Issue - meetings

2nd Quarter Budget Monitoring Report

Meeting: 28/11/2017 - Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee (Item 79)

79 Second Quarter Budget Monitoring 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 71 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Finance gave a presentation to the Committee relating to capital and revenue budgets and outturn within the Committee’s remit for the second quarter of 2017/18. The Committee used the debate to consider the reference from Policy and Resources Committee (Agenda Item 12).

 

Councillor Naghi addressed the Committee on this item.

 

It was noted that:

 

  • As of 30 September 2017, the budget for this Committee was reporting an overall under spend of £237,447 and the year-end position was forecasted to decrease to an under spend of £143,000.

 

  • The slippage on Parks and Open Spaces capital schemes in the first quarter of the year was reported to Policy and Resources Committee on 20 September 2017. This Committee was asked to consider the slippage in relation to Mote Park and other parks.

 

  • The Market had an adverse variance of £21,400 for the second quarter which had arisen from unachieved income in this area. The most notable shortfall arose from the Tuesday market and this was a continuation of the trend noted in previous years and was reflective of the national picture.

 

In response to questions from the Committee, the Head of Regeneration and Economic Development stated that:

 

·  The slippage on Parks and Open Spaces capital schemes related only to non-urgent work to resurface the entry and exit roads into Mote Park and that this would be completed by the end of 2021 and within the 5 year capital programme.

 

·  As the Market was currently operating under an unachievable income target it would be reassessed at the upcoming budget setting at Council.

 

·  The private contractor had not yet taken over the operation of Mote Park Café due to the delay in exchanging contracts. The Officer was not concerned because the cafes were performing well and it was expected that the contracts would be exchanged soon.

 

The Committee raised concerns that parking machines were coming out of this Committee’s budget but that the income from parking services was being placed under the remit of Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transportation Committee. It was noted that it appeared that this Committee was paying a capital sum for a service for which it was not receiving a benefit. The Officer agreed to investigate the query and inform the Committee of the findings by email following the meeting.

 

RESOLVED:

 

  1. That the revenue position at the end of second quarter and the actions being taken or proposed to improve the position where significant variances have been identified be noted.

 

  1. That the capital position at the end of the second quarter be noted.