Issue - meetings

Report by Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive to the Strategy and Resources Committee on 7 November 2022 (attached).

Council considered the Performance and Financial Management Quarter 2 report 2022-23 to the Strategy and Resources Committee on 7 November 2022 (circulated previously).

Report by Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive (attached).

The Committee considered a report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive, (circulated previously) regarding the Performance and Financial Management for Quarter 2 of 2022/23.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive highlighted the following:

·         The revenue budget for 2022/23 was approved at Council on 23 February 2022 at £13,721,640.

·         As at 30 September 2022, the latest forecast net budget was £13,681,640, which produced a forecast budget surplus of £40,000. Details were shown in “Appendix A – Variations in the Revenue Budget”.

·         The original budget for 2022/23 included a forecast to achieve £250,000 worth of salary vacancy savings.  The current position forecasts the Council would achieve £441,000.  The additional £191,000 was due to timings of filling the capacity building posts throughout the year, which were approved as part of the original 2022/23 budget.

·         Temporary Accommodation was under additional cost pressure due to the increase in homelessness cases; the in-year impact of this £200,000 forecast increase in costs had been mitigated by utilising balances from the Homelessness earmarked reserve.  Whilst this alleviated the pressure this year, it does mean this one-off amount from the homelessness reserve could not be utilised for other homelessness initiatives.

·         Within the joint Building Control Services, partnership with Mid Devon District Council there had been a decline in income, and due to challenges in recruiting to vacant posts, an increase in the use of agency staffing costs which had negatively impacted the trading account.  The Council was now forecasting a net deficit of £67,000; this included utilising a £50,000 contribution from the Building Control reserve built up through prior year trading surpluses.

·         Further to the report to Strategy and Resources Committee on 4 July 2022, which detailed the in-year inflationary pressures that the Council were likely to experience this year, most of those forecasts were still in line with the July 2022 forecast; with the exception of the potential additional employee costs from the staff pay award being negotiated which was now being predicted at a higher cost following the National Employers pay offer to the Unions.

·         The largest variance, as detailed within Appendix A, was the £804,000 National pay award potential additional staffing costs over and above the £280,000 already built into the base budget; this estimate was based on the offered pay award put forward to the Unions by the National Employers pay review body for the 2022-23 year. The pay offer was based upon £1,925 per full time equivalent employee.

·         Other inflationary pressures built into the forecast included additional fuel costs across the Council’s fleet of £104,000 and additional energy costs of £63,000.

·         The inflationary cost pressures mentioned were looking to be funded in-year through utilisation of the budget management reserve; this reserve, which was set aside to deal with fluctuations within the budget and built up over the last couple of financial years, had provided the Council with the protection needed in 2022/23.  Moving forwards to future years 2023/24 onwards, the Council would not have the benefit of this level  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63