Agenda item

This report presents the results of the second round of the Council’s revenue budget monitoring process for 2023/24. The Council’s summary position is presented in section 5, with sections 6-7 providing the detail for the service areas within the remit of this committee.

Discussion:

The Head of Revenue Accounts introduced the report which presented the Council’s revenue budget monitoring position. The Council position had improved from a projected £17m overspend in round 1 to a £12m overspend in round 2. The projected overspend of these areas within the remit of the Committee was £1.1m.

The following issues were discussed:

Comparison with position in 2022-23 – a Member commented that the current projected position of an overspend of £12m was better than at the same point last year where the projected overspend was £14m at the end of round 2 monitoring, the current position was therefore not unusual for the Council. The Chief Operating Officer acknowledged the projected overspend was higher at round 2 last financial year, however at that point the Council had significantly more in reserves available to fund it. Despite management action the Council overspent by £6m in addition to a £5m planned use of reserves in 2022/23, reducing general reserves down to £10m, which was less than the current projected overspend.

Council Reserves - a Member commented that Council general reserves of £10m were significantly better than had been for much of the last few years. The Chief Operating Officer agreed that reserves had increased from £5m in 2018 to £26m in 2022, which was positive, however, the Council had used much of their reserves and the current projected overspend was greater than the level of general reserves and the Council was in a challenging financial position.

Property Rationalisation – a Member asked for progress on the property rationalisation programme. The Chief Operating Officer explained there was a programme in place which was being led by the Regeneration Department and not a function of Business Support so would not be reported to this Committee.

Members’ Allowances – in response to a question why Members’ allowances were shown as overspent by £134,000 when Members allowances were linked to staff costs so should be known in advance, the Chief Finance Officer acknowledged there had been a clerical error which meant the change in that budget to reflect the rise in the number of Councillors had not been made.

Legal Services – a Member noted progress had been made in reducing the overspend in legal services by £203,000, it was asked whether this related to release of agency staff or recruitment of permanent  staff.  The Head of Revenue Accounts explained that although progress had been made, the recent changes in legal services would take time to realise savings. The Chief Operating Officer explained that Legal Services were undertaking recruitment at the moment to increase the establishment and pay at a commercial rate, the overspend will be reduced when the base cost was reset. A briefing note was requested on the effects of the changes in Legal Services.

Staff Productivity – in response to a question whether staff productivity had been affected by the partial closure of Gun Wharf and working from home, the Chief Operating Officer explained that productivity was a matter for individual managers, however, he had seen no evidence of a fall in productivity within his department.

Decision:

1.               The Committee noted the results of the second round of revenue budget monitoring for 2023/24.

2.               The Committee noted that the Cabinet instructed the Corporate Management Team to implement urgent actions to bring expenditure back within the budget agreed by Full Council.

3.               The Committee requested a briefing note regarding the ongoing changes in Legal Services.