Agenda item
Finance Report Quarter 2 2019/20
- Meeting of Audit and Governance Committee, Tuesday, 3rd December, 2019 10.00 am (Item 53.)
- View the background to item 53.
To consider the Finance Report Quarter 2 2019/20 as presented to Cabinet on 5 November 2019.
Minutes:
The committee
reviewed the Quarter 2 Finance Report, which had been presented to Cabinet on 5
November 2019.
As requested by the
committee, the Executive Director of People - Children and Portfolio Holder for
Children, Education and Early Help attended the meeting to answer questions in
respect of the Budget for Children’s Services:
·
Where
possible, children would be placed with an appropriate guardian including with
other family members
·
There
was a cost pressure associated with securing accommodation and an issue with
capacity. Cabinet had recently agreed to
re-establish a children’s hub and suitable properties were being looked for
·
Demand
in this area was high and liaison was being undertaken with the Government as
to how they were able to influence national issues in this area
·
Areas
for focus included the development of a residential hub, training and support
for foster parents, preventative work and providing the best service possible
where provision was out of county. Work
had started but would take time
·
The
Executive Director confirmed that there had been involvement and support from
portfolio holders, Cabinet and Council for work in this area
·
In
terms of forecasting for future budgets, there would always be an element of
being led by demand, however there was recognition that more control could be
achieved if the right level of edge of care services were in place
·
Part of
the Blueprint for Change consultation was about locality area partnership
working and working more closely with the community in order to safeguard
children
·
The
Executive Director of Corporate Development noted that part of building the
budget for the following year was about trying to anticipate the level of
demand on the service. There was a model
but it was recognised that some factors could not be anticipated and this
needed to be built into the budget
·
Reference
was made to the disposal of children’s homes by the former Dorset County
Council and the background to this was discussed. The Executive Director of People, Children,
noted that the provision currently being considered by the council was
different to what had been in place before.
Areas currently being explored included the provision of supported
lodgings for 16 to 18 year olds and in particular, a model including partner
involvement and contributions and potential income
·
In
response to a question, the Executive Director of Corporate Development noted
that a number of factors were taken into account when setting the budget and this
included using market intelligence to understand likely inflationary pressures
·
Consideration
was given to the number of looked after children in the council area and the budget
forecast for the next financial quarter
·
The
impact of the recent tranche 2 restructure on finance team support for
Children’s Services was raised and it was noted that moving forward, the model
was to have a central corporate finance team in place with business partners
allocated to each service area. The
level of resource and expertise required for Children’s Services was recognised
and would be in place moving forward
·
The
Chairman commented that although the council should always aim for good value
for its services, it was key that the budget fitted the service in this area. There were a lot of pressures in this area
and he felt that demand would always outstrip savings that could be made. He felt that the council needed to decide
that the service was a priority and budget accordingly and he encouraged the
Leader and the Finance Team to provide appropriate funding in order to support
looked after children
·
A point
was noted with regard to reference in the report to Education, Health and Care
Plans (EHCP) and the need for further narrative in the report around this area
·
The
availability and use of reserves was referred to and the opportunities local
government reorganisation and subsequent transformation programmes had provided
·
Further
information on convergence savings would be provided in future reports.
The Chairman thanked
the Executive Director of People, Children and Portfolio Holder for Children,
Education and Early Help for their attendance and the information they had
provided.
The committee
considered the issues arising from the rest of the report and during discussion
the following points were raised:
·
The
local government finance settlement would not be know until January 2020 and
therefore there would be assumptions in the council’s budget. A Budget Scrutiny Councillor Event was to be
held on 13 January 2020, to which all councillors had been invited, and further
explanation of the budget and assumptions made would be provided. There would also be consideration of the
budget at Cabinet in January and Full Council in February. The Council was required to set a balanced
budget before the start of the next financial year although it was recognised
that adjustments could be made during the year through the quarterly finance
reports to Cabinet
·
Reserves
had been brought together from the six former councils and reviewed, and part
of this was to enable £5m of funding to be released from reserves to be
established as a transformation fund.
Bids would be considered by a group of councillors meeting as the
Transformation Board. In response to a
question, it was noted that a small number of bids had been considered to
date. The fund provided an opportunity
to transform the way things were done by the council. The committee would receive further
information on work in this area through a future internal audit report and
information to be included on the council’s risk register
·
In
response to a question, it was reported that consideration of income generation
was being undertaken through the budget process
·
Application
for government grant funding was also considered where appropriate.
Decision
1.
That
the Audit and Governance Committee note with concern, the predicted overspend
at the end of the second quarter and the change since quarter 1;
2.
That
the Audit and Governance Committee request that the Executive Director of People,
Children’s, Executive Director of People, Adults, and relevant portfolio
holders attend the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee on 24 March
2020, when the next finance report is considered, in order to hold a discussion
on issues in these areas.
Supporting documents:
- Finance Report Quarter 2 2019/20 - cover report for Audit & Governance Committee, item 53. PDF 88 KB
- Appendix - Finance Report Quarter 2 2019/20 - report to Cabinet 5 November 2019, item 53. PDF 242 KB