Agenda item
Performance and Finance Quarter 4, 2009-2010
This report summarises Brent Council’s spending, activity and performance in Quarter 4, 2009/10 and highlights key issues and solutions to them. It takes a corporate overview of financial and service performance and provides an analysis of high risk areas. The report is accompanied by appendices providing budget, activity and performance data for each service area, the Local Area Agreement, ring fenced budgets and the capital programme. Vital Signs trend data and graphs are also provided along with the council’s overall budget summary. The report also contains details of the recent government announcements reducing various grants to the council and asks the Executive to agree action to balance the revenue budget.
(Appendices A-F circulated separately)
Decision:
(i) that the council’s spending, activity and performance in financial year 2009/10 be noted;
(ii) that all directors ensure that where there are underlying spending pressures these are addressed in 2010/11 so spend is kept within budget and underperformance tackled, and that measures are taken, in consultation with relevant portfolio holders, to achieve this;
(iii) that approval be given to the 2010/11 virements referred to in paragraph 5.11 of the report from the Directors of Finance and Corporate Resources and Policy and Regeneration detailed in appendix G;
(iv) that approval be given to the budget reductions in those areas where government grant has been reduced in 2010/11 as set out in Appendix H of the Directors’ report.
Minutes:
The report from the Directors of Finance and Corporate Resources and Policy and Regeneration report summarised Brent Council’s spending, activity and performance in Quarter 4, 2009/10 and highlighted key issues and solutions to them. It took a corporate overview of financial and service performance and provided an analysis of high risk areas. The report was accompanied by appendices providing budget, activity and performance data for each service area, the Local Area Agreement, ring fenced budgets and the capital programme. Vital Signs trend data and graphs was also provided along with the council’s overall budget summary. The report also contained details of the recent government announcements reducing various grants to the council and asked the Executive to agree action to balance the revenue budget.
Earlier in the meeting, Elaine Henderson (Brent Friends of the Earth) and Lorraine Skinner (a local resident) addressed the Executive asking for continued support for the Green Zones scheme and Climate Change initiatives notwithstanding the loss of the central government Performance Reward Grant which currently funded this work. The Assistant Director of Environment (Policy and Regulation), Michael Read, responded that the government decision to cut the Performance Reward Grant mid-year was unexpected and further delays would worsen the situation. He conceded that there had been a delay in starting the work on the Climate Change strategy and plans to recruit a member of staff had since been caught by the recruitment freeze. He did however hope that work could be reprioritised to allow progress to be made. On the Green Zones scheme, the Assistant Director agreed that the scheme was a good idea however it was clear that it could not continue in its current form in the absence of funding. Other ways of communicating with residents would have to be identified.
Michael Read then responded to a submission from Unison members of the Planning Service, circulated to members of the Executive, concerning the impact on service provision of the council’s efficiency savings programme, in particular cuts as a result of the loss of the Housing and Planning Service Delivery Grant. The Assistant Director put that some posts within the Planning Service had been deleted as a result of a loss of income following a decline in the housing and development market and resources had to be balanced. Some service units had had to be merged to make savings and the loss of central government grant meant the council had to concentrate on statutory service provision. Given the timescales, it had been decided to make the savings in those areas that had been grant funded and to share the loss in funding across the council would adversely affect other services.
Members in discussion, regretted the loss of town centre management service previously funded by the Housing and Planning Delivery grant, which helped to bring funding into the council, improve the vitality of town centres and around which some services had been organised. Councillor Butt (Lead Member, Resources) contributed that the level of budget cuts was unexpected, especially where funding had been promised. He regretted the coalition government’s decisions to withdraw funding, and that the council did not have the necessary resources but felt that failure to take decisions at this stage would lead to the need to make even more savings in the future. The Executive noted that consultation on the staffing reductions would now commence.
RESOLVED:-
(i) that the council’s spending, activity and performance in financial year 2009/10 be noted;
(ii) that all directors ensure that where there are underlying spending pressures these are addressed in 2010/11 so spend is kept within budget and underperformance tackled, and that measures are taken, in consultation with relevant portfolio holders, to achieve this;
(iii) that approval be given to the 2010/11 virements referred to in paragraph 5.11 of the report from the Directors of Finance and Corporate Resources and Policy and Regeneration detailed in appendix G;
(iv) that approval be given to the budget reductions in those areas where government grant has been reduced in 2010/11 as set out in Appendix H of the Directors’ report.
Supporting documents:
- 100726-pru-q4-inc-appg, item 8. PDF 236 KB
- 100726-pru-q4-apph, item 8. PDF 88 KB
- 100726-pru-q4-apps-a-e, item 8. PDF 1 MB
- 100726-pru-q4-appf, item 8. PDF 1003 KB
- 100726-pru-q4-addendum, item 8. PDF 203 KB