Agenda item

The report provides a mid-year review of the 2016/17 budget for the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account against forecast to 31 March 2017, based on the latest information available.  An update on the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan review was requested by the Council in February.

 

Recommendation

 

It is recommended that the Executive notes the report and

 

1.            agrees a supplementary estimate of £11,000 to cover the cost of waste collection on New Years’ Eve, as set out in paragraph 6 (ii);

 

2.            agrees a supplementary estimate of £30,000 for external legal costs regarding the Development Control appeal set out in paragraph 8;

 

3.            agrees that the current Council Tax Support Scheme remains unchanged for 2017/18, as set out in Paragraph 9;

 

4.            agrees a revision to Annexe 3 of the Annual Investment Strategy by increasing the total investment limit for any approved group from £15m to £20m, with £10m becoming the maximum with any single member of that group as set out in paragraph 17;

 

5.            recommends to Council to approve the rescheduling of £92,000 for Farnham Museum into 2017/18 as detailed in paragraph 21 (i);

 

6.            recommends to Council to approve the rescheduling of £80,000 for Gostrey Meadow Pavilion into 2017/18 as detailed in paragraph 21 (ii);

 

7.            recommends to Council to approve a virement from High Street Haslemere car park for Car Parks Rolling Maintenance of £70,000, as set out in paragraph 22 (ii);

 

8.            recommends to Council to approve a virement from Office Lighting replacement (£62,000) and Electricity meter installation (£5,000) to Installation of heating system at Cranleigh Leisure Centre as set out in paragraph 22 (iii);

 

9.            recommends to Council to approve the rescheduling of £900,000 for Manfield Park Industrial Units into 2017/18 as detailed in paragraph 23;

 

10.         recommends to Council to approve the rescheduling of £780,000 for Frensham Common Site Redevelopment into 2017/18 as detailed in paragraph 24;

 

11.         recommends to Council to approve the rescheduling of £250,000 for Windows & Doors into 2017/18 as detailed in paragraph 36;

 

12.         recommends to Council to approve the rescheduling of £100,000 for Roofing and Associated works into 2017/18 as set out in paragraph 37;

 

13.         recommends to Council to agree a virement from Structural & Damp works  of £250,000 for Responsive Repair works as set out in paragraph 38;

 

14.         agrees to reschedule £25,000 of the Fire Walls budget into 2017/18 as set out in paragraph 39;

 

15.         recommends to Council to agree a virement from Professional fees of £215,000 for Void Repair works as set out in paragraph 40;

 

16.         recommends to Council to approve the rescheduling of £50,000 for Cranleigh Day Centre as set out in paragraph 42; and

 

17.         agrees a virement from the Ockford Ridge demolition budget into the Ockford Ridge Show homes budget of £49,000 as detailed in paragraph 44.

 

The Executive has noted the report and

 

1.            agreed a supplementary estimate of £11,000 to cover the cost of waste collection on New Years’ Eve, as set out in paragraph 6 (ii);

 

2.            agreed a supplementary estimate of £30,000 for external legal costs regarding the Development Control appeal set out in paragraph 8;

 

3.            agreed that the current Council Tax Support Scheme remains unchanged for 2017/18, as set out in Paragraph 9;

 

4.            agreed a revision to Annexe 3 of the Annual Investment Strategy by increasing the total investment limit for any approved group from £15m to £20m, with £10m becoming the maximum with any single member of that group as set out in paragraph 17;

 

5.            approved a virement from the Ockford Ridge demolition budget into the Ockford Ridge Show homes budget of £49,000, as detailed in paragraph 44; and

 

6.            agreed to reschedule £25,000 of the Fire Walls budget into 2017/18 as set out in paragraph 39.

 

[CORPORATE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE]

 

The Executive has also agreed to RECOMMEND to the COUNCIL that

 

7.            the rescheduling of £92,000 for Farnham Museum into 2017/18 be approved, as detailed in paragraph 21 (i);

 

8.            the rescheduling of £80,000 for Gostrey Meadow Pavilion into 2017/18 be approved, as detailed in paragraph 21 (ii);

 

9.            a virement from High Street Haslemere car park for Car Parks Rolling Maintenance of £70,000 be approved, as set out in paragraph 22 (ii);

 

10.         a virement from Office Lighting replacement (£62,000) and Electricity meter installation (£5,000) to Installation of heating system at Cranleigh Leisure Centre be approved, as set out in paragraph 22 (iii);

 

11.         the rescheduling of £900,000 for Manfield Park Industrial Units into 2017/18 be approved, as detailed in paragraph 23;

 

12.         the rescheduling of £780,000 for Frensham Common Site Redevelopment into 2017/18 be approved, as detailed in paragraph 24;

 

13.         the rescheduling of £250,000 for Windows & Doors into 2017/18 be approved, as detailed in paragraph 36;

 

14.         the rescheduling of £100,000 for Roofing and Associated works into 2017/18 be approved, as set out in paragraph 37;

 

15.         a virement from Structural & Damp works of £250,000 for Responsive Repair works be approved,  as set out in paragraph 38;

 

16.         a virement from Professional fees of £215,000 for Void Repair works be agreed, as set out in paragraph 40; and

 

17.         the rescheduling of £50,000 for Cranleigh Day Centre be approved, as set out in paragraph 42.

