Agenda item

(a)  That the proposed sale of Parlaunt Road be noted; Cabinet approved this disposal at its meeting in November 2012.  This property is an HRA (Housing Revenue Account) property and the anticipated capital receipt of up to £1.4m will be utilised to support the HRA;

(b)  That the latest forecast financial information for the 2013-14 financial year be noted;

(c)  That the Council’s performance against the balance scorecard indicators to date during 2013-14 be noted;

(d)  That the Council’s performance on ‘Gold’ projects during 2013-14 be noted; and

(e)  That the write-offs detailed within the report be approved.

The Assistant Director, Finance & Audit introduced a report which set out the Council’s overall performance and financial management for the period up to and including September 2013.

Members were informed that the Council were currently forecasting an overspend of £0.7m, with the main area of variance in the Children’s and Families service which was forecasting an overspend of £1.7m, some of which had been offset by savings in other areas.  The overspend was reducing but required further remedial action to ensure this position was mitigated by the end of the financial year.  It was forecast that 70% of the capital programme would be spent during the financial year with the main area of re-profiling being The Curve project which was progressing to timescale and would require a movement of over £8m of allocated budget from 2013-14 into 2014-15.  Members noted the financial performance and considered and approved the write off requests as detailed in the report.

The Assistant Director summarised the key issues in relation to the Council’s performance scorecard and Gold Projects.  It was noted that 85% of indicators had been rated as either ‘Green’ or ‘Amber’ with a number of indicators moving from ‘Red’ or ‘Amber’ to ‘Green’ during the quarter including waste to landfill and recycling.  Members considered the actions being undertaken on the ‘Red’ rated indicators one of which was the number of households in temporary accommodation.  The Cabinet noted that whilst the indicator was above target, the number had reduced from 96 to 93 between August and September and none of the households were in bed & breakfast accommodation.  Members discussed a number of issues relating to housing trends in the Borough, particularly the impacts of Government housing and benefit reforms, and discussed the progress of the establishment of the Council’s social lettings agency.

Members discussed the proposed sale of properties in Parlaunt Road which the Cabinet had agreed to dispose of in November 2012.  It was noted that the anticipated capital receipt of £1.4m was above the valuation reported at the time of the original decision and would be utilised for new community facilities in Langley via the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).

Resolved –

(a)  That the proposed sale of Parlaunt Road be noted; Cabinet approved this disposal at its meeting in November 2012.  This property is an HRA (Housing Revenue Account) property and the anticipated capital receipt of up to £1.4m will be utilised to support the HRA;

(b)  That the latest forecast financial information for the 2013-14 financial year be noted;

(c)  That the Council’s performance against the balance scorecard indicators to date during 2013-14 be noted;

(d)  That the Council’s performance on ‘Gold’ projects during 2013-14 be noted; and

(e)  That the write-offs detailed within the report be approved.