Agenda item

(a)  That the following changes to the capital programme be approved:

  i.  Investment of £50k in the Municipal Bonds Agency

  ii.  Increasing the budget for an Extra Care Housing scheme over the existing budget in 2014-15 by £400,000 and £500k in 2015-16, with £805k of funding coming from Adult Social Care grant

  iii.  Inclusion of a previously approved traffic light scheme  that was funded from a revenue reserve to be included in the capital programme

(b)  That the virements and write offs contained within the report be approved.

(c)  That the transfer of funds from the NHS to the Council in respect of the Better Care Fund be noted.

(d)  That the current financial forecast position, balanced scorecard and update on Gold projects be noted.

The Assistant Director, Finance & Audit introduced the Financial and Performance Report for the first quarter of 2014/15.

The Cabinet noted the performance against the balanced scorecard indicators and ‘Gold’ Project updates for the year to date.  The Council was forecasting an overspend of circa £1m at Month 3 and appropriate action was taking place to mitigate this by the end of the financial year.  The forecast spend of the capital programme was 80% against a revised budget of £60.979m.

Commissioners considered the proposed changes to the capital programme which comprised investment of £50k in the Municipal Bonds Agency; increased budget for Extra Care Housing Scheme; and the inclusion of a previously approved traffic scheme.  It was noted that additional capital expenditure of £900k in extra care housing was expected to realise £500-£600k revenue savings by 2016-17 as well as helping to provide the appropriate care for local people.  In response to a question, the Strategic Director of Wellbeing confirmed that feedback from service users had been very positive and this provision delivered high quality outcomes.  Following discussion, the Cabinet agreed the recommended changes to the Capital Programme as detailed in the report.

Resolved –

(a)  That the following changes to the capital programme be approved:

  i.  Investment of £50k in the Municipal Bonds Agency

  ii.  Increasing the budget for an Extra Care Housing scheme over the existing budget in 2014-15 by £400,000 and £500k in 2015-16, with £805k of funding coming from Adult Social Care grant

  iii.  Inclusion of a previously approved traffic light scheme  that was funded from a revenue reserve to be included in the capital programme

(b)  That the virements and write offs contained within the report be approved.

(c)  That the transfer of funds from the NHS to the Council in respect of the Better Care Fund be noted.

(d)  That the current financial forecast position, balanced scorecard and update on Gold projects be noted.