 

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

 

 

78.1    The Executive has considered the budget management and mid-year review report for the general Fund and Housing Revenue Account against the budget forecast to 31 March 2017.  The Executive

 

RESOLVED that

 

1.            a supplementary estimate of £11,000 be agreed to cover the cost of waste collection on New Years’ Eve;

 

2.            a supplementary estimate of £30,000 be agreed for external legal costs regarding the Development Control appeal;

 

3.            the current Council Tax Support Scheme remains unchanged for 2017/18;

 

4.            a revision to Annexe 3 of the Annual Investment Strategy be agreed to increase the total investment limit for any approved group from £15m to £20m, with £10m becoming the maximum with any single member of that group;

 

5.            a virement from the Ockford Ridge demolition budget into the Ockford Ridge Show homes budget of £49,000 be approved; and

 

6.            £25,000 of the Fire Walls budget be rescheduled into 2017/18.

 

78.2    The Executive went on to consider a number of items that require Council approval, the details of which are set out below.  The General Fund Capital programme is monitored each quarter.  The total capital programme budget for 2016/17 is made up as follows:

 

Capital Programme for 2016/17
	£’000
Original budget approved by Council in February 2016	2,588
Carry forward from 2015/16 approved during 2015/16	2,218
Carry forward from 2015/16 approved by Executive in June 2016	972
New schemes and additional budget approved during 2016/17	1,014
-          Manfield Park Industrial Units	917
-          Other approvals e.g. S106 projects	97
	6,792

 

78.3    The table below summarises current performance to date:

 

Current Performance against Capital Programme for 2016/17
	Current Budget	Forecast Outturn		(Underspend) /Overspend	Comment
			Reschedule
Service	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Community	1,238	1,238	0	0
Customer & Corporate	755	523	172	(60)	See a. below
Environment	374	304	0	(70)	See b. below
Other Projects	372	372	0	0
Memorial Hall	2,177	2,177	0	0
Manfield Industrial Unit	917	17	900	0	See c. below
Frensham Common	849	69	780	0	See d. below
Urgent schemes budget	110	110	0	0
Total programme	6,792	4,810	1,852	(130)

 

a.         Customer & Corporate

 

       i.        Farnham Museum works will not take place this year as temporary fix works have been undertaken and the works can now be deferred. Therefore it is suggested that this project should take place next financial year and that the budget of £92,000 is rescheduled to allow the works to be completed.

 

      ii.        The project at Gostrey Meadow Pavilion will not take place this financial year. Preparation for this project is taking place however it is foreseen that spend on this project will not be incurred before March 2017 and it is therefore requested that the full £80,000 budget is rescheduled into 2017/18.

 

    iii.        It is suggested that the Document Management project should no longer be undertaken. After further review it has been determined that there is currently no business case for this investment and the full budget of £60,000 will be a saving. The team is focussing on clearing other scanning projects.

 

b.         Environment

 

       i.        High Street, Haslemere car park works are reaching completion at a saving to budget of circa £70,000.

 

      ii.        However, a retaining wall in Central car park has been deemed unsafe and needs rebuilding at a likely cost of £25,000. Additional maintenance works in our car parks have also been recognised. Consequently, it is requested that the £70,000 saving on the High Street, Haslemere is vired to the Car Park Rolling Maintenance Programme to allow this work to be undertaken.

 

    iii.        Cranleigh Leisure Centre requires a whole heating system replacement. This is part of the lifecycle costs; however, the costs of replacing the system are higher than forecast. Work is currently taking place to design the most cost effective replacement approach. The works will be partially funded by already approved budgets but additional budget may be required. Therefore, to be prudent, it is requested that budgets for Office Lighting replacement (£62,000) and Electricity meter installation (£5,000) are vired to allow the heating system replacement to take place. The new boiler will offer a significant energy saving and therefore revenue savings going forward.

 

c.         Manfield Park industrial units are unlikely to start on site this financial year. Work is being undertaken by the developer in preparation and a planning application is to be submitted, however it is requested that the £900,000 budget is rescheduled into 2017/18 as works will not start this financial year. Some budget will be needed this year for fees and preparatory work.

 

d.         Due to delays in the consultation and design process, the Frensham Common Site Re-development project will not start construction works this financial year. Some redesign work will be undertaken in the meantime. To enable to works to be carried out next year it is requested that £780,000 of the 2016/17 budget is rescheduled into 2017/18.

