Agenda item

(Director of Finance & ICT) To consider the attached report (FPM-026-2012/13).

The Director of Finance & ICT presented the Quarterly Financial Monitoring report for the period October to December 2012, which provided a comparison between the revised estimates and the actual expenditure or income. The report provided details of the revenue budgets – both the Continuing Services Budget and District Development Fund – as well as the capital budgets, including details of major capital schemes.

The Cabinet Committee noted that the Salaries budget showed an underspend of £112,000 or 0.8%. Investment income levels were in line with expectations after three quarters but there was no obvious sign of interest rates improving at the current time, even in the longer term. The Council had received a further payment of £68,000 from its original £2.5million investment placed with the Heritable Bank from the Administrators, which now amounted 77.6% repaid in total. The Council still expected to receive between 86% and 90% of its original investment.

Within the Planning & Economic Development Directorate, Development Control income was £6,000 above the revised estimate, and the final outturn was likely to fall somewhere between the original and revised estimate. Income from Building Control was £4,000 higher than expected, and although a deficit was still expected from this account for the year, this could be set against an accumulated surplus from previous years.

Within the Corporate Support Services Directorate, Licensing income was above expectations and income from the Fleet Operations Unit was in line with expectations and expected to return a surplus of approximately £11,000 by the end of the year. Income from Local Land Charges was also in line with expectations, although there was still significant uncertainty surrounding the future level of charges for this service. Within the Housing Directorate, the Housing Repairs Fund was showing an underspend of £185,000, but due to seasonal factors this was expected to reduce during the final quarter. In respect of Capital schemes, the Limes Farm Hall Development had been completed in February 2012, but the final account had still to be determined.

In conclusion, the Director of Finance & ICT stated that income was generally down on expectations but expenditure was also down. It appeared unlikely that there would be a significant variance on the estimated use of reserves for the year, currently predicted to be £44,000, which would leave a balance of £9.157million.

The Cabinet Committee felt that the Council was doing as well as expected, which given the economic climate was a satisfactory result. It was highlighted by the Planning Portfolio Holder that the timescale given in the report for the Local Plan was not quite correct, but this would be revised in due course with a new target date set. The Director of Finance & ICT added that any potential budgetary problems in respect of the Local Plan would be reported to the Local Plan Cabinet Committee initially, and then this Cabinet Committee if necessary. The Cabinet Committee was reassured that the budget within the Housing Directorate for bed-and-breakfast accommodation for homeless applicants had been increased for 2013/14, due to the expected increase in demand arising from the Government’s welfare reforms.

Resolved:

(1)        That the Quarterly Financial Monitoring report for the period 1 October 2012 to 31 December 2012 regarding the revenue and capital budgets be noted.

Reasons for Decision:

To monitor the Council’s financial position after the third quarter of 2012/13.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

No other options were considered as the report monitored the Council’s financial position after nine months of the financial year.