Issue - meetings
Dorset Council Budget - Quarterly Performance Report - Q2
Meeting: 16/11/2020 - Audit and Governance Committee (Item 38)
38 Financial Report - Quarter 2 2020/21 
PDF 78 KB
To review and scrutinise the Quarter 2 finance report as presented to
Cabinet on 3 November 2020.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The committee reviewed the Quarter 2
Finance Report, which had been presented to Cabinet on3 November 2020.
The Cabinet paper reported an overspend of £27.6m for
2020/21; an improvement of £15.5m since quarter 1. The report itself summarised the main changes
since the previous quarter and set out analysis by individual directorate for
the Committee’s review.
Despite the improvement in the period, only a small amount
of this reduced financial pressure for 2021/22 – because for example,
underspends on the contingency budget were already built into the budget
process.
The Executive
Director for Corporate Development explained that there were also additional
items affecting the finance teams during the current pandemic including
receiving significant funding from the Government to pass on to others.
Following a
question regarding the forecasting of overspends, The Executive Director advised
that in Adults and Children in particular there had been additional demand
especially in relation to the process of securing places for people coming out
of hospital. In Legal and Democratic,
currently the costs of PPE and storage in respect of excess deaths had been
charged to this service as their budget was quite small. In respect of the Place Directorate, there
had been a loss of income in respect of car parking as a result of the current
pandemic. Cllr Sutton thanked the Director for the explanation which she felt
would be useful in trying to manage the public’s expectations.
In response to a
question from the Chairman regarding whether there was an early indication that
the second lockdown will have an adverse effect of the figures, the Executive
Director for Corporate Development highlighted the differences between Covid
and non Covid spend. The majority of pressures the Council was experiencing
were Covid related. In terms of the impact of the second lockdown the
Government were providing additional funding, but the key variable was business
rates and council tax and whether the lockdown carried on beyond early
December. If not he felt there was enough cautionary measures in place to
manage.
In respect of
unachievable savings, the Acting Corporate Director of Commissioning advised
that £2m of savings were significantly impacted due to Covid, efficiencies had
been made in respect of utilisation and the changes to how services were
delivered. The service had already gone
through a significant amount of change and a number of areas were highlighted
in respect of increased workflow. The
CCG received additional funding for hospital discharges and plans were in place
to recover this. It was important to ensure that the correct support and
rehabilitation took place at the right time.
In terms of the
cost of agency staff, the Executive Director for Corporate Development
undertook to provide details outside of the meeting.
In response to a question regarding the amount of funding town and Parish Council were likely to receive, the Corporate Director for Finance and Commercial advised that officers were working with the DAPTC and had agreed that information would be shared with them by 3 December 2020. Returns would ... view the full minutes text for item 38
Meeting: 03/11/2020 - Cabinet (Item 44)
44 Quarter 2 financial management report PDF 132 KB
To consider a report of the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercial & Capital Strategy.
Decision:
Decision
(a) That the Senior Leadership Team’s
forecast for Dorset Council’s revenue budget position at the end of quarter 2
and the improvement since quarter 1 be noted;
(b) That Cabinet note the continuing impact that
these changes could mean for the development of the 2021/22 budget strategy;
(c) That Cabinet note the proposals to
improve the position during the year and consider further action to address the
budget gap;
(d) That the latest position on the capital
programme and the impact that this was having on capital financing in the
revenue budget set out in appendix 1, be noted;
(e) That the current positions on collection
funds and collection rates and the impact that the council tax position in
particular might have on local preceptors be noted;
(f) (i) That
the grant allocation of £2.3m from
the Department for Education (DfE) for the Priority
Schools Building Programme 2 (PSPB2) project at The Woodroffe School, Lyme Regis
be accepted and the Executive Director for People – Children with the Executive
Director for Corporate Development be authorised to sign the grant agreement
form;
(ii) That subject to
signature of the grant agreement, for Dorset Council to Commit to Construct,
authority be delegated to the Executive Director People - Children’s in
consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Peoples Children Education Skills
and Early Help and the Executive Director for Corporate Development to enter
into contract(s) on best terms achievable, provided the project was within
budget.
Reason for the Decision
The Council has responsibilities to deliver against its 2020/21 revenue budget and capital programme whilst maintaining adequate reserves. Cabinet wishes to understand clearly the financial impact and consequences of the Council’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Understanding the current year’s position and performance is also key to
developing the medium-term financial plan (MTFP) and budget strategy.
Minutes:
The Portfolio
Holder for Finance, Commercial and Capital Strategy reminded members that the
Q1 forecast a budget gap of 44 million. Since then this gap had now been
reduced to 27 million. The Council continued to work hard to get the budget in
the best possible position for the end of the year.
The Portfolio
Holder also reported that since the budget paper had been prepared a further
1.3 million of funding had been received from central government to support council
services. With other additional further savings the current prediction of the
budget gap had been reduced by a further 4 million pounds.
He further advised
that the forthcoming COVID-19 lockdown did cause concern, but members would
continue to be updated on the council’s financial position.
In response to a
question regarding climate change and its implications, the Portfolio Holder
advised that he was committed to the climate change strategy, however due to
the current budget pressures he could not at the present time commit to what
figure of funding would be included in next year’s budget for climate change.
In response to a
questions regarding agency staff and their costs, the Portfolio Holder advised
that this area was being targeted and he was working closely with other members
of the Cabinet to achieve savings.
Decision
(a) That the Senior Leadership Team’s
forecast for Dorset Council’s revenue budget position at the end of quarter 2
and the improvement since quarter 1 be noted;
(b) That Cabinet note the continuing impact
that these changes could mean for the development of the 2021/22 budget
strategy;
(c) That Cabinet note the proposals to
improve the position during the year and consider further action to address the
budget gap;
(d) That the latest position on the capital
programme and the impact that this was having on capital financing in the
revenue budget set out in appendix 1, be noted;
(e) That the current positions on collection
funds and collection rates and the impact that the council tax position in
particular might have on local preceptors be noted;
(f) (i) That
the grant allocation of £2.3m from
the Department for Education (DfE) for the Priority
Schools Building Programme 2 (PSPB2) project at The Woodroffe School, Lyme
Regis be accepted and the Executive Director for People – Children with the
Executive Director for Corporate Development be authorised to sign the grant
agreement form;
(ii) That subject to
signature of the grant agreement, for Dorset Council to Commit to Construct,
authority be delegated to the Executive Director People - Children’s in
consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Peoples Children Education Skills
and Early Help and the Executive Director for Corporate Development to enter
into contract(s) on best terms achievable, provided the project was within
budget.
Reason for the Decision
The Council has responsibilities to deliver against its 2020/21 revenue budget and capital programme whilst maintaining adequate reserves. Cabinet wishes to understand clearly the financial impact and consequences of the Council’s response to the COVID-19 ... view the full minutes text for item 44