The report of the Assistant Director of Finance (Document “S”)provides Members with an overview of the forecast financial position of the Council for 2018-19.

It examines the latest spend against revenue and capital budgets and forecasts the financial position at the year end. It states the Council’s current balances and reserves and forecasts school balances for the year. 

Recommended –

That the Executive

(1)       Note the contents of this report and the actions taken to manage the forecast overspend.

(2)       Approve the creation of a new £0.5m reserve to support the implementation of the Prevention & Early Help structure from April 2019.

(3)       Approve the following capital expenditure schemes.

·      £0.35m for Highways IT Equipment to be funded from a revenue reserve in advance of funding being reclaimed from the West Yorkshire Transport Fund.

·      £0.057m for the relocation of the Bradford Soup Run, to be funded from the capital receipt.

(4)       Note the following has now been reviewed by PAG after approval by Executive in July 2017.

·      An additional £4.7m for the redevelopment of the City Centre Markets.

·      The relocation of the Coroner’s premises to a new, purpose built Coroner’s Court and office accommodation.

(Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

(Andrew Cross – 01274 4368230)

The report of the Assistant Director of Finance (Document “S”)provided Members with an overview of the forecast financial position of the Council for 2018-19.

It examined the latest spend against revenue and capital budgets and forecasted the financial position at the year end. It stated the Council’s current balances and reserves and forecasted school balances for the year. 

Based on the September 30 2018 projection, the Council was forecasted to overspend the £358.1m net budget by £6.1m, with the primary overspends relating to Adult Social Care, Children’s Services and the Department of Place.

The Leader stated that the £6.1m overspend would still have to be balanced by the year end as the Council could not operate on a deficit.  She alluded to the continued impact of austerity on the Council and that the Government had not made any announcements to address the shortfall in social care funding, and that a case would continue to be made through the Local Government Association to lobby Government on this issue.

In response to a question on how services were attempting to balance the budget, it was explained that services were taking a number of actions to address the budget shortfall, including vacancy control, category spend as well as oversight from Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Leader of the Opposition Group was present at the meeting and stated that the Government was supporting the Council, and it was therefore important to work with Government to get the right funding level.  He also raised a word of caution on the proposed demolition of the former M&S building on Darley Street as the original proposal was for refurbishment only, adding that demolition would result in significant additional costs to the Council.

The Leader stated that the Council was managing its finances well, despite the cuts to its funding and that raising revenue was a key component in ensuring that we had the additional revenue to spend on our priorities, and that in relation to the Markets proposals, demolition of the former M&S building was a more sustainable proposition for the long term viability of the markets.

Resolved –

(1)       That the contents of this report and the actions taken to manage the forecast overspend be noted.

(2)       That the creation of a new £0.5m reserve to support the implementation of the Prevention & Early Help structure from April 2019 be approved.

(3)       That the following capital expenditure schemes be approved:

·      £0.35m for Highways IT Equipment to be funded from a revenue reserve in advance of funding being reclaimed from the West Yorkshire Transport Fund.

·      £0.057m for the relocation of the Bradford Soup Run, to be funded from the capital receipt.

(4)       That the following has now been reviewed by PAG after approval by Executive in July 2017 be noted:

·      An additional £4.7m for the redevelopment of the City Centre Markets.

·      The relocation of the Coroner’s premises to a new, purpose built Coroner’s Court and office accommodation.

ACTION:       Assistant Director of Finance

(Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee)