Agenda item

·         The Deputy Head of Finance confirmed his plans to meet with the 4 chairs of selects to discuss how we simplify financial reporting. 

·         Members’ would like more training on the budget and would welcome simpler higher level reports.  Members heard that simpler reports can make it harder to hold Cabinet to account if they are seeing different levels of detail.

·         The authority has a £2.4 million deficit which has already been reported to Cabinet, 88% of savings have been achieved.  The biggest are of overspends relevant to the committee being in tourism, leisure and culture as a result of the decision not to outsource the service as it will no longer benefit from charity status; car parks and passenger transport are also overspending

·         Members heard that if the authority were to adopt the Ealing Ruling on VAT it would play a significant part in eliminating the deficit

·         There is £1.139 million of slippage in the capital budget relevant to the committee relating to the Crick Road scheme

·         The anticipated draw on reserves will leave these at 3.19% which is below the appropriate guideline of between 4% and 6% and SLT are working on bringing this back

Members Challenge

·         Members challenged the amount of savings that are undeliverable and queried whether these are stress-tested as part of the budget build.  Members heard a number of lenses are used including a standardised approach to capturing activity and the extent to which they meet policy aspirations, but that there remains a lot of legwork to deliver those once they are agreed. Savings achievement at 88% is on-par or better that where we usually are at this point of the financial year.

·         Members queried why the authority is overspending on car parks. Members hears that this was predominantly a reduction in income.  Civil enforcement should encourage people to use paid spaces.  There is also a reduction in use of town centre car parks as shopping habits move online

·         A question was asked whether Monmouthshire is creeping towards bankruptcy and how do our reserves compare with others?  Officers responded that our reserves are lower than many others, this is not problematic and councils are encouraged not to sit on reserves, 4-6% is entirely reasonable.  However, members were reminded that MCC has the lowest funding per head of any council in Wales and members have so far avoided making cuts to front-line services. Members heard that council borrowing isn’t influenced by reserve levels as we get in from the Public Works Loan Board.

·         Members queried what the basis was a mild winter prediction for operations costs.  It was suggested that climate change means we are more likely to get warmer, wetter winters, at this point colder winters are treated as ad-hoc rather than being built into annual considerations.

·         Members queried when will the exercise on Monlife be completed?  It was reported that this was being taken to council shortly and the business plan will need to be reflected in the council’s financial ledgers.

Outcomes

·         Select chairs will meet with the deputy head of finance to establish how reporting can be improved and members welcomed the opportunity for a seminar to grow understanding of the budget.