Agenda item

To submit the report of the Head of Finance.

The report of the Head of Finance Department was submitted, noting that in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011, that the Audit Committee was expected to scrutinise budget monitoring reports when appropriate.

The Senior Finance Manager set the context and elaborated on the content of the report that had been submitted to the Cabinet on 24 November 2015. He presented the following decisions for the attention of the committee to scrutinise -

“1.   To accept the report on the second quarter review of the Revenue Budget (position as at 30 September 2015) and consider the latest financial situation regarding the budgets of each department/service, asking the Cabinet Members and relevant heads of department to take appropriate steps regarding the matters under their leadership/management.

2.    To note the various reviews noted in the report and the steps to be taken by departments to manage their budgets.

3.    To give consideration to, and approve specifically, the amendments and transfers that were recommended in relation to the Education, Economy and Community, and Regulatory Departments, and Corporate Budgets.”

The Cabinet Member for Resources noted that Cabinet Members had been reminded of their responsibilities in terms of reviewing budgets. He referred to the Adults, Health and Well-being Department’s financial position and the likelihood that it would need bridging resources for this year due to the unlikelihood of realising the full savings during the financial year. He noted that clear steps would be taken to deal with the situation in order to keep it under control and that the Cabinet’s decision to put resources to one side enabled the Cabinet to respond to the financial position in terms of the Department by the end of the financial year.

During the ensuing discussion, officers responded to members’ enquiries as follows:

·       In terms of ‘Redundancy and Early Retirement’ in the Education Department, that school governing bodies permitted early retirement with costs falling on the Education Department. It was noted that the situation would be reviewed in terms of pension release by re-examining the individual’s right in terms of amount, the school’s position to contribute towards the payment and the future method of payment in order to respond to the overspend;

·        The Education Department had anticipated the overspend situation and had earmarked underspend in a reserve fund to finance the expenditure;

·        It was the decision of the Governing Bodies to re-employ retired teachers as supply teachers with the teacher’s experience being taken into consideration;

·        Redundancy was a one-off cost and that annual revenue savings would be examined as part of the schools organisation plan;

·       In terms of Gwynedd Consultancy’s overspend, that action had been taken to modernise and that the Department was attempting to attract work and maximise achievement within current staffing resources. It was added that an annual review was undertaken in terms of the Department’s income and their intention to use a reserved resource to mitigate the situation should the picture continue until the end of the financial year.

A member noted that there was a historical annual overspend in terms of the older people’s service and that a demographic trend resulted in more demand for services, therefore, there was a need to seriously consider the financial requirements.

In response, the Cabinet Member for Resources noted that the Adults, Health and Well-being Department had taken clear steps to address the situation with two new appointments recently made to drive the savings programme forward. The Senior Finance Manager added that the budget for the 2016-17 financial year would be carefully considered by assessing the demographic impact and the Department was expected to operate within that budget.

RESOLVED to note the situation and the relevant risks in the context of the Council’s budgets and those of its departments.