Issue - meetings

To consider the quarterly budget position. 

That the financial performance information for the second quarter of 2019/20 be NOTED. 

55.1           The report of the Head of Finance and Asset Management, circulated at Pages No. 13-32, highlighted a quarter two deficit of £18,530 on the revenue budget and detailed the expenditure to date against both the capital programme and the approved reserves. Members were asked to consider the financial information provided.

55.2           The Head of Finance and Asset Management advised that, overall, the deficit had fallen at the end of quarter two which was good news; however, it was still early in the year. Employee costs showed a surplus of £111,439 which had been generated mainly through staff vacancies across most services. Services had managed vacancies during the period by utilising current staff to cover work in the short term and limiting the use of agency staff where possible. Supplies and services were showing a deficit of £79,197, this was mostly due to expenditure incurred on delivering the European elections. The Council received grant income to cover the cost of the elections therefore an income surplus within Democratic Services matched that expenditure. The Borough election expenditure was also contained within Democratic Services and this was matched through one-off funding from reserves and New Homes Bonus meaning, overall, Democratic Services was in a cost neutral position. In terms of payments to third parties, a deficit of £168,280 was shown - this related to the delivery of the waste and recycling services due to additional resources on grounds maintenance rounds to ensure issues with grass cutting were minimised during the growing season and the additional cost of the depot which had been agreed after the budget was set. Both overspends were being covered through one-off reserve use for the current year. The remaining significant element of the Ubico budget position was the hire of additional vehicles: there was the specific hire cost of an additional vehicle whilst the procurement for a new narrow access vehicle continued. There had also been a couple of accidents which had meant additional hire and repair costs whilst those vehicles were out of operation. In terms of transfer payments, there was a deficit of £130,000 which related to housing benefit claimant payments and recovery of expenditure from the government. The Council was entitled to 100% of the debt if it could be reclaimed from the claimant and therefore it was possible, in the long-term, to eradicate the housing benefit claim; however, recovering significant overpayments could take a long time and was extremely difficult. The situation would continue to be monitored through the rest of the year with the housing benefit team targeting key individuals to recover debt as quickly as possible. In terms of income, there was a surplus currently of £200,970 which was due to £148,000 of grant funding for the European elections; £55,000 of grant funding for the revenues and benefits service; £37,000 gain from the garden waste service; and £12,000 gain on car parking. The positive position was offset by a deficit on planning income at the half year point, the expectation was that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55