 

78.4    The total Housing Revenue Account capital programme approved budget for 2016/17 is made up as follows:

 

Approved Budget for 2016/17
	£’000
Original budget approved by Council in February 2016	8,619
Carry forward from 2015/16 approved during 2015/16	810
Carry forward from 2015/16 approved by Executive in June 2016	800
Total	£10,229

78.5    Pressures on the Responsive Repairs and Voids budgets, and as a result of the Housing and Planning  Act 2016, will bring about out significant reductions in funding available to the Council for future capital investment.  As a result, officers have started to look for opportunities to scale back requirements for capital spending in year in all but the most essential areas.  At the same time work has taken place during the year to identify Housing Revenue Account property and land assets that are no longer economic to maintain and therefore can be earmarked for disposal.  The capital receipts from the sale of these assets will provide an additional source of capital funding that can be reinvested back into the housing service in future years.  The table below summarises the capital spend and committed work to date.

Work Stream	Approved Budget as at 30/09/16 for 2016/17	Forecast Outturn	Reschedule	(Underspend) /Overspend	Comment
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Kitchen & Bathrooms	3,327	3,327	0	0
Windows & Doors	822	512	250	(60)	See paragraph 36. below
Roofing &    Associated Work	1,174	654	100	(420)	See paragraph 37. below
Aids & Adaptions	200	200	0	0
Structural & Damp Work	1,094	844	0	(250)	See paragraph 38. below
Health & Safety	575	515	25	(35)	See paragraph 39. below
Building Services	2,542	2,542	0	0
Communal & Estate Work	315	315	0	0
Professional Fees & Miscellaneous.	380	165	0	(215)	See paragraph 40. below
Target Savings Core Capital Programme	(200)	0	0	200	Included in above underspend
Grand Total	£10,229	£9,074	£375	(£780)

 

78.6    As previously reported to the Executive, the main windows and door replacement contract specification has been finalised however, the delay in getting a contract in place has led to works being delayed. It is therefore requested that £250,000 budget is rescheduled into 2017/18. Additionally replacement windows and associated works at Hillcroft, Haslemere are not due to be as extensive as originally expected, therefore a saving of circa £60,000 will be achieved.

 

78.7    With regard to roofing and associated works, £200,000 for porches & canopies and £250,000 of the Roofline & Surface Water budget is unlikely to be spent this financial year. It is requested that £100,000 of the porches budget is rescheduled into 2017/18 to enable this work to be completed. The remaining budget will be a saving this financial year.

 

78.8    For structural and damp works, savings have been achieved on the structural projects budgeted for this financial year. It is requested that £250,000 is vired into revenue to fund the additional works being undertaken on responsive repairs. Survey work is being completed; therefore works on pre-1945 properties is unlikely to be undertaken in 2016/17 and will be encompassed in the 2017/18 budget. It is requested that £215,000 is vired into revenue to fund the additional repairs works being undertaken on void properties.

 

78.9    The total stock remodelling capital programme approved budget for 2016/17 is made up as follows:

 

Work Stream	Approved Budget 2016/17 as at 30/09/16	Forecast Outturn as at 30/09/16	Reschedule	(Underspend) /Overspend	Comment
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Approved Schemes	253	253	0	0
Potential Schemes	4,169	3,538	50	(581)	See para 42. below
Total	£4,422	£3,791	£50	(£581)

 

78.10  The housing projects at Cranleigh Day Centre and 8 Elmbridge Cottages will not be continuing. Therefore a £631,000 saving was due to be achieved.  To enable works to be undertaken at Cranleigh Day Centre so it is brought back into community use, it is requested that £50,000 of this saving is built into the 2017/18 budget.

 

78.11  The Executive therefore

 

RECOMMENDS that

 

57.       £92,000 for Farnham Museum be rescheduled into 2017/18, as detailed in paragraph 78.3 a;

 

58.       £80,000 for Gostrey Meadow Pavilion be rescheduled into 2017/18, as detailed in paragraph 78.3 a;

 

59.       a virement from High Street Haslemere car park for Car Parks Rolling Maintenance of £70,000 be approved, as set out in paragraph 78.3 b;

 

60.       a virement from Office Lighting replacement (£62,000) and Electricity meter installation (£5,000) to Installation of heating system at Cranleigh Leisure Centre be approved, as set out in paragraph 78.3 b;

 

61.       £900,000 for Manfield Park Industrial Units be rescheduled into 2017/18, as detailed in paragraph 78.3 c;

 

62.       £780,000 for Frensham Common Site Redevelopment be rescheduled into 2017/18, as detailed in paragraph 78.3 d;

 

63.       £250,000 for Windows & Doors be rescheduled into 2017/18, as detailed in paragraph 78.6;

 

64.       £100,000 for Roofing and Associated works be rescheduled into 2017/18, as set out in paragraph 78.7;

 

65.       a virement from Structural & Damp works of £250,000 for Responsive Repair works be approved,  as set out in paragraph 78.8;

 

66.       a virement from Professional fees of £215,000 for Void Repair works be agreed, as set out in paragraph 78.8; and

 

67.       the rescheduling of £50,000 for Cranleigh Day Centre be approved, as set out in paragraph 78.10.

[Reason: to consider the mid-year budget review and agree any necessary actions resulting]