Cabinet Member for Finance – John Whitehead
Decision:
The following decision has been taken by the Cabinet and will come into effect on 19 July 2017 unless the call in procedure is activated:
Report Title/Ref No: 2016/17 Financial Outturn / MCa/17/6
Decisions Made by Cabinet:
1. That the 2016/17 financial outturn as set out in this Report be noted
2. That the following net transfers of £528k be approved with the General Fund reserves;
a) Transfer of £250k, being the income from Snoasis to an earmarked reserve, referred to in paragraph 10.9 of this report;
b) Transfer of £257k, being the 2015/16 deficit on the business rates Collection Fund from the Business Rates Equalisation reserve, referred to in paragraph 10.9 of this report;
c) Transfer of £535k, being the balance of the General Fund favourable variance, to the Transformation Fund, referred to in paragraph 10.8 of this report
3. That the General Fund carry-forward requests that individually exceed £25k and totalling £314k referred to in paragraph 10.12 of this Report be approved
4. That the Capital carry-forward requests referred to in paragraphs 10.20 and 10.21 of this Report totalling £26.085m be approved
5. That the transfer of £72k, being the HRA deficit for the year (£790k better than planned) per paragraph 10.25, from Reserves be approved
6. That the HRA Capital carry-forward requests that exceed £25k referred to in paragraph 10.32 of this Report totalling £751k be approved
Reason for Decisions: To manage the financial impact of the 2016/17 outturn position
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected: None
Any Declarations of Interest declared: None
Any Dispensation Granted: None
Minutes:
Councillor Whitehead in introducing the report said that the report summarised the 2016/17 financial outturn for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account, and capital programme and that the outturn had been through a general audit for the fiscal year 2016/17.
There had been a change to the general funding caused by the descaling of the funding from Central Government, however despite this it was reported that the Outturn for the 2016/17 was positive. The distribution of net transfers of funds from the General Fund were outlined in recommendation 2.1 and 2.2.
The Housing Revenue Account had been budgeted for a significant in-year deficit, but had performed above expectation with a deficit of less than 10%. The favourable revenue and HRA capital position was a result of the decisions taken during the year and had contribute positively to the 30-year budget and the debt cap situation.
The positive outturn was a result of the budget holders and their collective diligence to ensure that the outturn remained robust for Mid Suffolk District Council.
Councillor Whitehead proposed the recommendations which were seconded by Councillor Glen Horn.
Councillor Whitehead, Cabinet Member for Finance, made Members aware of a correction to page 13 under the heading of Photo Voltaic (PV) Panels. The number of properties should be 168 and not 68.
Councillor Otton said she appreciated that £250,000 had been allocated to SnOasis, but queried what the consequence would be if staff pay were to raise above the 1% pay increase and if the reduction of interim officers would improve on the savings.
Councillor Otton wanted to know when it would be possible to begin a marketing campaign for the Building Control Service and if enough money had been budget for the cost of Premises Expenditure, as the annual cost was set to £25,000 and this cost had previously not been enough to cover this item. She also asked for an update on Shared Legal Services’ recruitment.
Councillor Otton continued by saying that she felt that too much money was being allocated to the Transformation Fund and that she could not support this allocation.
In response to Councillor Otton’s questions, Councillor Whitehead, Cabinet Member for Finance responded that staffing had been budget carefully and that £100,000 had been set aside to ensure enough funding for this purpose. The Premises Expenditure was changed from the original draft and the actual cost was different from the budget. He said the Shared Legal Services was an ongoing process and that staffing was being addressed.
Arthur Charvonia, Chief Executive, informed Members that recruiting was still ongoing for Shared Legal Services and once this had been completed the service would be fully operational.
Councillor Gowrley, Leader of the Cabinet, informed Members that a report on the Transformation Fund would be presented at the next Cabinet meeting in August.
Councillor Andrew Stringer ask if the £71,000 for Shared Legal Services was an overspend, which was confirmed by the officers. He also wanted clarification on what was included in the £41,000 under bullet point c in the Public Transformation Fund and ICT. Councillor Stringer wondered if it would have been possible to spend £16,000 on the Tree for Life project since there now was a saving of £32,000 under the Sustainable Environment budget.
Members were informed that Building Control had a 2.4% reduction in services and this had created a shortfall of £17,000. West Suffolk Building Control were preparing a business case to prepare the business for the next three years and to establish whether it was suitable for the service to remain located in Endeavour House.
Councillor Gowrley agreed with Members that Cabinet was to vote on recommendation 2.2 c separately.
By a unanimous vote
RESOLUTION 1
That the 2016/17 financial outturn as set out in the report be noted
RESOLUTION 2
That the following net transfers of £528k be approved with the General Fund reserves:
a) Transfer of £250k, being the income from SnOasis to an earmarked reserve, referred to in paragraph 10.9 of the report
b) Transfer of £257k, being the 2015/16 deficit on the business rates Collection Fund from the Business Rates Equalisation reserve, referred to in paragraph 10.9 of the report
RESOLUTION 3
That the General Fund carry-forward requests that individually exceed £25k and totalling £314k referred to in paragraph 10.2 of the report be approved
RESOLUTION 4
That the Capital carry-forward requests referred to in paragraphs 10.20 and 10.21 of the report be approved
RESOLUTION 5
That the transfer of £72k, being the HRA deficit for the year (£790k better than planned) per paragraph 10.25, from Reserves be approved
RESOLUTION 6
That the HRA Capital carry-forward requests that exceed £25k referred to in paragraph 10.32 of the report totalling £751k be approved
By 6 Votes to 2
RESOLUTION 7
c) Transfer of £535k, being the balance of the General Fund favourable variance, to the Transformation Fund, referred to in paragraph 10.8 of the report
Supporting documents: