Issue - meetings

The Head of Finance introduced the budget monitoring report and noted that the annual accounts had not yet been audited, and so figures should be treated as provisional. Within the revenue budget for the Committee, a favourable variance of £589,000 was reported which was largely due to significant increases of income for both the Crematorium and the garden waste services.

The Council had a total underspend of £1.2 million which was largely a result of the government funding received to support with the impact of the pandemic. However, it was highlighted that these were one-off sums and so would not strengthen the longer-term financial position of the Council.

Within the capital budget, the main areas of expenditure were the developments at Brunswick Street and Union Street, and the purchase of Springfield Mill.

The Senior Business Analyst introduced the performance monitoring report, outlining that four of the fifteen key performance indicators (KPIs) for the Committee did not reach their targets. It was noted that three KPIs had missed their target by more than 10%: Contamination – tonnage per month rejected; percentage of successful relief duty outcomes; and number of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) brought to compliance by private rented sector licensing (bi-annual KPI).

Contamination: tonnage per month rejected had consistently missed its target throughout the year, which was partially attributed to the increase in household waste and recycling due to more residents working from home, and therefore increasing the risk of contamination. A plan of work had been scheduled by the Waste Team to improve contamination. It was explained that the percentage of successful relief duty outcomes remained above the national average, and the annual target for the number of HMOs brought to compliance was met despite the target being missed in quarters three and four.

In response to questions, the Head of Housing and Community Services advised that the Council’s KPIs related to homelessness activity could be measured against the national statistics retrospectively, however consideration would need to be given to ensure that comparisons were made on a like for like basis and took account of a local area’s specificities.

RESOLVED: That

1.  The Revenue position as at the end of Quarter 4 for 2020/21, including the actions being taken or proposed to improve the position, where significant variances have been identified, be noted;

2.  The Capital position at the end of Quarter 4 be noted; and

3.  The Performance position as at Quarter 4 for 2020/21, including the actions being taken or proposed to improve the position, where significant issues have been identified, be noted.