Agenda item

Financial Monitoring

Minutes:

The report set out the current budget position in respect of the 2016/17 revenue and capital budgets and performance against efficiency targets. 

 

Revenue Budget

 

The overall position as at the end of May showed an underspend of £0.274m. It was noted that it was too early in the financial year for any trends in expenditure to be evident and that the situation would be closely monitored as the year progressed.  The Committee was provided with detailed information regarding the position within individual departments with major variances related to non-pay spend and variances on the pay budget summarised as follows: -

 

Area

Overspend/ (Under spend)

Reason

 

£’000

 

Fleet & Technical Services

69

The overspend related to the timing of committed spend against operational equipment, breathing apparatus and hydrant repairs, as goods and services were ordered for delivery later in the financial year, and therefore it was expected to reduce as the year progressed. These overspends were partially offset by underspends against vehicle repairs and maintenance and fuel, and the overall position would be monitored.

Property

(84)

The current underspend related to the timing of spend against planned repairs and maintenance as works were scheduled in for completion later in the financial year, rather than an anticipated forecast underspend at this stage.

Pay

(181)

In terms of the underspend to date, this was broken down as follows:

·        Wholetime pay (£51k underspend) related largely to the timing of costs of ad hoc payments such as overtime and public holidays, and would be monitored closely for the rest of the financial year.

·        Retained pay (£113k underspend) related to vacant hours of cover across many fire stations, plus timing of spend for retained training courses scheduled for later in the financial year.

·        Support staff pay (£18k underspend) related to various vacant posts for which recruitment was currently underway.

 

 

 

 

Capital Budget

The Capital Programme for 2016/17 stood at £7.663m, after allowing for slippage, as reported elsewhere on the agenda, however it was now necessary to bring forward the budget for the replacement of the wide area network (WAN) which had been approved for the next financial year as part of the five year capital programme, to allow the procurement process to start during 2016/17.  This would be funded from capital reserves.  In addition, in order to allow for operational crews to be fully trained on the new Aerial Ladder Platforms bought towards the end of the 2015/16 it was necessary to either extend the existing lease, which ran out on 28 June, or to purchase the vehicle. Following discussion with the Chairman it was agreed to purchase this for £20k, as opposed to paying £1.5k per month to lease it. Selling the vehicle once the training was completed at an anticipated price (based on market research) in excess of £15k was anticipated. Hence allowing for this purchasing, rather than extending the lease, represented better value for money. The cost would be met from a contribution from the revenue budget, and was reflected in the revised capital programme of £8.063m.

 

A review of the programme had been undertaken to identify progress against the schemes as set out in the report.  Appendix 2 sets out the capital programme and the expenditure position against this, as reflected in the report.  The costs to date would be met by both capital grant and revenue contributions.

 

Delivery against savings targets

The annual target stood at £2.5m. To date £0.3m of savings had been delivered.  The performance to date was slightly ahead of target, a combination of the underspend on salaries for the first two months, plus savings in respect of procurement activities during the same period.  It was anticipated that the efficiency target would be met for the financial year.

 

RESOLVED: - That the Committee note the financial position.

 

 

Supporting documents: