Agenda item - Targeted Budget Management (TBM) 2015/16 Month 9

Extract form the proceedings of the Policy & Resources Committee meeting held on 11 February 2016 (copy to follow); together with a report of the Acting Director of Finance & Resources (copy attached).

1)            That the Audit & Standards Committee notes the update on the council’s in-year financial position and the continuing actions taken to address forecast overspend risks.

77.1      The Committee considered a report of the Acting Director of Finance & Resources that provided the Targeted Budget Management (TBM) 2015/15 Month 9 report and an extract of proceedings of the Policy & Resources Committee held on 11 February 2016 from which the report had been referred; together with a specific report to the Audit & Standards Committee from the Acting Director of Finance & Resources.

77.2      Councillor Druitt noted the recruitment controls put into place and detailed at paragraph 1.3 and conveyed his concern that the process appeared random rather than planned and could lead to significant gaps in some service areas.

77.3      The Principal Accountant – Corporate Finance & Resources clarified that part of the recruitment control was to encourage service redesign where appropriate as vacancies arose. However, if a service required a vacancy to be filled to maintain service provision, a case could be made to the Executive Leadership Team for approval to recruit to a post. There were also exemptions from the conrols with regard to statutory services, e.g. Adult Social Care residential services, where statutory minimum staffing requirements must be maintained.

77.4      Councillor Druitt asked if preventive measures were being put in place to avert budget overspend in the future.

77.5      The Principal Accountant - Corporate Finance & Resources stated that the council’s budget had a number of volatile demand-led services that could lead to unexpected increases or decreases in costs. To some degree, identifying those earlier in the financial year allowed for review and to reduce those down immediately or over the course of the year.

77.6      Diane Bushell stated there were a number of ‘scam’ operations on elderly people in Brighton & Hove which could have an impact upon the Adult Social Care budget should victims need support. Diane asked if any preventative measures were being taken by the council in this area.

77.7      The Principal Accountant- Corporate Finance & Resources stated that he did not have any information on this but would make enquiries into the matter.

77.8      RESOLVED- That the Audit & Standards Committee notes the update on the council’s in-year financial position and the continuing actions taken to address forecast overspend risks.