Agenda item

To submit the report of the Head of Finance  (attached).

The report was presented by Councillor Ioan Thomas (Cabinet Member for Finance) for information, for members to consider the risks that arose from the expenditure projections against the budget. It was highlighted that the report had been submitted to the Cabinet on 15 October. Attention was drawn to the summary of each department's situation, and the resulting mixed picture.

Reference was made to the Adults Service that had an overspend of £1.6m, partially stemming from the failure to deliver the savings plans.  It was noted that the Chief Executive had since called a meeting with relevant officers to gain a better understanding, and a clear programme of response. It was noted that the Children's Department had also shown an overspend of £2.9m, and a Task Group had been arranged in order to examine the Department's overspend. It was highlighted that there had been a 15% increase in looked after children during 2018/19 and that the situation was not unique to Gwynedd. The Cabinet Member for Finance further noted that the Children's Department's Task Group would be reporting on improvements in February 2020. It was also noted that there had been an overspend of £733k in the Highways Department, due to problems relating to waste collection and disposal.  It was reported that the Environment Department had been given permission to earmark £220k of underspend for unavoidable costs (due to reasons beyond the Council's control) following a recent judicial review relating to the Llanbedr access Road.

Attention was drawn to the status of the Corporate budget, where an underspend of £2,867k was being transferred to funds, partially to mitigate the risk of Council departments overspending in 2019/20.

In response to a question about whether the Chief Executive had met relevant officers in the Adults Department, it was noted that initial meetings had been held, and that the officers had accepted the task of examining the information.

An observation was made that the Youth Department highlighted mixed messages, given that the service had been remodelled in response to the savings programme, but was now showing a significant underspend. In response, it was clarified that changes to posts and activities were responsible for this. It was added that grants had also been received, which meant that there was no underspend against the core budget.

In response to a question about the latest situation regarding the Council Tax Premium, it was reported that it was expected that £2.7m would be collected in the current year in line with the budget estimate, and that officers and Members were pressurising Welsh Government for an update regarding properties that transferred to become businesses.

An observation was made that a Task Group of the Communities Scrutiny Committee had been established to consider options for managing parking in light of financial challenges, but it appeared from the report on the 2019/20 budget that the Environment Department had already exceeded their target income. In response, the Cabinet Member noted that the Environment Department had a historical savings scheme to deliver by 2020/21, and furthermore, in the schemes to realise the current £2m target, departments should propose savings that reduced expenditure, or offered a new income stream, instead of increasing the prices of existing services.

RESOLVED to accept the report and note the situation and relevant risks in the context of the budgets of the Council and its departments.