Meeting documents

APPENDIX 2

Council Overall Revenue Budget Monitor

Financial Monitoring Statement: All Portfolios

REVENUE SPENDING

ACTUAL TO DATE

YEAR END FORECAST

All Portfolio's For period to

Actual Spend or (Income)

Budgeted Spend or (Income)

Over or (under) spend

Forecast Spend or (Income)

Budgeted Spend or (Income)

Forecast over or (under) spend

ADV/FAV

NOTE

Sep-05

£'000

£'000

£'000

£'000

£'000

£'000

Transport & Highways

1,186

1,866

(680)

4,289

4,259

30

ADV

1

Children's Services

45,880

45,834

46

96,542

96,139

403

ADV

2

Social Services

11,661

16,495

(4,834)

33,279

32,990

290

ADV

3

Economic Development

(115)

(1,089)

974

(1,916)

(2,084)

168

ADV

4

Sustainability & the Environment

5,890

6,968

(1,077)

12,937

13,104

(166)

FAV

5

Resources

6,934

6,654

280

16,578

16,598

(20)

FAV

6

Leader

986

1,193

(207)

2,170

2,221

(50)

FAV

7

Tourism, Leisure & Culture

599

79

520

3,200

2,829

370

ADV

8

Community Safety and Housing Services

1,834

2,778

(944)

5,492

5,519

(27)

FAV

9

SUB TOTAL

74,857

80,778

(5,921)

172,571

171,573

998

ADV

Management Actions (Listed in Appendix 1 - paragraph 1.7)

(697) - (644)

TOTAL After Management Actions

301 - 354

Note: "ADV" indicates an adverse variance, "FAV" a favourable variance, and a "( )" in the over and under spend columns indicates an underspend or overachievement of income

Note 1: Highways Development Team unlikely to achive income target creating an £80,000 overspend. Street Lighting forecast a £104,000 overspend due to increased tender price (65%) of energy costs arising from volatile market conditions. This will be part funded by £38k from a reserved inflation provision within corporate budgets. The Highways £261,000 underspend year to date is due to works programme not being reflected in budget profile. The £230,000 underspend year to date in Public Transport is due to the difficulties of profiling of the Concessionary Fares and Bus Revenue Support expenditure.

Note 1 (cont'd): Off Street Car Park (Ticket Sales) £84,000 underspend and Park and Ride £72,000 underspend due to income showing increased activity on last year, particularly at Park and Ride sites including Odd Down. Parking Wardens £32,000 underspend due Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) productivity maintained to budget in the first 6 months, whilst salary savings have been achieved.

Note 2: Strategic Management is projecting a £206,000 overspend due to high redundancies as a result of closing schools and falling pupil numbers. There is also a predicted overspend of £361,000 in access due to school transport costs. Children's Services within Social Services forecast a £66,000 full year adverse variance reflecting the increased number of Independent Foster Placements. Special Education's projected £215,000 underspend is due to higher than expected income from recoupment.

Note 3: Adult Services' project a £305,000 overspend at the year end relating to the release of the Mental Health financial plan target savings which will not be achieved. Stringent measures are in place in all services to reduce the overspend, with further urgent measures in mental health also under consideration. The year to date underspend is due to grant income received in advance giving Elderly Persons Homes year to date £773,000 underspend and Primary Care Trust (PCT) income received in advance giving Adult Services a year to date £4,095,000 underspend.

Note 4: Economic Development: Training Services £73,000 overspend incurred from previous format of service and additional Accomodation costs due to later than planned relocation. Administration £12,000 underspend from staff savings. The Employment Development Service £35,000 forecast underspend is due to fewer placements provided than budgeted with Linear Way Workstep and Linear Way Social Service Grant partly offset by overspends on salaries and stationary. Property: The Corporate Estate forecast £78,000 overspend is due to delays in vacating North Parade Buildings and additional costs associated with the full occupation of Abbey Chambers that cannot be passed on to tenants. Corporate Performance Unit: Corporate Performance Unit forecast year end overspend of £60,000, the year to date £26,000 underspend reflects vacancy management to date. Its new performance reporting role will be developed using secondments from Commercial Services releasing efficiency savings.

Note 5: Planning: Planning Policy £40,000 underspend from salary savings (prior to service restructuring) and additional recharge income partly offset by savings to be found. Local Plan forecast £40,000 underspend due to rephased spend on Legal Advice, Advocacy and Planning Inspectorate charges which will be incurred in 2006-07. Co-ordination and Promotion £53,000 underspend from savings on salaries (prior to service restructuring). Partnerships and Projects £43,000 underspend from staff savings and additional unbudgeted income. Management and Administration £46,000 overspends from staffing and additional costs of Uniforms Systems Project.

Note 5 (cont'd): Waste Management: Refuse Collection £59,000 overspend as the income contribution from trade waste is declining and we must absorb rises in disposal costs & fuel costs, price rises will need to be implemented. Waste Management and Disposal £200,000 underspend as disposal savings are being realised from pursuing recycling initiatives, which include recruitment of staff at the waste recycling centres to encourage greater sorting. If the improvement in the tonnages being sent to landfill is sustained, a budget virement of the saving will be proposed to adjust for the increased costs in Waste Operations. Waste Operations (Transfer & CA sites) £100,000 overspend due pressures from maintenance of plant, fuel cost and staff incurred (staff associated with recycling initiatives).

Note 6: Corporate Support Services: Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages £19,000 underspend forecast based on actual income achieved during 2004/05 and the period to September 2005, which exceeds 2005/06 budget. Human Resources £85,000 overspend as 2004/05 carry forward-to be recovered as per HR Recovery Plan (but not yet specified). Central Personnel Team £54,000 underspend due to a staff vacancy. Resources, Corporate and Major Projects Personnel £26,000 underspend forecast anticipates reduction in operating costs based on previous years actual expenditure. Operations Personnel Team £21,000 underspend due to a staff vacancy. People Service £43,000 overspend forecast assumes that only small element (£8,000) of budgeted Savings Target (£48,000) will be achieved. Resources Services: The Resources Director and Business Services forecast £19,000 underspend is due to vacancies within Audit Services. The Financial Planning £19,000 overspend is due to a temporary increase in staffing costs following the departure of the Head of Service.

Note 6 (cont'd): Operations Non Trading: Temp Agency £20,000 overspend reflects a continued financial plan saving requirement. A project has been established to attempt to partially recover this sum. Operations Trading: Commercial Services Divisional Overheads £90,000 underspend due to efficiency savings. Catering £20,000 overspend; new menus introduced in September will increase the nutritional standards in school catering. This will result in increased costs of staff and food (including raising spend per meal from 38p to 50p) and will be mitigated by marketing initiatives to increase take-up, a procurement review, and use of a government grant. Building Engineering Services £35,000 overspend due a re-assessment of contribution expectation being undertaken in the light of decreasing property repair work. Year to date figures reflect admin backlog on identification of income.

Note 6 (cont'd) : Corporate Budgets: Loan Charges £120,000 underspend as the Minimum Revenue Provision ( MRP) calculation is less than estimated. Housing Benefit Rent Allowances forecast £76,000 overspend due to Bath Churches Housing Association (BCHA) rent increases not recoverable through extra Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) subsidy.

Note 7: Communications & Marketing £19,000 underspend due to a staff vacancy. Corporate Projects Team £15,000 underspend due to a staff vacancy. The remaining £10,000 underspend is from other underspends in Community Strategy and the Council Information Service.

Note 8: Libraries & Information: Bath Central Library £48,000 overspend forecast assumes that budgeted income targets will not be achieved based on activity in year to date. Current forecast £82,000 shortfall for Head of Libraries Service in achieving savings target (£84,000) and overspend carried forward from 2004-05 (65,000). Service Central Management £10,000 overspend as salary costs to date will exceed current budget. Libraries Development £58,000 underspend as capitalisation of salary costs not initially budgeted, re development of Library Management System. Business Development £20,000 overspend forecast assumes that budgeted sponsorship income will not be achieved during 2005-2006. Marketing & Communications £30,000 underspend, forecast includes year end adjustment - yet to be committed. Library Stock and Materials £25,000 underspend forecast reflects greater rental income from DVD's than initially budgeted.

Note 8 (cont'd): Heritage incl Archives: £391,000 overspend; lower than planned visitor numbers to the Roman Baths and Museum of Costume combined with an increased proportion of group visitors have reduced admission income and "secondary spend" (retail / catering) ; offset by savings already achieved in the current year of £155,000, mainly in staffing costs and deferred investment of £60,000. Further cost reduction measures are under active review in order to limit the extent of the shortfall. The Council Executive has previously decided that surpluses and deficits are ringfenced to Heritage, but there is insufficient funding available within the Heritage trading reserve. If the current projection is maintained it will be necessary for Heritage Services to obtain an advance from Council balances that will be repaid over future years.

Note 8 (cont'd): Leisure Services: The Cemeteries & Crematorium £70,000 underspend is due to the trend of increased trading income continuing and maintenance budgets having been reviewed. The Parks and Open Spaces £26,000 underspend reflects that the parks and ground maintenance teams show deficits from unachieved income targets, only partly mitigated by staff savings. The section is being restructured to re-examine the fit between current staffing levels, service capacity and resources available. Sport & Active Leisure £30,000 overspend is due to additional cost of £30,000 for Bath's bid to host support facilities for London 2012 Olympics.

Note 9: Environmental and Consumer forecast £79,000 underspend reflects additional income from new licencing scheme. This income may need to be carried forward to cover costs in later years. Housing year to date £170,000 overspend is due to Supporting People payments made in advance, with grant income received in arrears. The Housing year end £38,000 underspend is due to salary vacancies and improved performance in Bed and Breakfast recovery. The year to date underspend of £734,000 Drug Action Team & Community Safety is due to Primary Care Trust (PCT) income received in advance..Public Protection full year £86,000 adverse variance reflects under achieved Land Charges fees partly offset by Building Regulations Fees exceeding budget.

Budget Reconciliation

The overall monitoring position for these services is

Budget per last report

170,881

that they are currently

£5,921,000

Underspent

Virements

692

and, with management action, there is a small potential

Current budget

171,573

year end overspend of £301k-£354k (0.2% of budget)