Agenda item

Report of the Senior Accountant

This report informs the Budget Panel of the reported budgetary variances at the end of October 2013 (period 7).

The Panel received the latest edition of the Finance Digest. 

Members commented that it was difficult interpreting some of the information within the report.  Councillor Turmaine suggested that additional commentary could be added to aid readers.  The Chair added that he had also discussed this with officers.

The Head of Finance Shared Services acknowledged that the document was not user-friendly and would be difficult for non-financial people to understand.  He stated that the Digest had been in the same format for several years.  The document highlighted the variances for the current month.  The Shared Internal Audit Service would be undertaking a best practice review on financial monitoring and reporting with various local authorities and would be reporting on this later in the year.  Members would be consulted. 

Following comments about the icons used in the document, the Head of Finance Shared Services advised that when the document had last been updated Members had commented that they liked the small icons.  The symbols were automatically inserted following the comparison of the forecast outturn and the original budget.  The Digest provided information throughout the year but did not make comparisons with previous months.  One Member said that the icons helped to identify areas of concern. 

Corporate Strategy and Client Services

Councillor Turmaine noted the Strategic Finance overspend forecast for the current year.  He asked for clarification of the agreed budget changes for Corporate Strategy and Client Services.

The Head of Finance Shared Services explained that the figures in brackets represented a reduction in the budget.  A new line ‘Contract Monitoring’ had been added.  When the budget had originally been set it was not known that the services would be outsourced to Veolia.  There was no overall change to the service’s expenditure.

Following a question from the Chair, the Head of Finance Shared Services stated that the line entitled ‘Grants’ included the grants to the commissioned organisations including the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and the Palace Theatre, plus the small grants fund.

Councillor D Scudder, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Strategy and Client Services, responded to the Chair’s question regarding how organisations were informed about the small grants fund.  He informed Members that the information had been included in the Members’ Bulletin and all Councillors had been given a number of A5 flyers. 

Councillor Aron added that posters had also been placed in locations accessible to the public.

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer advised on the Task Group which had worked with officers on the new Commissioning Framework.  When Overview and Scrutiny Committee had reviewed the implementation of the Task Group’s recommendations, officers had been asked to ensure that information was circulated to all Councillors.

The Chair asked that Councillors were supplied with additional leaflets.

Councillor Scudder advised that in 2012/13 the small grants budget had seen an underspend.  For the current financial year it was on target. 

Regeneration and Development

Following a question from the Chair about the figures contained in brackets, the Head of Finance Shared Services explained that the information for Commercial Projects related to income projections.  The total forecast variance was currently an additional £595,000 income.  This had been due to the reduced costs for the market following the transfer to Intu and the commercial portfolio generating more income. 

Strategic Finance

Councillor Taylor noted that the row entitled ‘Revs and Bens Shared Service’ had ‘0’ in each column. 

The Shared Director of Finance explained that the relevant line on this table was ‘Revenues and Benefits Client’.  The Head of Finance Shared Services added that the ‘Client’ accounts were similar to ‘trading accounts’.  Both local authorities were recharged for this service.

Key Financial Risk Areas

In response to Councillor Greenslade’s concerns about the increase to the Forecast Outturn for ICT, the Head of Finance Shared Services advised that officers and the Shared Services Joint Committee were aware of the increase in budget for the year.

Councillor Derbyshire referred to ‘Investment Interest’ and asked whether the Council was exposed to the Co-op Bank Bonds.

The Head of Finance Shared Services confirmed that the Council had a current account with the Co-op Bank.  The Council invested money overnight but there were no long term investments with the bank.

Creditor Payment Monitoring

Councillor Turmaine noted the information about payments to creditors.  He asked whether officers were able to advise Members of the charges the Council had incurred due to late payment.

The Shared Director of Finance explained that the Council did not automatically pay interest.  It would only be paid if a company invoked the charge.

Council Tax and NNDR Collection

Councillor Taylor suggested that instead of using percentages it might be better to see figures.

The Shared Director of Finance advised that this would be changing. 

Councillor Turmaine noted that in relation to Council Tax Collection, four out of six months had been below the target.  Business Rates had been below target on two occasions.  He asked whether officers were able to provide any reasons.

The Shared Director of Finance informed the Panel that the majority of Council Taxpayers made their payments on a monthly basis.  The estimated percentages were based on historic figures.  The actual income for Council Tax was only just below the target.  Currently she was not concerned about the level of Council Tax collected to date.  She added that in October, 64.4% had been collected which was slightly higher than the target.  With regard to Business Rates, some companies paid at the beginning of the year.  Officers compared historic data when setting the targets for Business Rates collection.

RESOLVED –

that Budget Panel’s comments be noted.