5:30pm
Minutes:
The Leader and Chief Finance Officer attended to update Members on the Budget Outturn for 2015/16. Reports were taken to Cabinet on 14 June, 2016 on the individual portfolio accounts and the overall summary for 2015/16. The Chief Finance Officer explained that the original budget forecast a deficit of £94k, the revised budget forecast had predicted a £225k surplus and the actual net surplus for 2015/16 was £448k. The Chief Finance Officer explained which areas had come in over budget or created surpluses and the reasons why that had happened. A working balance of £1.5m would be maintained along with various reserves.
The predicted forecast for 2016/17 would see a budget deficit of £1.3m. The Chief Finance Officer advised that there needed to be a focus on creating a sustainable budget and the Council’s reserves could only be used once and should not be relied on. Two areas of income that could potentially change were the New Homes Bonus and the effect devolution may have on Business Rate retention. The Leader added that whilst certain service areas had been a success and had come in under budget, due to future uncertainties the reserves needed to be kept in place.
Members asked if the Council was at risk of getting into serious debt in the future. The Chief Finance Officer replied that there would always be new pressures on the budget however after 2020 a more stable position was predicted. The Leader stressed that the Council was working to become more commercial and self-financing. Members also asked if the forecasted £1.3m deficit figure for 2016/17 could be reduced. The Chief Finance Officer advised that the surpluses and under spends were being looked at to see if a reoccurrence was expected.
Members enquired about the recruitment for the new Director of Resources post and thanked the Chief Finance Officer for the work he had done for the Forum and in particular his support for Scrutiny. The Leader added his thanks to the Chief Finance Officer and informed Members that the first recruitment exercise had returned no suitable candidates for interview. Consequently, the salary had been increased slightly and a new recruitment consultant had been chosen; the search for new candidates was currently underway. The recruitment consultant had been advised to look in both public and private sector markets and was expected to return a better response. In the interim, external support would be sought to cover the role from when the Chief Finance Officer leaves at the end of June, 2016.
The Chair thanked the Leader and Chief Finance Officer for attending to provide Members with the report and answering their questions.
RESOLVED –
1. That the report be noted.
2. That the Forum thanks the Chief Finance Officer and Council, especially the service areas that had engaged in transformation to help the budget situation.
3. That an update on the analysis of service areas, showing how surpluses had been achieved, be brought to Overview and Performance Scrutiny Forum in November, 2016.