1.        PURPOSE OF REPORT AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1     This report provides the committee with an overview of the revenue budget and outturn for the first quarter of 2016/17, and highlights financial matters which may have a material impact on the medium term financial strategy or the balance sheet.

1.2     As at the 30 June 2016, this committee was showing an adverse variance of £72,682 overall.  The individual variances for each service area are detailed within Appendix I.

2.        INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.1     The Director of Finance & Business Improvement is the Responsible Financial Officer, and has overall responsibility for budgetary control and financial management.  However in practice, day to day budgetary control is delegated to service managers, with assistance and advice from their director and the finance section.

2.2     The medium term financial strategy for 2016/17 onwards was agreed by full Council on 2 March 2016.  This report advises and updates the committee on the current position with regards to revenue expenditure against the approved budgets.

2.3     Attached at Appendix I is a table detailing the current budget and

expenditure position for this Committee’s services in relation to the first

quarter of 2016/17, to June 2016. The appendix details net budget per

cost centre for this Committee. Actual expenditure is shown to the end of June 2016 and includes accruals for goods and services received but not yet

paid for.

2.4     The columns of the table in the Appendix show the following detail:

a)   The cost centre description;

b)   The value of the total budget for the year;

c)   The amount of the budget expected to be spent by the end of June 2016;

d)   The actual spend to that date;

e)   The variance between expected and actual spend;

f)    The forecast spend to year end; and

g)   The expected significant variances at 31 March 2017.

2.5      Appendix I shows that of an annual budget of £10,440,515 there was an expectation that £2,432,880 would be spent in the first quarter of the year. At this point in time the budget position for this committee as a whole is an overspend of £72,682.  However, the full year forecast indicates that the variance could increase to £500,000 as a consequence of ongoing pressures on the temporary accommodation budget.  This forecast is based on current assumptions around the demand for this service.

2.6     The committee will be aware that a number of actions have already been taken to reduce the cost of providing temporary accommodation in recent years, and efforts to address the overspend in this area are ongoing.  For the current financial year, the council increased the occupation charges for temporary accommodation.  The increase was effective from August and the intended impact is to maximise the amount of income which can be recovered through occupation charges, which in the main are covered by housing benefit payments.  Work to determine the extent to which this will alleviate the overspend in this area is ongoing.

2.7     Explanations for variances within individual cost centres which exceed or are expected to exceed £30,000 have been provided in accordance with the council’s constitution.

3     AVAILABLE OPTIONS

3.      

3.1     In considering the current position on the revenue budget at the end of

June 2016 the committee can choose to note those actions and reconsider the outcomes at the end of the second quarter or it could choose to take further action.

4         PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.      

4.1     The committee is requested to note the content of the report and agree on any necessary action to be taken in relation to the budget position.

5         CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

5.      

5.1     This report is not expected to lead to any consultation.

6         NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

6.      

6.1     The second quarter’s budget monitoring reports will be presented to service committees for their consideration in November 2016.

6.2     Currently there are no matters which require a decision from this committee.  The success of actions taken to address the overspend in the temporary accommodation budget, as set out in paragraph 2.6, will be regularly reported to this committee through later versions of this report.

7         CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

8         REPORT APPENDICES

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix I: First Quarter 2016/17 Revenue Monitoring – Communities, Housing and Environment Committee

9         BACKGROUND PAPERS

None