Finance and Budget Committee
10am, Thursday, 29 August 2013
Corporate Governance Revenue Budget Monitoring 2012/13 Month 3 Position – To 30 June 2013
Links
Coalition pledges P30
Council outcomes CO25
Single Outcome Agreement
Alastair D Maclean
Director of Corporate Governance
Contact: Iain Shaw, Principal Finance Manager
E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 0131 469 3117
Item number
Report number
Wards All
Executive summary
Corporate Governance
Revenue Budget Monitoring 2013/14
Month 3 position to 30 June 2013
Summary
The report advises on the financial position after three months of the financial year and
provides an update on the projected outturn for the year 2013/14.
The overall projection is that the Corporate Governance budget will show a break-even position
for 2013/14. There are a number of remaining risks including delivery of procurement pipeline
savings and costs associated with Welfare Reform. This position will continue to be actively
managed by the service for the remainder of the financial year.
Recommendations
It is recommended that the Finance and Budget Committee notes:
The service is currently projecting a balanced revenue budget position;
The risks to the Corporate Governance 2013/14 budget position.
Measures of success
The Corporate Governance Department’s final outturn for 2013/14 is within budgeted levels.
Financial impact
There are no direct financial implications arising from this report. Expenditure and income will
continue to be closely monitored for the remainder of 2013/14.
Equalities impact
There is no relationship to the public sector general equality duty to the matters described in
this report and no direct equalities impact arising from this report.
Sustainability impact
There are no impacts on carbon, adaptation to climate change and sustainable development
arising directly from this report.
Consultation and engagement
There is no external consultation and engagement arising directly from this report. The Council
has undertaken a consultation exercise when developing the 2013/14 revenue budget.
Background reading/external references
None
Report
Corporate Governance Revenue Budget Monitoring 2013/14 Month 3 Position – To 30 June 2013
1. Background
1.1 The report advises on the financial position after three months of the financial year and
an update on the projected outturn for the year 2013/14.
The overall projection is that the Corporate Governance service budget will show a
break-even position in the revenue budget for 2013/14.
2. Main report
2.1 Month Three Position
The Corporate Governance net revenue budget for 2013/14 is £69.2m. This includes
procurement savings targets of £1.07m, efficiencies and other savings of £2.3m and
service investment of £2.7m.
The period three position reflects a break-even position after pressure of £0.5m have
been incorporated. These pressures mainly relate to staffing costs for civic duties,
priorities and city promotion and the cost of staff supporting the trams project. Although
these pressures are currently being funded from the service contingency fund, actions
to reduce the pressures are being progressed.
2.2 Savings Implementation Plans
In order to ensure that the service remains within the budget agreed for 2013/14,
detailed savings implementation plans have been developed for each approved budget
saving agreed by Council. Regular reports are considered by the Corporate
Governance Management Team and corrective action identified to ensure that the
budget remains within approved limits.
2.3 Risks
There remain a number of risks in the Corporate Governance budget, primarily relating
to:
Delivery of the approved level of Procurement Pipeline Savings. The Corporate
Governance budget currently incorporates a £1.07m indicative split of the overall
Council procurement savings target. Business cases are being developed to identify
savings for 2013/14. Currently business cases are being progressed relating to the
cross-Council spend on agency staff and use of mobile phones;
Welfare Reform. There is a risk around the adequacy of funding for Scottish Welfare
Fund and Discretionary Housing payments. These payments are currently being
contained within available funding, due to application of prioritisation criterion in
assessing grant applications;
Risk of additional costs to address higher volume of processes relating to Council Tax
and Housing Benefits and to reduce risk of Local Authority subsidy loss on DWP grant;
Risk of under-recovery of income, such as intervention income attributable to the
service, which is not fully known with certainty until the year end.
2.4 Contingency Planning
A contingency of £0.550m has been created, which is currently being used to offset
budget pressures as outlined in 2.1
2.5 Capital
Corporate Governance service has a capital investment programme of £6.658m in
2013/14.This is currently projected to break-even.
3. Recommendations
3.1 It is recommended that the Finance and Budget Committee notes
the service is currently projecting a break-even position for the revenue budget;
the risks to the Corporate Governance 2013/14 budget position.
Alastair D. Maclean
Director of Corporate Governance
Links
Coalition pledges P30 – Continue to maintain a sound financial position including long term financial planning
Council outcomes CO25 – The Council has efficient and effective services that deliver on objectives
Single Outcome Agreement