The Director of Finance will submit a report (Document “B”) which provides Members with an overview of the financial position of the Council for 2018-19.

It shows the revenue and capital financial position of the Council at the 31st March 2019. The report provides an update on;

•           The year end position of the Council’s revenue budget.

•           The delivery of 2018-19 approved budget savings plans.

•           A statement on the Council’s reserves including movements            since the        4th quarter report.

•           An update on the Capital Investment Plan.

•           An update on Council Tax and Business Rates collection

The report is also being considered by the Executive at its meeting held on 9 July 2019.

Recommended –

That the Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee review and comment on the Finance Position Statement for 2018-19.

(Andrew Cross - 01274 436823)  

The Director of Finance submitted a report (Document “B”) which provided Members with an overview of the financial position of the Council for 2018-19.

It showed the revenue and capital financial position of the Council at the 31st March 2019. The report also provided an update on;

•           The year end position of the Council’s revenue budget.

•           The delivery of 2018-19 approved budget savings plans.

•           A statement on the Council’s reserves including movements            since the        4th quarter report.

•           An update on the Capital Investment Plan.

•           An update on Council Tax and Business Rates collection

The report had also been considered by the Executive at its meeting on 9 July 2019.

It was stated that the Council underspent the £358.1m net budget by £1.7m in 2018/2019, however there were a number of significant variances with overspends posted in the Departments of Health and Wellbeing, Children’s and Place, which were detailed in the report.

During the discussion Members asked a number of questions which are detailed below:

A Member ascertained the position with regards to the use of agency staff and associated costs, in particular the use of agency social workers in Children’s Services.  In response it was pointed out that the use of agency social workers was as a result of the number of vacancies the Council was currently carrying and that efforts were on going to bring the number of social workers back up to full compliment, but that this was proving to be a challenging proposition and one which mirrored the national picture.  In addition in the light of the Ofsted judgement the Council had earmarked extra resources to address the issues that had been identified.

A Member questioned if the Service was getting the best out of its social workers in the context of a number of issues facing the Service.  In response it was stated that the preferred position would be not to use agency staff and rely on a permanent workforce.  To this end social worker pay was being evaluated together with training and developmental opportunities in order that retention levels improved.  In addition it was mentioned Bradford did attract a lot of newly qualified social workers, and that they considered Bradford to be a good place to work.

In relation to a question on the £0.4m spend on the Great Exhibition of the North, it was stated that a decision had been taken to make this spend following other funding received from the Arts Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and that it was considered that this was the right thing to do given the profile of the event.

In response to a number of questions on the failure to make the identified savings in the area of school travel assistance, it was stressed that although this had been an ambition over a number of years, the savings had failed to materialised given the complexities involved in undertaking the assessments.  In the light of this the savings amount had now been reassessed with a view that a £2.5m savings target was now being proposed over and above the £1.2m saving that had already been achieved. A number of Members expressed a word of caution that the new projected savings would be achieved in the context of the problems that had been experienced in previous years.

In relation to a question on the sports facilities and libraries non controllable costs it was stated that these referred to technical accounting adjustments, for which an explanation could be given outside of this meeting.

A Member questioned whether the increase in the number of new borrowers also included all the community managed libraries in the district. In response it was stated that unless the community managed library sent regular audits to the Council, an accurate figure could not be given, however further  information could be provided to Members.

Resolved –

That officers be thanked for attending the meeting, submitting a detailed report and for providing detailed responses to Members’ questions.

NO ACTION