Agenda item

The Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement introduced his report highlighting the risks faced by the Council in delivering the budget.  The Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement advised the Committee that:

·  In the quarter 1 budget monitoring figures, it was reported that, based on current numbers in temporary accommodation, an overspend in excess of £800,000 was projected.  Although the Council was acquiring additional properties through the capital programme, a large number of families would continue to be housed in nightly paid accommodation.  The overspend could be mitigated substantially through underspends elsewhere throughout the Council, reducing the projected overspend to just under £300,000, but there was a significant risk that it might not be possible to balance the budget or even that the overspend could be higher.

·  Budget planning for next year 2024/25 was well underway.  A budget gap of £925,000 was projected for 2024/25 assuming that Council Tax income is increased by the maximum possible given the referendum limit and fees and charges are increased in line with inflation.  Budget proposals had been put forward which would deliver sufficient savings to close the budget gap.

·  There was a suggestion at the last meeting that a risk be added around the need to subsidise the affordable housing programme.  He had considered this, but he had not included it as an additional risk as it was a political decision and not a risk faced by the Council from external factors.

In response to questions:

The Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement advised the Committee that:

·  There were risks already in the budget risk register around increases in expenditure beyond budgeted levels.

·  Although a priority list of capital spending had not been produced specifically, the issue was addressed when the capital programme was reviewed every year.  Having to increase the estimates for individual schemes might result in slippage.

·  In terms of risk Q (Financial Impact from IT Security Failure), there had been a number of instances where Councils had seen their IT systems go down for weeks at a time with severe financial and service implications.  The Council had security measures in place such as anti-virus software to help mitigate the risks.

·  It could be argued that the risks associated with (a) the specific requirement in relation to the Affordable Housing Programme to provide the necessary subsidy for tenants and (b) temporary accommodation were covered in existing risks.  However, they could be identified as specific risks to give them greater emphasis.

The Head of Mid-Kent Audit Partnership undertook to discuss with the Housing Team the merits of undertaking a piece of work on issues relating to temporary accommodation, including benchmarking.

RESOLVED:  That the updated risk assessment of the Budget Strategy, provided at Appendix A to the report of the Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement, be noted and that a recommendation be made that the risks associated with (a) the specific requirement in relation to the Affordable Housing Programme to provide the necessary subsidy for tenants and (b) temporary accommodation be added.