Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Corporate Plan and Performance (copy enclosed) detailing the latest financial position and progress against the agreed budget strategy.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       notes the budgets set for 2016/17 and progress against the agreed budget strategy, and

(c)        notes the proposed use of service underspends where indicated and that formal approval will be requested when exact figures are known as part of the Final Outturn Report.

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill presented the report detailing the latest financial position and service budgets for 2016/17.  He provided a summary of the Council’s financial position as follows –

·        a net underspend of £0.213m was forecast for service and corporate budgets

·        68% of savings had been achieved to date (target £5.2m) with a further 2% making good progress; 25% would be deferred and achieved in 2017/18 with only 5% of savings not being achieved within the timeframe

·        highlighted current risks and assumptions relating to individual service areas

·        a general update on the Housing Revenue Account, Housing Capital Plan and the Capital Plan (including the Corporate Plan element).

Cabinet was also asked to note the proposed use of service underspends.  Formal approval would be sought when exact figures were known as part of the Final Outturn report.

The following matters were raised during debate –

·         details of the Leisure Services Revenue Budget 2016/17 had been appended to the report as requested at the last Cabinet meeting.  Cost comparisons between 2013/14 (the last year of trading before leisure provision was undertaken in-house) and 2016/17 showed a saving of approximately £80k.  Councillor Huw Jones highlighted that providing existing leisure facilities at the current cost (£560k) was a remarkable achievement and compared more than favourably with other local authorities.  Cabinet was pleased to note the success of the approach taken by the authority to invest in its leisure facilities and paid tribute to the Head of Facilities, Assets and Housing and his team in the management and operation of leisure services within the county

·         reference was made to Ruthin Craft Centre and whilst noting the success of the exhibitions and displays together with the café, questions were raised as to whether the studio units were operated to capacity with maximum effectiveness.  It was noted that previous grant conditions had restricted use of the units but work was ongoing to secure a greater degree of flexibility to allow for the space to be used more commercially which would also result in a reduction of the subsidies from the council and the Arts Council.  A recent presentation had been made to Ruthin Town Council in that regard.  Councillor Bobby Feeley was pleased to report upon the renowned success of the Centre but felt that it would also benefit from more local publicity.  Reference was also made to the publicity generated after the Director of Ruthin Craft Centre, Philip Hughes was awarded the MBE for his contributions to art and craft and to the success of the centre

·         the pressures faced by Community Support Services as highlighted in the report were noted but it was unclear at this point how much of the additional funding for Wales recently announced by the UK Government as a result of the extra investment in the social care sector in England would be passported to Welsh local authorities to help meet cost pressures in social care services

·         reference to ‘Community Services’ in the report should read ‘Community Support Services’ and Councillor Bobby Feeley highlighted the hard work in reviewing the future provision of in-house care services in order to deliver a better service for the benefit of residents and paid tribute to all those involved within that process.  She was also pleased to note the success of the amalgamation of Education and Children’s Services which would lead to further service improvements.

The Leader felt the regular finance report was a valuable way of keeping Cabinet well informed of the latest financial position and current pressures.  The report showed that services were well managed and performed well and also ensured that pressures were highlighted at the earliest opportunity in order to plan effectively for them.  Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill recorded his thanks to the Head of Finance/S.151 Officer and his team, and the former Head of Service, for their hard work over the last five years, adding that it had been a privilege to work with them.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       notes the budgets set for 2016/17 and progress against the agreed budget strategy, and

(b)       notes the proposed use of service underspends where indicated and that formal approval will be requested when exact figures are known as part of the Final Outturn Report.