Issue - meetings

The Head of Central Services to submit a report to provide Members with information on the provisional year end position subject to external audit approval for 2016/17 and to provide Members with information on the implications for the Council’s balances and reserves.

(The Head of Regulatory Services here left the meeting.)

The Head of Central Services submitted a report to provide Members with information on the provisional year end position subject to external audit approval for 2016/17 and to provide Members with information on the implications for the Council’s balances and reserves.

The Central Services Manager explained that he would take the report in two parts to split the revenue outturn and the reserve position at provisional year end, which would be in the form of a presentation.

The net position against the year end position for the main funds was highlighted and the General Fund General Expenses has an underspend of £417,046. The Special Expenses (Melton Mowbray) has a net transfer after surplus/deficit of £25,534 and the Housing Revenue Account has an underspend of £127,023.

The carry forwards previously approved at the Committee on 12 April 2017 which totalled £302,760 for general expenses and £15,830 for Special Expenses has been reduces to £278,380 and £11,900 respectively, once the final accounts have been completed and the actual underspends are known. As such this reduces the underspend against the estimated year end position on general expenses from £417,046 to £138,666 and net transfer to the reserve from £25,534 to £13,634 on Special Expenses. The key variances are on:

·  Project work – mainly relating to the commercialism pilot which straddles 2 financial years with the underspend being carried forward and funds provided to support the Cattle Market redevelopment which are also being carried forward.

·  Benefits- there has been an underspend on both rent rebates and rent allowances of circa £94k.

·  Information Technology- there has been a number of saving initiatives achieved.

·  Reduced Costs – In general there have been a number of savings such as a refund in Internal Audit Fees, reduced use of professional fees for legal services as well as additional income generated for legal work.

·  Staffing – there has been a number of vacancies across services areas which has resulted in a underspend.

·  Income – the Council has seen an increase in some key income streams such as development control, rents and services at Parkside and investment income.

·  Transformation – there is still an identified sum of £65k to be saved which will carry forward into 2017/18

·  Additional costs - along with the reduced costs, savings and additional income generated, these have been partly offset by some additional costs elsewhere. These include staffing costs and loss of contributions for supporting people and reduced income from Land Charges.

Overall despite continued funding pressures the Council as a whole has managed its budgets prudently which is evident in the underspend position for the year.

A Member was not happy with the figures and feels that the Council are overspending and running reserve balances down.

The Central Services Manager distributed a paper copy of a presentation and a Statement of Revenue and Capital Reserves which he talked Members through the reserves section of the report and to address the concerns on the reserve balance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10