Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 This report presents the Backward Looking Annual Efficiency Statement for 2005/06. The statement has been approved by the Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive and the Council's Chief Financial Officer, and was submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government on 6^th July 2006.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 Note that the Council has always taken efficiency seriously, prior to the Government setting efficiency targets.

2.2 Note that the Government target has been exceeded for 2004/05 and 2005/06.

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 The efficiencies that have been achieved in 2005/06 are reflected in the Council's un-audited outturn report to the Council Executive on 7^th June 2006.

3.2 The efficiency savings for 2006/07 have been reflected in the Council's budget.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 The Government set Local Authorities a target of 7½% efficiency savings over three years. The Council report a Forward Looking Statement and a Backward Looking Statement each year, the latter reflecting actual savings made. This report presents the key headline from the Backward Looking Statement for 2005/06.

4.2 The headline figure of the return is a total efficiency gain relating to 2005/06 of £2,977,392, or which £2,184,902 (73%) is "cashable". The table below shows the cumulative position at the end of 2005/06 against the current government efficiency target, which is 32% above the government target:

4.3 The 2006/07 Forward Looking Statement submitted in April 2006 forecast a total efficiency gain for 2006/07 of £3,204,000. The following table illustrates the current forecast cumulative position as at the end of 2006/07 (after the removal of one-off items in 2005/06) compared to Government efficiency targets, which is 6.5% above the target:

4.4 Appendix 1 shows the completed Department for Communities & Local Government statement summarised by the 2005/06 Annual Efficiency Statement headings.

4.5 The statement has been approved by the Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive and the Council's Chief Financial Officer. The statement was presented to the informal Council Executive meeting on 28^th June 2006 and the Directors' Group on 26^th June 2006, prior to the submission deadline to the Department for Communities & Local Government of 6^th July 2006.

5 RISK MANAGEMENT

5.1 A risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations has been undertaken, in compliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance.

5.2 In relation to this report, each Director has reviewed the robustness and risk contained in their budgets as part of setting the 2006/07 budget.

6 RATIONALE

6.1 The Council has always strived to improve its efficiency. This statement merely reports its achievements.

7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 Efficiency savings are identified as part of the budget options each year.

8 CONSULTATION

8.1 Directors' Group were consulted on 26^th June 2006. Consultation has also been undertaken with the Council's Section 151 Officer, Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer, Directors and their supporting finance staff.

9 URGENCY

9.1 Deemed Urgent under Rule 15. The comments of the Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer or where appropriate, the Chief Financial Officer were sought.

9.2 To formally bring to the attention of the Executive the Council's meeting of an important achievement target as close as possible to the Annual Efficiency Statement submission date of 6^th July 2006.