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ITEM EX5

EXECUTIVE – 30 SEPTEMBER 2003

FINANCIAL MONITORING

Report by Head of Finance

  1. The report sets out the budget monitoring position to the end of July 2003. Individual reports from each of the Executive Programme Areas form the background documents to this report and are in the Members’ Resource Centre. The position for each Programme Area is considered below.

    2. Learning & Culture

  2. Learning & Culture are reporting a forecast overspend of £1.073m.

    3. Children’s Services

  3. The budget for fees to independent schools has a forecast overspend of £0.747m. Although £0.530m was added to the 2003/04 budget, the cost of placements has risen by an average 23% and a further 8 children have been placed in independent schools since the budget for 2003/04 was proposed.

    4. Cultural Services

  4. There is a forecast pressure of £0.300m on the Music Service. An overspend of £0.126m was brought forward from 2002/03. There is a further anticipated overspend of £0.174m. in 2003/04.

  5. A small overspending is projected due to implementing job evaluation for casual staff in the Library Service. This amounts to £0.026m.

  6. Management action will be required to bring the budget variances reported above into balance by the end of the year. There is already an action plan in place in the Music Service.

    7. Social & Health Care

  7. Social & Health Care were anticipating an under spend of £2.022m at the end of May. However it was expected that there would be increased expenditure in year which would offset this, and so the variance was forecast as nil. The position to the end of July shows a projected under spend of £3.4m. The change is largely accounted for by the change to forecast overspending in Learning Disabilities. This has changed from a forecast overspend of £0.988m to an under spend of £0.647m. Contracts with service providers have been re-negotiated to take account of the Supporting People reforms, the reduction in the contract payments amounts to £1.5m.

  8. The budget for older people is forecast to under spend by £1.675m; mental health by £0.715m and Across Client Groups by £0.642m. The budget for older people is mainly underspending due to an inability to purchase care, either through pricing issues or market capacity. Managers are looking for a prudent increase in spend to meet identified and new needs, and expect the under spend to reduce over the remainder of the year.

    9. Environment, Roads and Transport

  9. There is a forecast under spend of £0.443m, which mainly relates to Land Use Planning. This is because the Structure Plan Examination in Public is now expected to take place later in 2004 rather than in the 2003/04 financial year.

    10. Community Safety

  10. There is a de minimis change to Community Safety, which is forecast £0.222m overspent. Most of this relates to registration service for which there is a recovery plan over the next two years.

    11. Corporate Governance

  11. There is a forecast overspend of £0.317m. This assumes that the unallocated balance on the Modernisation Fund of £0.390m is fully allocated. The overspend mostly relates to the Oxford Castle project £0.200m and to Financial Services £0.87m.

    12. Virements

  12. All ICT throughout the Council apart from schools was consolidated into Resources Directorate – Strategic ICT from 1 April 2003. Budgets transferred amounted to £4.3m for Strategic ICT and £0.241m for Records Management. The budget transfers are shown in the Council’s Budget Book ‘Service Analysis (Revenue and Capital)’.

  13. There is an agreement with Cherwell District Council to meet half the legal costs of the public inquiry over the proposed Asylum Seekers’ Centre. The cost to this Council is £0.042 which it has been agreed under the virement procedure will be met from balances.

    14. Schools Balances

  14. There is likely to be a net deficit on the closed schools under City Reorganisation, which is now complete. This will be reported next time. There are a number of options for dealing with this, which are now being examined.

  15. The budget difficulties experienced by schools has meant that it has proved more difficult to approve school’s budgets this year. Of the 143 agreed, balances are forecast to reduce from £4.6m to £0.5m. There is an action plan in place to approve the remaining school’s budgets. The implications on school balances will be reported next time.

    16. Outstanding Issues

  16. There is an outstanding query from the closure of accounts in 2002/03 relating to income in Social & Health Care and the assessment of debtors. This is being investigated and will be reported more fully next time.

  17. There are some unresolved issues around job evaluation costs in directorates. It is likely there will be further costs both for the current and forward years. This is currently being looked at to ascertain if there is enough funding overall to absorb these costs.

    18. Balances

     

     

    Revised Final County Fund Balance at 31 March 2004

    Less shared bill for legal costs

    £m

    7.529

    -0.042

    Revised Estimated County Fund Balance at 31 March 2004

     

    7.487

    Programme Area Carry forward Reserves

  18. The forecast position for the Programme Area Carry Forward Reserves are summarised at Annex 1. The provisional outturn position for 2002/03 has now been finalised and was presented to Best Value committee on 10 September 2003. There appears to be significant movement on the carry forward position between 2002/03 and the forecast position for the end of year. A more detailed appraisal will be presented next time.

    19. Consolidated Position

     

     

    Revenue Balances

    Projected Programme Area Carry forwards as per Annex 1

    £m

    7.487

    2.053

    Less City Schools Reorganisation

    -3.989

    Total

    5.551

    RECOMMENDATIONS

  19. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:

          1. to note the report;
          2. to ask the Head of Finance to report on the following next time:
            1. the closedown position on the closed City Schools;
            2. the forecast position on Job Evaluation;
            3. the movement forecast on the Carry Forward Reserves between 2002/03 and 2003/04.

CHRIS GRAY
Head of Finance

Background papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Jenny Hydari - extension 5401

September 2003

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