Agenda item - Overview of Budget Report

Agenda item

Overview of Budget Report

Minutes:

The Financial Services Manager presented a report which provided an initial overview of the projected budget for the Council from 2015/16 – 2017/18.  During the course of the presentation the following matters were highlighted for Members’ consideration:

 

·                The report was designed to form part of a new robust approach to budget scrutiny at the Council.

·                Officers were estimating that there would be a shortfall of £613,000 in 2015/16 and a shortfall of £884,000 in 2016/17. 

·                The Council would continue to identify savings within a framework of three financial principles: reducing waste in the system, designing a new system to reduce waste and costs, and reducing the costs associated with enabling service provision.

·                Budgets had been listed in the report in relation to the Council’s strategic purposes.  Some services had been listed in more than one appendix because the service had links to multiple strategic purposes rather than as a result of double counting.

 

Following the presentation of the report Members discussed a number of areas in further detail:

 

·                Officers had accounted for both the predicted 1% pay increase as well as for pay increments.  The bandings for pay increments were set in accordance with national pay levels.

·                The Board had an important role to play in scrutinising the Council’s budget for the year ahead.

·                The anticipated amount that the Council would derive from the New Homes Bonus was discussed.  Members commented that there was no guarantee that this bonus would continue to be provided in future years and it was therefore suggested that the Council needed to recognise the risks involved when calculating the potential contribution of the bonus to the overall budget.

·                Officers confirmed that they had recognised the risks involved and had been cautious when calculating the likely figure for the New Homes Bonus.

·                The level of Council reserves and how these funds should be used was considered.

·                Members were advised that the 3% increase in fees and charges was applied generally to services in line with inflation levels and market forces.

·                Some fees and charges were set at a statutory level. In addition it was considered prudent to vary the charges for other services by a different amount, depending on the demand for that service and the needs of the customer.

·                The number of staff who were employed directly by Bromsgrove District Council rather than through a shared service was discussed and Officers agreed to provide Members with further detail on this outside of the meeting.

·                There was a deficit in the Council’s pension fund for staff who had already retired and were drawing their pensions, which was comparable to the situation at other local authorities. 

·                The Council had agreed with the actuary to reduce the pension fund deficit over 21 years, a practice which was similarly being applied at a number of local authorities in the country.

·                Officers were in the process of reviewing Section 106 agreements and the use of Section 106 monies.  Members requested that the list of agreements be circulated for their consideration.

 

The Overview and Scrutiny Board had a role to play in reviewing the strategic direction of the budget and was responsible for holding the Cabinet to account for decisions made in respect of the budget.  Officers suggested that the Board could also make a useful contribution to the Council’s budget setting process by reviewing particular elements of it in more detail.

 

Members commented that for future budget updates it would be useful to receive further information clarifying which services were statutory and which were discretionary alongside the expenditure for each type of service.  This would enable the Board to identify whether there were any opportunities to reduce expenditure.

 

Following recent debates Members concurred that it would also be useful for more information about the town centre redevelopment and off street parking costs to be provided for Members’ consideration.

 

Finally, the Board agreed that they would appreciate further information about which services the Council delivered on behalf of Worcestershire County Council as part of the budget scrutiny process.  Members requested that any updates on this subject should detail the extent to which Worcestershire County Council covered the costs of delivering those services.

 

RESOLVED that further information about the following matters be provided to support the budget scrutiny process:

 

(a)       the costs of the town centre redevelopment

(b)       off street parking costs

(c)       the costs of services delivered on behalf of Worcestershire County Council; and

(d)       a clear outline of which services were statutory and which were discretionary services and the Council’s expenditure on both types of service.

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