Agenda item

To consider the attached report by Chris Malyon, Chief Finance Officer (Cambridgeshire County Council).

The Joint Assembly RECOMMENDED that the Executive Board:

(a)        Notes the financial position as at 31 August 2015.

(b)        Agrees to the funding of the on-going revenue commitments, as set out in the report.

(c)        Agrees the proposed framework for considering new proposals to be funded from the non-project resources pool.

Consideration was given to a report which provided the Joint Assembly with the financial monitoring position for the period ending 31 August 2015.

Chris Malyon, Chief Finance Officer at Cambridgeshire County Council, presented the report and took Members through the capital programme for the first five years of the City Deal Partnership, revenue expenditure via the three partner Councils’ New Homes Bonus contributions and expenditure from the non-project pool.  The report highlighted that there was a degree of uncertainty around whether the New Homes Bonus would survive the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.  It had therefore been agreed to adopt a relatively prudent approach to the utilisation of this pooled resource and not to exceed commitments beyond the availability of the relative New Homes Bonus for 2015/16. 

Mr Malyon reflected on the difficulty of providing accurate projections for the cost of capital schemes over the initial five year City Deal programme.  He explained that profiling for a capital programme of £180 million, which was in excess of the resources available, over the life of the first tranche of funding had provided some initial challenges.  Mr Malyon was confident that more accurate projections would be available early next year.

Reference was made to the City Deal project expenditure spreadsheet appended to the report which was headed as being cumulative, whereas the figures included in the document suggested that they were not cumulative.  It was noted that this was a mistake, which would be corrected when presented to the Executive Board on 1 October 2015.

In noting that very little revenue expenditure had been spent to date, it was reported that a significant proportion of this was in relation to the recruitment of staff and the fact that a number of positions had not yet been appointed to.  It was agreed that future financial monitoring reports would outline those posts where appointments had been made, providing information on their respective roles, and also set out how many posts still needed to be recruited to.

Councillor Tim Bick, Chairman of the Joint Assembly, asked for clarification over the statement made in relation to reported uncertainty of future revenue funding and its impact on staffing.  Mr Malyon stated that all current revenue spending commitments were supported for up to five years by the 2015/16 contributions already made by the three Councils and that appointments were being made in that context.  The question of uncertainty surrounded future contributions based on the New Homes Bonus, but this would only potentially impact existing commitments if they extended beyond five years or any additional commitments.

Discussion ensued on the revenue funding that had been approved, as it was unclear in the report whether this formed part of the City Deal budget.  Mr Malyon stated that the funding put in place for the skills project did now form part of the City Deal budget and confirmed that future financial monitoring reports would make this clearer.

In answer to a question regarding receipt of the City Deal grant from government, it was noted that the first grant had been received in May 2015 and was currently being held in Cambridgeshire County Council’s bank account.  £20 million would be delivered each subsequent year for tranche one.  New Homes Bonus contributions from each partner Council were held by the respective authority.

Joint Assembly Members noted that £2.2 million of New Homes Bonus contributions from the three partner Councils was currently available in the non-project resource pool as unallocated funding.  A list of suggested areas where this funding could be invested was set out in the report, but it would need to be used on an activity relevant to facilitating or pursuing the growth of the high value Greater Cambridge economy and developing streamlined decision making, consistent with the principles of the City Deal.  It was highlighted, however, that the amount available may change as a consequence of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

A question was asked about the availability of resources to support the Joint Assembly in pursuing its own work programme to support that of the Executive Board’s with regard to the development of the City Deal.  It was confirmed that the above non-project resource pool could in principle be used for this purpose, subject to a decision of the Board.

The Joint Assembly unanimously RECOMMENDED that the Executive Board:

(a)        Notes the financial position as at 31 August 2015.

(b)        Agrees to the funding of the on-going revenue commitments, as set out in the report.

(c)        Agrees the proposed framework for considering new proposals to be funded from the non-project resources pool.