Agenda item

Area

Over/(Under) spend at 31 Oct

Forecast Outturn

Reason

£’000

£’000

Training & Operational Review

(55)

(253)

The underspend to date related to savings in respect of bringing the training centre catering provision back in house, which had been reflected in the 2017/18 budget, following the first full year’s results.

In addition, work was on-going to refine the various work streams relating to the additional £0.3m investment in organisational development however these had not yet concluded, therefore this would be underspent at year end.

Property

(198)

(169)

The underspend related to spend against planned repairs and maintenance as property department capacity was almost fully occupied with the working on the current capital projects.  It was expected that this would result in a similar level of underspend by year end.  In addition it reflected previous year’s investment in property assets.  A full stock condition survey was currently underway, which would indicate where and how much future investment might be required.   The repairs and maintenance budget for 2017/18 had been reduced by £100k in anticipation of the expected results. 

Service Delivery

(227)

(366)

The underspend reflected the continued reductions in spending across many budget headings, for which next year’s budget had been reduced, the single most significant element of which was the ongoing underspend on smoke detectors and fire safety consumables as the new Home Fire Safety Check process continued to be embedded within the service. 

Utilities were also forecast to be underspent, reflecting past and ongoing energy efficiency measures.

Next year’s budget would be adjusted to reflect the out-turn position.

Pay - wholetime

(425)

(786)

The majority of the underspend related to difference between budgeted staffing numbers and actual staffing number.

Personnel have continued to leave the service without accruing full pension benefits, with a further 14 personnel doing this since the budget was set, and we anticipated a further 4 more between now and the year end. (This was not allowed for in the original budget proposal as it was not clear whether this was related to changes to the pension schemes or not, however it was now apparent that this trend would continue and hence next year’s budget would be amended to reflect this.)

Whilst recruitment had taken place in year this was lower than originally allowed for in the budget and was also later in the year, resulting in an underspend. This situation was further compounded by the fact that the new recruits had all come from the retained duty system personnel meaning that the recruit’s course was considerably shorter, 4 weeks instead of 13, resulting in a further underspend.

The final element of underspend related to a combination of the timing of costs of ad hoc payments such as overtime and public holidays, and the mix of personnel in each of the pension schemes. All of these had been reviewed and updated as part of next year’s budget setting exercise.

Pay - RDS

(284)

(777)

The underspend related to the shortfall  in respect of hours of cover provided, which were higher than allowed for in the budget, reflecting the on-going issues in terms of recruitment and retention. This was compounded by a greater number of RDS personnel still being in development than forecast, again reflecting turnover rates.

The current wholetime recruitment could potentially create further reductions in hours of cover as 27 RDS staff had now begun their wholetime recruits course dependent on their subsequent ability to carry out dual roles.  However we had further RDS recruitment exercises planned to alleviate the issue.  This would be reflected in future forecast updates.

The Retained budget also included an additional £600k in relation to the Strengthening and Improving RDS project. However in order to achieve the maximum benefits from the investment we had undertaken a lengthy process to develop options, in conjunction with RDS personnel, which had delayed the implementation of any change and hence had led to an underspend on this.

It was worth noting that the RDS Pay review had one of its key objectives to design a scheme which resulted in improved recruitment, retention and availability. This was nearing completion, currently being out to consultation, with any proposed changes due to be implemented at the start of the new financial year, subject to the outcome of the consultation process and Authority approval of a final scheme. It was proposed that an earmarked reserve be created as part of the year end process to meet any protection costs associated with the final scheme, full details of which would be identified once a scheme was agreed.

Pay – Support Staff

(210)

(370)

The underspend related to turnover of various specialist and administrative roles during the year, when we had assumed that as all previous staffing reviews had been implemented prior to the start of the year there would be minimal changes. This had been reflected in next year’s budget by increasing assumed vacancies to 2.5%. 

In addition, specialist roles relating to  the  creation of additional capacity within ICT had proven difficult to recruit to.

Non-DFM

15

599

The year-end position reflected the additional transfer to reserves relating to the redevelopment of Lancaster Fire Station and Fleet workshop, as referred to below.

Committed spend to Oct 16

£m

Forecast Slippage

Into 17/18

£m

Pumping Appliances

0.964

-

Committed spend to date related to the purchase of 5 pumping appliances for the 2016/17 programme, which had been ordered and were currently in build, we anticipate these would be delivered by March 2017.

We were forecasting a £14k overspend on this as final contract prices were marginally higher than anticipated. This had been built into future capital budgets.

Other vehicles

0.132

(0.416)

Committed spend to date related to various support vehicles which had either been delivered or had been ordered.

The slippage related to:-

• the remaining planned support vehicles replacements, which were ordered and would be delivered in the new financial year, or were being reviewed prior to replacement.
• the replacement of 2 driver training vehicles (DTVs) for which specification options were currently being considered with a likely procurement date in the new financial year.

Operational Equipment / Future Firefighting

0.340

(0.390)

This £1m budget was set aside to meet the costs of innovations in firefighting equipment, and the spend to date and year end position reflected the purchase of various items, including:

• an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or drone, which was now operational.
• the committed costs of trialling a new vehicle type to use as a water tower due for delivery in December.
• the purchase of flood suits for all operational staff along with various items of flood rescue equipment.
• the purchase of stabilisation struts for operational use during rescues involving crashed vehicles, or collapsed/damaged property.
• We were currently regionally reviewing the potential use of body worn cameras for operational use for learning from incidents, and for staff protection in certain locations.

In addition, we were exploring the use of technical rescue jackets for non-fire related incidents regionally, however this was unlikely to result in spend during the current financial year so would slip forwards to 2017/18.

Building Modifications

1.636

(2.317)

The majority of committed spend to date related to the purchase of the property adjacent to Lancaster fire station in order to facilitate the redevelopment of the site.  In addition we had made the first stage payments for both the refurbishment of Carnforth fire station and the build of the Multi-Compartment Fire Fighting prop at Training Centre.

The forecast slippage related to:-

• the remainder of the budget for the provision of a replacement for Lancaster Fire Station, incorporating a joint Fire & Ambulance facility, following the purchase of the adjacent site, for which the contract was expected to be formally awarded by mid-December. The lowest tender in relation to this was subject to clarification. Discussions had also been on-going with the Council in respect of the strip of land that we currently leased for car parking spaces and whilst it was not essential to the development the purchase of this would enhance the overall scheme. The potential increase in costs was reflected in the revenue contribution to capital outlay highlighted earlier.
• completion of the remaining items of capital works at the Training Centre site.
• the relocation of the Fleet workshop to Training Centre, with a final design and costings being developed in relation to this. In order to provide greater future proofing the scope of the design had increased, with the latest cost estimate being £0.4m. The increase in costs was reflected in the revenue contribution to capital outlay highlighted earlier.

IT systems

0.060

(0.630)

Committed spend to date related to the final stages of the phased implementation of the replacement asset management system which began during the last financial year, and the upgrade of the Community Risk Management Information System (CFRMIS).

The slippage related to:-

• Initial costs of the national Emergency Services Mobile Communications Project (ESMCP) to replace the Airwave wide area radio system – with further budgetary provision included in the 2017/18 draft capital programme
• the replacement of the wide area network (WAN) to allow a solution to be in place when current service contracts were due to end during 2017/18
• The replacement of various systems, in line with the ICT asset management plan, however these were reviewed prior to starting the replacement process.