The Committee received the
report of the Head of Finance. The Head
of Finance introduced the report advising that as this was quarter
one there was not a huge variance. She
explained how a number of improvements were being made to the
budget monitoring process in relation to the level of vacancies, an
extended section of risk and the enhanced role of the Operational
Leadership Team.
She explained that the quarter
one report did not include information (such as around income) on
the Croxley Business Park - she advised that how the data was to be
presented was being examined.
Furthermore, the training needs of members were being considered to
assist them in monitoring future reports. She went on to discuss how the improvement in
property revenues was good news.
The Head of Finance continued
by discussing the various sources of income to the council -
advising that the New Homes Bonus would stay as it was for the
current financial year. However, this
would not impact on the forecast. She
then talked through the matrix contained in Appendix Six to the
report in relation to emerging budget risks and how these would be
monitored in the future.
The Head of Finance informed
the committee that the decision to sell a phase in relation to
Riverwell had reduced borrowing
costs. She then discussed revenue
transfers from other projects and the details of a report to
Cabinet about the Bike Share Project.
She advised that Town Hall plans around the northern hub had been
put on hold with possible slippage and that there had been an
income change to the medium term financial strategy. She concluded by explaining how underspends
and slippage costs were calculated.
In response to questions from
members, the Head of Finance:
·
Undertook to provide further information to the
committee on the Rag risk rating of £216K discussed in
paragraph 3.1.2 of the report under Watford 2020.
·
Advised that the Group Head of Community and
Environmental Services was progressing the new cemetery provision
and that information would be provided to members once a decision
had been made.
·
Explained how the income from Hart Homes was being
received by the Council. This would be
in the region of £5m over 4 years but the net impact would be
smaller because of borrowing costs - and should be close to the
medium term financial forecast.
·
Advised that a court case in relation to the indoor
bowls club had been settled - where some elements had been written
off and that payments would be received in quarter two.
·
Undertook to find out the position in relation to a
case of debt to the council.
Councillor Watkin advised the
committee of the process for selecting the new managing director
and of the progress that had been made to date. He went on to discuss decisions made by Cabinet in
relation to the Croxley Business Park and the Bike Share
Project. He ended by explaining that
the Revenue and Benefits service would remain ...
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