Agenda item

This report sets out the 2015/16 Final Outturn position, the impact on the Council’s General Fund and Earmarked Reserves, and the movement from the provisional outturn provided to Cabinet on 15^th March.

Councillor Jason Arthur, Cabinet Member for Finance and Health, and Anna D’Alessandro, Deputy s151 Officer, introduced the report as set out.

The following arose from discussion of the report:

a.         The Provisional Outturn report to Cabinet on 15 March 2016 had set out a draft Period 10 position of a net £11.1m overspend, which required an additional £3.9m drawdown from General Fund Reserves.  Since then, the final 2015/16 final outturn position shows a final overspend of £6.8m, which was a c£4.3m improvement on the provisional outturn.  The overspend was still significant however, and would require strong and rapid mitigating strategies to turn around the position in 2016/17.

b.         Adult Services – a review was to be carried out on all care packages available, in order to ensure that the correct packages were being provided, and that the Council were receiving value for money.  The review was not about taking services away, but about shifting to more appropriate packages for users.  Care packages would be reviewed annually (as prescribed in the Care Act), and capabilities and capacity would need to be built in to do this.

c.         There needed to be some improvement in financial planning as the overspend was £14m higher than what had been anticipated, however a clear plan of action was being worked on to bring the deficit onto the right track.  Across the Council there was a need to speed up transformation, and in order to support this, services needed to be clear about what would be realistic, but ambitious at the same time.

d.         Spending in Children’s had reduced since 2014, however the service was still overspending, and this was due to the unrealistic targets set in the MTFS planning for 2014-15.

e.         There was a £7m surplus in the Collection Fund (Council Tax), this surplus highlighted the importance of pushing for growth, as these funds would be used to help pay for services in the future.

f.          The Council had a duty to meet its legal requirements, and this could not be compromised.  In order to continue to meet legal requirements and provide services it was important that the Council become more efficient in how services are delivered, and the growth agenda would help this.

The Chair thanked Councillor Arthur and Anna D’Alessandro for the update, and reminded the Committee that detailed reports on the 2016-17 budget performance would be provided at the Scrutiny Panel meetings, where Members would have the opportunity to drill down on headlines.

RESOLVED that

i.          the report and the Council’s 2015/16 Final Outturn position in respect of net revenue and capital expenditure be noted;

ii.         the revenue transfers and capital carryforwards be agreed;

iii.        the principle that the carryforward of resources will only be permitted once agreed by the Chief Finance Officer, and where the expenditure is backed by an approved reserve or external funding source be noted; and

iv.           the risks and issues identified in the report in the context of the Council’s on-going budget management responsibilities be noted.