Agenda item

Details of the Financial and Performance Report Quarter 1 were outlined for Members consideration. The Council was forecasting an overspend of £2.803m for month 3, which was a better position compared to month 2, when a £4.4m potential overspend was reported. The main service areas showing variation from budget were Children and Families, Adult Social Care and Health Partnerships and Estates and Regeneration. Draft action plans were in place to address the overspend and it was anticipated that the overspend would be offset by corporate under spends and contained within the current financial year. 

It was noted that this was the first quarter review of the Five Year Plan (5YP) Balanced Scorecard. There were 91 indicators in total across the eight main outcomes, of which the following eight indicators were rated ‘red’ – being more than 5% adrift of their currently defined targets.

• Business Rate debit increase each year
• Number of tenant verification site visits completed
• Prevalence of childhood ‘healthy weight’ at end of Primary School
• Cumulative percentage of the eligible population aged 40-74 offered an NHS Health check
• Rate of mortality from all cardiovascular diseases in persons less than 75 years per 100,000 population
• Social Isolation: percentage of adult social care users who have as much social contact as they would like
• Number of adults managing their care and support via a direct payment

An update on the Council’s Gold Projects was provided. Of the eight gold projects, seven were assessed to have an overall status of ‘amber’ and one at ‘green.’ Referring to the Council’s Gold Project for The Curve, further details were requested regarding the capacity of the Council and arvato’s ICT support to meet deadlines and complete work on schedule, as it was showing as red. Officers agreed that details in relation to the project including factors for the delay in completing works and what was being undertaken to address the issue would be circulated to Committee Members. 

Further details were requested regarding land ownership issues within the School Places Programme Gold Project. The Chief Executive explained that there was a shortage of school places, specifically secondary school places, and sites for schools within the Borough were very limited. Various sites were discussed by the Committee and their suitability as a school, including the site used by the former Haybrook College. It was explained that the site would be unable to accommodate a secondary school.

Members were informed that discussions were ongoing for the transition of Children’s Services over to the Trust, which were anticipated to transfer from 1 October 2015. It was explained that although the service would be provided by the Trust, the Council would retain a statutory responsibility for the service and be held accountable should the Trust not perform satisfactorily. It was noted that monitoring of the Trust was vital and work was on going to develop Key Performance Indicators which would allow an effective assessment of the service.

Resolved – That details of the Financial and Performance Report Quarter 1 be noted.