Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance and Assets (copy enclosed) which provides an update of the final revenue position and the proposed treatment of balances.

RESOLVED - that Cabinet recommends to Council the:-

 

(a)          final revenue outturn position for 2012/13, and

(b)      treatment of reserves and balances as detailed in the report.

 

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill presented the report, circulated previously, which provided an update of the final revenue position and the proposed treatment of balances.  The first draft of the Annual Statement of Accounts for 2012/13 would be submitted to the external auditors on the 28^th June.  The audited accounts would be presented to the Corporate Governance Committee in September for formal approval.

 

The overall financial outturn position for 2012/13 had been an under spend against the approved budget, which together with an increase in the yield from Council Tax strengthened the financial position of the Council.  Recommendations for the transfer of funds to specific reserves could be made which would continue to assist the Council in addressing the severe financial pressures of the next few years and begin to establish the cash resources required to deliver the Corporate Plan.  The final Revenue Outturn figures had been detailed in Appendix 1.  The final position on service and corporate budgets was an under spend of £1.525m, 1.3% of the net revenue budget.

 

The outturn position for services and corporate budgets had been £530k higher than previously reported to Cabinet in March.  The most significant movement had been within School Improvement & Inclusion (£223k).  The final position for Legal and Democratic Services had improved by £76k and the position on corporate budgets had improved by £113k from the forecast reported in March.  Services had continued to be proactive in planning for savings for future years, and the financial impact of some of those proposals began to take affect toward the end of 2012/13.  Services reported commitments against balances of £849k in March.  The majority of balances had been forecast because of timing issues and committed service balances now stood at £1.139m with further details provided in the report.

 

Expenditure on schools had been £1.069m below the delegated budget with Special schools having improved by £490k which formed the majority of the total movement.  School balances now stood at £2.870m which equated to an average of £190 per pupil and 4.25% of the net schools budget and details had been included in Appendix 3.

 

The Council budgeted to make a contribution to balances of £300k, which in keeping with previous reports, had been assumed in the final outturn position.  The Council budgeted to make contributions to the funding of the Corporate Plan which required around £25m of cash and £52m of borrowing to deliver the Council’s ambitions.  The 2012/13 budget assumed £2.073m would be generated through priority funding allocated to services and budgeted provisions within corporate budgets.

 

Further information regarding final service outturn had been detailed in the report as follows:-

 

Business Planning & Performance – the final position was an under spend of £60k.

Finance & Assets - under spend of £16k.

Highways & Environment - position of £278k under, an improvement of £15k from the forecast in March.

Planning & Regulatory - proposed to be used to fund restructuring costs as part of delivering savings for 2013/14.

Adult & Business Service - shown as achieving the budget. 

Children & Family Service – reported at £148k.

Housing & Community Development - arisen due to a review of external grant funding at the end of the year highlighted additional claimable costs.

Communications, Marketing & Leisure - the final outturn position was an under spend of £37.5k.

ICT/Business Transformation - budget under by £108k.

Customers and Education Support - an under spend of £245k.

School Improvement - an under spend of £349k.

Council Tax - impacted upon by the number of dwellings in the County, together with, a high level of tax collection of over 98%.

 

Councillor Thompson-Hill explained that given the position overall within services, it was proposed that departments carry forward any net under spends in full to help deliver the 2013/14 budget strategy and meet existing commitments.  Services would be required to outline in more detail how the balances brought forward having been used in 2013/14 in the Finance Report to Cabinet in October.  The final position meant that the Council had £651k cash funding available.  This was a significant achievement and the Council would need to ensure that the funding was used in the most effective way.  It had been proposed that this contribute to the cash reserves required to fund the Corporate Plan. 

 

A number of other contributions to and from Reserves and Provisions had been allowed for within the accounts and these had been detailed in Appendix 2 and would require Council approval.  Major movements to reserves not already highlighted had been included in the report and related to:-

 

·      £6.2m proposed to be reallocated from existing reserves to fund the Corporate Plan, reported in detail to the Corporate Governance Committee in May, 2013.

·      £562k earmarked to fund protection for schools adversely impacted by the recent formula funding changes.

·      £185k added to the Insurance Reserve to cover ongoing liabilities in respect of MMI, former insurer of Denbighshire’s predecessor authorities, and other potential claims.  The Chief Accountant responded to a question from Councilor Hugh Irving and explained that the potential liability and number of claims could increase in the future.

·      Funding had moved from the Single Status reserve to a provision to fund equal pay claims

 

In reply to a question from the Leader, Councillor Thompson-Hill outlined the current and projected impact of the Modernising Agenda on efficiencies and reference was made to the consistent approach adopted by the Authority in relation to service efficiencies.  The Chief Account explained that the proposal to plan for the next budget round included meeting with service providers to discuss modernisation targets which would include the various planned projects. 

 

Corporate Director: Customers responded to a question from Councillor David Smith and explained that any surplus funds held by a school which had been closed would be monitored closely and fed back into the central funds.   (RW to Action)

 

Councillor Meirick Davies suggested that paragraphs within the reports be numbered to overcome any confusion arising from the difference in page numbers between the English and Welsh versions within the Agenda.  Confirmation was provided that additional income generated, which contributed to the small underspend, related to litter in general and not specifically to income from dog fouling fines.

 

Following further discussion, it was

 

RESOLVED - that Cabinet recommends to Council the:-

 

(a)          final revenue outturn position for 2012/13, and

(b)          treatment of reserves and balances as detailed in the report.

(PM & RW to Action)