Agenda item

Area

Overspend/ (Under spend) to 30 Sept

Forecast Outturn at 31 March

Reason

£’000

£’000

Service Delivery

(16)

(43)

The current and forecast outturn position reflected underspends on smoke detectors and income generated in relation to Drone courses run by LFRS. This was partly offset by overspends on new recruits uniforms/PPE, training mannequins for stations, and furniture.

The forecast also included £200k for the partial swap out of various items of PPE, gloves, boots and helmets, with the balance of costs, £300k, being met in 18/19.

Fleet Services

62

23

The current position related to anticipated overspends on Breathing Apparatus and Hydrant repairs, less underspends on tyres and hose replacements/repairs. The outturn position also reflected anticipated income from the sale of vehicles before the year end.

Human Resources

37

(65)

The current overspend represented unbudgeted costs in relation to carrying out the wholetime recruitment exercise.

The outturn position included the remainder of the budget allocation for Organisational Development (currently £82k).  Spends committed against this funding were an additional fixed term HR adviser, the leadership conferences and the management development programme. 

Property

120

99

The overspend position related to premises repairs and maintenance, which was expected to continue for the remainder of the year.

Non DFM

61

169

The overspend related to funding of the  posts created during the year in order to address new initiatives, such as the creation of a team to undertake preparatory work in advance of the new inspection regime, and the creation of additional posts to meet the workload demands arising from the roll out of National Operational Guidance and Learning.

It was noted that the outturn position ignored year-end adjustments in respect of the final insurance position on the Aggregate Stop Loss and claims history, which would only be determined as part of the year end process.

All but 4 of the Public Work Loan Board (PWLB) outstanding loans were repaid on 3 October, the resultant penalty of £635k would be met from earmarked reserves.

Wholetime Pay

(308)

(513)

 The year to date position reflected:

·        the number of wholetime recruits taking part in the June course was lower than budgeted, 32 compared with  a budgeted 36;

·        in addition vacancies to date were  higher than forecast due to the early leaver profile;

·        pension costs were lower than forecast as the number of personnel who were no longer on the FF pension schemes stood at 25, in addition staff continued to transfer from the 92 scheme to the 2015 scheme resulting in a reduction in employer pension contributions; 

·        the annual pay award had not yet been agreed, which would have been effective from 1 July, this resulted in an underspend of approximately £72k at the end of September;

·        With the balance of the underspend relating to the timing of costs of ad hoc payments such as public holidays.

The outturn reflected all of the above, plus the shortfall in wholetime recruitment for the January recruits course (17 as opposed to a budgeted figure of 24).

The majority of the forecast underspend was attributable to the shortfall in wholetime recruit numbers. As reported previously the budget was set based on populating 2 recruits courses with 60 recruits in total whereas the actual number of recruits would total 49.

It was also worth noting that the forecast outturn included an assumed 1% pay-award, given the Union and Employers Side had been unable to reach an agreement at the present time.

Control Staff

(22)

(44)

The underspend related to a communications officer post, which was temporarily filled by a wholetime member of staff, whilst the substantive post holder was seconded to work for the Home Office on the national ESMCP project.

RDS Pay

(62)

(112)

The forecast underspend on RDS pay arose as implementation of the revised pay scheme was delayed until June, pending its approval by the Fire Brigades Union regional council.

Associate Trainers

55

142

The annual training plan was used to match planned training activity to staff available at the training centre.  Where this was not possible, associate trainers were brought in to cover the shortfall.  The reintroduction of wholetime courses this year would lead to an increased use of these, hence the forecast overspend.

Support staff (less agency staff)

(113)

(282)

The underspend to date related to vacant posts across various departments, which were in excess of the vacancy factor built into the budget. The majority of these vacancies had now been filled, although ICT and Knowledge Management remained problem areas.  

Note agency staff costs to date of £74k replaced vacant support staff roles, compared to support staff costs to date of £3,036k (i.e. agency staff were 2% of support staff).

As highlighted previously the budget included a sum of £180k to allow for the recruitment of apprentices in the second half of the year. This recruitment had been delayed whilst an appropriate mechanism was identified, meaning that approx. £150k of the funding would not be utilised in the current year. The previous report proposed that any underspend on this budget should be carried forward as an earmarked reserve to meet on-going costs in future years, hence as part of the year end process the eventual underspend would be transferred to earmarked reserves, subject to Resources Committee approval in May as part of the revenue outturn reporting.

