Agenda item

The report provides a projection of the expenditure and income position for the 2014/15 Budget compared with the approved budget for the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account.  The projection is based on the position to date.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Executive notes the report and:

1.         approves the virement requests from the additional planning income to cover additional legal fees of £20,000 and consultants costs of £10,000 within Development Control appeal costs, as detailed in paragraph 2.4;

2.         approves the employment of consultants at an estimated cost of £15,000 to be met from the identified WTS surplus to carry out a review of the service as detailed in paragraph 2.12;

3.         agrees to the request to slip the £35,000 capital provision for the Farnham Maltings from 2014-15 to 2015-16 as detailed in paragraph 3.2;

4.         recommends to the Council that the addition of £63,000 within the 2014-15 General Fund Capital Programme be approved for the refurbishment of Broadwater Toilets, as detailed in paragraph 3.3;

5.         approves the work for the properties in (Exempt ) Annexes 6 and 7;

6.         approves the change in accountant post BD04 from 15 to 37 hours within existing budgets, as described in 2.8 and recommends to the Council that the staffing establishment be amended accordingly; and

7.         approves the expenditure of £14,200 to be met from the HRA required to separate the two areas of ex-Rowland House/Rowleys accommodation as detailed in paragraph 4.10.

The Executive noted the report and agreed to

1.         approve the virement requests from the additional planning income to cover additional legal fees of £20,000 and consultants costs of £10,000 within Development Control appeal costs, as detailed in paragraph 2.4 of the agenda report;

2.         approve the employment of consultants at an estimated cost of £15,000 to be met from the identified WTS surplus to carry out a review of the service as detailed in paragraph 2.12 of the agenda report;

3.         the request to slip the £35,000 capital provision for the Farnham Maltings from 2014-15 to 2015-16 as detailed in paragraph 3.2 of the agenda report;

4.         approve the work for the properties in (Exempt ) Annexes 6 and 7 attached to the agenda report; and

5.         approve the expenditure of £14,200 to be met from the HRA required to separate the two areas of ex-Rowland House/Rowleys accommodation as detailed in paragraph 4.10 of the agenda report.

[CORPORATE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE]

The Executive also agreed to RECOMMEND to the COUNCIL that

6.         the addition of £63,000 within the 2014-15 General Fund Capital Programme be approved for the refurbishment of Broadwater Toilets, as detailed in paragraph 3.3;

7.         the change in accountant post BD04 from 15 to 37 hours within existing budgets, as described in paragraph 2.8, be approved and the staffing establishment be amended accordingly; and

8.         the post of Temporary Elections Assistant (Post AI13) be made permanent because of the likely ongoing increase in workload resulting from the implementation of Individual Elector Registration and the combined elections to be held in May 2015, with the additional cost of £9,000 being met from government grant for Individual Elector Registration.

[This item is recommended to the Council for decision and is not subject to the Call-in Procedure]

[Reason: To provide an indication of the expenditure and income position for the 2014/15 budget compared with the approved budget for the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account]

[This item contains exempt information by virtue of which the public is likely to be excluded during the item to which the report relates, as specified in Paragraph 1 of the revised Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, namely:-

            Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)]

98.1    The Executive considered and noted the budget management report which provided a projection of the expenditure and income position for the 2014/15 budget compared with the approved budget for the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account.  The Executive

RESOLVED  that

1.         the virement requests from the additional planning income be approved to cover additional legal fees of £20,000 and consultants costs of £10,000 within Development Control appeal costs, as detailed in paragraph 2.4 of the agenda report;

2.         the employment of consultants be approved at an estimated cost of £15,000, to be met from the identified WTS surplus, to carry out a review of the service as detailed in paragraph 2.12 of the agenda report;

3.         approval be given to slip the £35,000 capital provision for the Farnham Maltings from 2014-15 to 2015-16 as detailed in paragraph 3.2 of the agenda report;

4.         the work for the properties in (Exempt ) Annexes 6 and 7 attached to the agenda report be approved; and

5.         the expenditure of £14,200 to be met from the HRA required to separate the two areas of ex-Rowland House/Rowleys accommodation be approved, as detailed in paragraph 4.10 of the agenda report.

98.2    Throughout this financial year the toilets at Broadwater have been vandalised on several occasions taking the facilities out of use for the users of Broadwater Park.  This park is one of Waverley’s most prominent and well visited sites and it is felt that these facilities are needed to serve those visitors.  To this end capital needs to be made available from this year’s budget to allow for the toilets to be refurbished with vandal proof fittings in time for users of the park next spring, the budget sum identified for these works is £63,000.

98.3    The finance team has been under review to ensure that the service is resilient. It has a succession risk around key posts due to a number of staff approaching retirement. The recent retirement of a long-serving member of staff (post BD04) on part-time (15 hours) at band 5 has presented an opportunity to recruit a full-time accounting technician on band 8 at 37 hours. Post BD04 will provide technical accounting capacity to complete reconciliation and systems support work currently being covered by more senior accountants. The post can be funded from the existing budget. However, as there is an increase in establishment from 15 to 37 hours the Council is asked to approve this increase.

98.4    The Executive therefore also

RECOMMENDS that

47.       the addition of £63,000 within the 2014-15 General Fund Capital Programme be approved for the refurbishment of Broadwater Toilets, as detailed in paragraph 98.2 above;

48.       the change in accountant post BD04 from 15 to 37 hours within existing budgets, as described in paragraph 98.3, be approved and the staffing establishment be amended accordingly; and

49.       the post of Temporary Elections Assistant (Post AI13) be made permanent because of the likely ongoing increase in workload resulting from the implementation of Individual Elector Registration and the combined elections to be held in May 2015, with the additional cost of £9,000 being met from government grant for Individual Elector Registration.

[Reason: To provide an indication of the expenditure and income position for the 2014/15 budget compared with the approved budget for the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account]