Issue - meetings

Cabinet:

(a)        Noted the Council’s provisional outturn position, together with the performance and risk matters set out in the report, and APPROVED the virement of £20,000 to the Community Chest.

(b)        APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and Matrix set out in Appendices D to E of the report.

Cabinet considered a report which provided a statement on the Council’s financial position with regard to its General Fund, Housing Revenue Account and capital budgets, together with corporate objectives, performance indicators and strategic risks.

Councillor Simon Edwards, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Staffing, presented the report and highlighted that the General Fund’s working position was a £1,168,500 favourable variance, equating to 7.33% of the net District Council General Fund expenditure.  The General Fund variance was mostly due to additional planning application income, above what was originally estimated, in relation to solar farms.  In view of this favourable position, Councillor Edwards proposed a virement of £20,000 to the Council’s Community Chest, with the understanding that if this was not spent by the end of the 2014/15 financial year it would be rolled over to 2015/16.  This proposal was seconded and unanimously supported.

Councillor David Whiteman-Downes, Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services, presented the performance and risk management aspects of the report and reported that the Council’s Customer Contact Centre had improved its performance, primarily in terms of reducing call waiting times and reducing the number of abandoned calls.  The Scrutiny and Overview Committee had considered a report on this issue at its meeting on 10 February 2015 and was very satisfied with the improved performance. 

Councillor Simon Edwards suggested that the Customer Contact Centre should be aiming for a 5% abandoned calls rate, but acknowledged that the current position was a significant improvement from where it had previously been and said that officers should be congratulated. 

Councillor Ray Manning, Leader of the Council, took this opportunity to praise officers for the fantastic work they had done with regard to managing the Council’s finances.

Cabinet:

(a)        Noted the Council’s provisional outturn position, together with the performance and risk matters set out in the report, and APPROVED the virement of £20,000 to the Community Chest.

(b)        APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and Matrix set out in Appendices D to E of the report.

Cabinet:

(a)        NOTED the Council’s provisional financial outturn position, together with the performance and risk matters and contextual information set out in the report and Appendices A – C.

(b)        APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and Matrix set out in Appendices D to E of the report.

This decision was first published on Thursday 13 October and so the deadline for call-in is Thursday 20 October at 5pm. If not called-in the decision can be implemented on Friday 21 October.

Cabinet:

(a)        NOTED the Council’s provisional financial outturn position, together with the performance and risk matters and contextual information set out in the report and Appendices A – C.

(b)        APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and Matrix set out in Appendices D to E of the report.

Consideration was given to a report which provided Cabinet with a statement on the Council’s position with regard to its General Fund, Housing Revenue Account and Capital budgets, together with progress on corporate objectives, performance indicators and strategic risks.

Councillor Simon Edwards, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Staffing, presented the financial elements of the report and took Members through the projected outturn compared to original estimates for the General Fund.  He reported that the General Fund was projected to have a deficit for 2014/15 of £792,400, however, £1,746,000 related to prior year items that had an accounting effect on the General Fund for this financial year.  This meant that the working position was a £953,600 favourable variance.  The General Fund variance was mainly due to additional planning application income, above what was originally expected, in respect of solar farms.

Councillor David Whiteman-Downes, Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services, presented the performance and strategic risk elements of the report to Cabinet, specifically highlighting that the Strategic Risk Register had been amended to take into account shared service initiatives with other Councils.

It was noted that the determination of planning applications fell below target in all categories during the second quarter of 2014/15.  Councillor Robert Turner, Portfolio Holder for Planning, explained that there were a number of contributory factors including a focus on the way in which the Council handled pre-applications.  Two additional experienced Planning Officers and a new post of Business Excellence Manager were in the process of being recruited and it was expected that these staff would help to ensure improved performance during the latter part of the year.  Councillor Turner also highlighted that the Council had determined more applications this year than in previous years.

Cabinet:

(a)        NOTED the Council’s provisional financial outturn position, together with the performance and risk matters and contextual information set out in the report and Appendices A – C.

(b)        APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and Matrix set out in Appendices D to E of the report.

Cabinet NOTED the Council’s provisional financial outturn position, together with the performance and risk matters and contextual information set out in the report, and APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and Matrix set out in Appendices E and F.

This decision was first published on Friday 12 September, so the deadline for calling-in this decision is Friday 19 September at 5pm. If not called-in this decision can be implemented on Monday 22 September.

This item will be considered by Scrutiny and Overview Committee on 4 September. Any specific comments and/or recommendations will be reported to Cabinet at the meeting.

Cabinet NOTED the Council’s provisional financial outturn position, together with the performance and risk matters and contextual information set out in the report, and APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and Matrix set out in Appendices E and F.

Consideration was given to a report which provided Cabinet with a statement on the Council’s position with regard to its General Fund, Housing Revenue Account and capital budgets, corporate objectives, performance indicators and strategic risks. 

Councillor Simon Edwards, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Staffing, presented the financial elements of the report and commenced by emphasising that the report was a very early indication of the Council’s finances for the year ahead. 

Councillor Edwards reported two areas of significant additional income as follows:

-       planning income was expected to be £600,000 more than originally estimated due to a number of large fees relating to planning applications for solar panel developments;

-       successful overachievement of trade waste income, flexible working arrangements and reduced staff sickness levels, and lower fuel costs than planned for, were resulting in a positive variance against profiled budget which was estimated at £157,000 for the year.

It was noted, however, that there were still a large number of appeals yet to be determined in respect of non-domestic rates.  The amount the Council had to pay for successful appeals in 2013/14 had been £550,000 more than estimated due to refunds granted by the Valuation Officer, so this remained as an area of concern.

Councillor David Whiteman-Downes, Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services, presented the performance and risk management aspects of the report and took Cabinet through the relevant documents attached as appendices.  He highlighted a particular risk in view of the Council losing two planning appeals at Waterbeach based on the lack of a five year land supply.  Planning agents and developers had indicated that they were preparing major planning applications for submission during Autumn 2014.  The likelihood score on the Strategic Risk Register for this issue had therefore been increased from ‘likely’ to ‘almost certain’ and additional control measures had been put in place to address the risk.

A question was raised as to whether the Business and Improvement Efficiency Programme’s Goods and Services Review would consider how decisions were taken about the way in which sub-contractors were appointed by the Council.  Cabinet was informed that a piece of work on this issue would be undertaken, however, it was not envisaged to be part of the Goods and Services Review specifically.

Cabinet NOTED the Council’s provisional financial outturn position, together with the performance and risk matters and contextual information set out in the report, and APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and Matrix set out in Appendices E and F.

Cabinet

A)           NOTED the provisional 2013-14 outturn position statement, together with performance information.

B)           APPROVED the capital and revenue budget rollovers totalling £1,020,110, as listed in Appendix C of the report, to be carried forward into the 2014-15 financial year.

This decision was first published on Friday 11 July. The deadline for call-in is Friday 18 July at 5pm. If not called-in this decision can be implemented on Monday 21 July.