Agenda item

To consider the attached report (FPM-012-2018/19).

The Assistant Director (Accountancy) presented the first quarterly monitoring on key areas of income and expenditure for 2018/19, which covered the period from 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2018. The report provided details of the revenue budgets, the Continuing Services Budget and District Development Fund as well as the capital budgets which included the Major Capital schemes. They were presented based on the directorate responsible for delivering the services to which the budgets related and was intended to be prepared in the new directorate structure for the second quarter monitoring report. 

A few points of particular interest were highlighted as follows;

·                     The salaries schedule shows an underspend of £170,000 or 2.8% compared to the first quarter last year which was an underspend was 2.5%.

·                     Investment interest was slightly above the target due mainly to the Council holding more cash than was expected. The increase in Interest rates would also have a positive effect going forward though not that significant.

·                     The Development Control income had been well above expectations with fees and charges £274,000 higher than budgeted although pre-application charges were £5,000 lower than expected. There had been a number of larger schemes coming through and the figures had reached the level expected at month 6.

·                      

·                      Building Control income was £22,000 lower than budgeted due to some administrative issues. The opening position on the ring-fenced account had a surplus of £111,000 after a £4,000 deficit last year. The account was budgeted to show an in year deficit of £87,000 and a review of the position on the account was being undertaken.

·                     Public Hire licence income was above expectation and other licensing was below expectations. Although a significant number of renewals were due in the autumn which should bring licensing income back into line.

·                     Income from MOT’s carried out by Fleet Operations was below expectations by around £9,000. The account was budgeted to show a deficit of around £33,000 which was around half the original deficit for the previous year.

·                     Car Parking income was on target, though there would be some income relating to the first quarter that would be received in month 4.

·                     Local Land Charge income was £4,000 below expectations; however it was a little early in the year to be sure whether this trend would continue.

·                     Expenditure and income relating to Bed and Breakfast placements had reduced in recent months with invoicing being a little slow from bed and breakfast accommodation providers but also the Housing Benefit caseload had been reasonably static. There were a number of initiatives in place to stem the increase in bed and breakfast usage and evidence suggested that these were having a positive effect.

·                     There had been no recycling credit income in the first quarter. The County Council were often slow to agree figures in the early part of the year but things tended to catch up by month 6, which occurred last year.

·                     The waste contract expenditure was in line with expectations but the leisure management contract shows a reduction in income due to some unexpected pension related expenditure. Therefore the full expected saving would now be achieved later than expected.

·                     The Housing Repairs Fund showed an underspend of £38,000, which related mainly to planned maintenance works. There was also a small variance on HRA Special Services which related to utility costs

·                     Proposals regarding the Business Rates Retention Scheme advised that 75% of Business Rates would be retained within the local government sector and this would take effect from the financial year 2020/21. Discussions were currently being held with other Essex Authorities to determine whether a bid to Central Government should be made to become a 75% retention pilot for 2019/20.

·                     For 2018/19 the funding retained by the authority after allowing for the Collection Fund deficit from 2017/18 and the estimated various grants given to compensate the authority for the various reliefs was £4,350,000. This exceeded the government baseline of £3,210,000 by some £1,140,000 and actual position for 2018/19 would not be determined until May 2019.

·                     Cash collection total was £10,431,815 and payments out were £8,281,279, which meant that the Council was holding £2,150,536 of cash and so the Council’s overall cash position was benefitting from the effective collection of non-domestic rates.

·                      There were four projects included on the Major Capital Schemes schedule relating to the House Building packages 2 and 3, the new Hillhouse Leisure Centre and refurbishment works at Loughton Leisure Centre.

The Acting Chief Executive, D Macnab advised that although income from MOT’s carried out by Fleet Operations had a £33,000 deficit, this had not reflected the true position as the service was used to maintain the fleet and reduced the overall deficit.

Resolved:

That the revenue and capital financial monitoring report for the first quarter of 2018/19 be noted.

Reasons for Decision:

To note the first quarter financial monitoring report for 2018/19.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

No other options available.