Apprentice Levy

(11)

(25)

The apprentice levy was payable at 0.5% of each months payroll costs, the budget for this was set at anticipated establishment levels, hence the underspend against this budget reflected the various pay budget underspends reported above.

Pumping Appliances

The budget allowed for the purchase of 6 pumping appliances for the 2017/18 programme, for which the order was placed in February 2017.  We currently anticipated that these appliances would be delivered in early 2018.  In addition, the budget allowed for the final stage payments in relation to the 5 pumping appliances carried from the 2016/17 programme, which were delivered during June and August.  Spend to date related to completion of the 2016/17 appliances, and the first stage payment of the 2017/18 appliances.

As such we anticipated all of this budget being utilised by year end.

Other vehicles

This budget allowed for the replacement of various operational support vehicles, the most significant of which were one of the Command Support Units and two Driver Training Vehicles. Requirements for these were currently being finalised with a view to undertaking a procurement exercise. However given requirements were still being finalised and taking account of anticipated lead times the final costs associated with the purchase of these would slip over into 2018/19.

A Water Tower vehicle was currently on trial as a new fire-fighting concept.  This lease expired before the end of the financial year and options were being considered around the longer term capabilities of such a vehicle within our fleet.  These options were presented to Planning Committee who agreed to purchase 2 AT?Stinger appliances which would replace the standard existing Fire Appliances at Blackburn and Skelmersdale. We would need to fund the capital cost by an additional contribution of £0.4m from the revenue budget (thus reducing the forecast underspend).

Operational Equipment/Future Firefighting

This budget allowed for the replacement of Thermal Imaging Cameras (TICs), for which the tender process was underway.

The budget allowed for the balance of the Future Fire Fighting equipment budget, the majority of which related to the purchase of the technical rescue jackets, following the regional procurement exercise, which would be delivered during the first quarter of the new financial year.

The replacement of Breathing Apparatus Radios would slip into 2018/19, as options were being reviewed including the potential to undertake a regional procurement process.

Building Modifications

Completion of the new joint Fire and Ambulance facility at Lancaster had slipped into the first quarter of 2018/19, due to delays in the demolition of the existing station on the discovery of asbestos.

In terms of the redevelopment of Preston Fire and Ambulance Station we completed the purchase of the additional land, as agreed by the Committee, in June.   NWAS had now confirmed their intention to use the site as an ambulance station, therefore we were in the process of appointing consultants to take the project forward to detailed design and ultimately construction. This delay meant that no building works would take place in the current financial year; hence the majority of capital budget would slip into the next financial year.

The budget also allowed for the outstanding sums due in respect of the replacement water main at STC and the completion of the Multi Compartment Fire Fighting prop, both of which had now been completed.

The replacement Fleet workshop had been on hold pending further discussion with Police relating to a joint facility. However as requirements did not align, and the location deemed unsuitable for a vehicle maintenance facility, we would now progress this scheme, working up a detailed design prior to undertaking a tendering exercise. Whilst some costs may be incurred in the current year, the majority of this would slip into 2018/19.

The final element of this capital budget related to investment in training assets at both STC and service delivery locations to maximise the efficiency and consistency of staff training, and in particular RDS staff.  The exact requirements remained subject to review, however given the timeframes in finalising requirements, designing and tendering schemes it was highly unlikely that any significant costs would be incurred in the current year, and a further update on progress would be presented to the Committee once requirements had been finalised. 

IT systems

The majority of the capital budget related to the national Emergency Services Mobile Communications Project (ESMCP), to replace the Airwave wide area radio system and the replacement of the station end mobilising system. The ESMCP project budget, £1.0m, was offset by anticipated grant, however the timing of both expenditure and grant was dependent upon progress against the national project. We were due to receive an update in November however it appeared increasingly unlikely that we would incur significant costs in the current year.

Given the delay on the ESMCP project the replacement station end project had also been delayed, however we were currently reviewing options to enhance resilience and ensure that any solution was compatible with the eventual ESMCP solution. As such we may incur some expenditure on this, but it was unlikely to be the full budgeted amount, £400k.

The budget also allowed for the replacement of the Service’s wide area network (WAN) providing an enhanced network and improving speed of use across the Service. The delivery of this was currently scheduled for the last quarter of the current financial year, when our existing contract expired.

The balance of the budget related to the replacement of various systems, in line with the ICT asset management plan. Whilst procurement work was on-going to facilitate the replacement of some of these systems in the current year, we were still reviewing the need to replace others. Hence further updates on progress would confirm which replacements were being actioned in the current year and anticipated spend profiles.