Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment introduced a report on the Council’s revenue budget monitoring position for the 2017/18 financial year, as at 31 July 2017.

The General Fund showed a projected year-end overspend of £5.475m against the budget of £145.129m, which represented an increase of £0.68m on the position for the end of May 2017.  The Cabinet Member referred to the ongoing areas of overspend and the new pressures and risks that materialised of late, which were detailed in the report.  The Housing Revenue Account was also projecting a shortfall of £0.769m.

The Cabinet Member also advised on the need to realign existing budgets to reflect the new My Place and Be First services that would commence from 1 October 2017, as well as a new charging matrix under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to address failures by landlords within the private rented housing sector via the issuing of Civil Penalty Notices, with fines of up to £30,000 for the most serious offences.  It was further noted that the capital expenditure position would now be reported on a quarterly basis.

Arising from the discussions:

·  The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration commented on the Government’s long-standing attack on public sector funding which meant that unexpected costs, such as those relating to the placements of six very vulnerable children with exceptionally complex needs in residential / secure accommodation in recent months, would inevitably mean that planned budgets would overspend;

·  The Operational Director for Enforcement Services confirmed that the £0.341m pressure in the Private Rented Property Licence (PRPL) scheme would be met from the dedicated PRPL reserve; and

·  The Cabinet Member for Corporate Performance and Delivery asked officers to provide a briefing note on the detail of the £0.498m overspend within the Elevate service.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Note the forecast outturn position for 2017/18 of the Council’s General Fund revenue budget as detailed in section 2 and Appendix A of the report;

(ii)  Note the ongoing and new financial pressures and the suggested mechanisms for resolving them, as detailed in sections 3 and 4 of the report; 

(iii)  Note the overview of the HRA for 2017/18, as detailed in section 5 and Appendix B of the report;

(iv)  Approve the virements from existing budgets into the new My Place and Be First service budgets as detailed in Appendix C to the report;

(v)  Delegate authority to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment, to approve any additional virements to implement the next stage of the Council’s Transformation programme, as outlined in section 6 of the report; and

(vi)  Approve the adoption of the proposed Civil Penalty Scoring Matrix and Scale of charges related to Enforcement Activity under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 Part II (Rogue Landlords and Property Agents), as detailed in section 7 and Appendix D to the report.