling expenditure, due in part to collections from additional properties and payments made to the contractor to compensate for the fall in income from the sale of recyclable materials, which was being reported to Cabinet in December.

Within the Communities Expenditure the Bed and Breakfast placements were on the increase and a growth of £36,000 had been allowed for within the 2016/17 budget with a further increase of £58,000 estimated to be needed. The Housing Repairs Fund showed an underspend of £420,000. There were underspends showing on both Planned Maintenance, Voids work and a variance on HRA Special Services which related partly to grounds maintenance and sheltered units.

The Assistant Director (Accountancy) advised that for 2016/17 the funding retained by the authority after allowing for the Collection Fund deficit from 2015/16 was £3,435,000. This exceeded the government baseline of £3,050,000 by some £385,000 and the actual position for 2016/17 would not be determined until May 2017. The cash collection at the end of September totalled £18,978,332 and payments out were £17,273,492, which meant that the Council was holding £1,704,840 of cash and so the Council’s overall cash position was benefitting from the effective collection of non-domestic rates.

There were three projects included on the Major Capital Schemes schedule which related to the House Building packages 1 and 2 and The Epping Forest Shopping Park.

Councillor W Breare-Hall advised that the Fleet Operations had a fully booked schedule of jobs and there were plans to promote the services at the Oakwood Hill site, which would hopefully improve the situation.

Councillor A Lion asked whether a maintenance budget had been included for CCTV systems and how this would be funded. P Maddock advised that they would discuss this with the relevant officers shortly.

Resolved:

(1)        That the Quarterly Finance Monitoring Report for the period 1 April to 30 September 2016 be noted.

Reasons for Decision:

To note the second quarter financial monitoring report for 2016/17.

Other Options considered and Rejected:

No other options available.