To comment on the Cabinet report.

The Head of Finance introduce the Financial Update report that was the first statement of 2018-19 and confirmed a projected balanced budget.

The Panel were informed that there was a projected overspend of  £564k with General Fund reserves of £7.001m and a Capital Fund of £1.729m.  the minimum level of reserves agreed at Council in February 2018 was £5.86m.

There had been a mitigation exercise to bring spend back into line, but pressures remain in:

·         Revs and Bens

·         Bus subsidies

·         Children’s services

It was expected to see similar pressures coming through in the coming months.  Substantial amount of work was ongoing for officers working on these pressures and this would be reported more fully in future Cabinet updates.

Report recommends to Cabinet to note the report and approve several additional grant funded budgets.

Cllr L Evans asked if a possible delay in the Borough Local Plan was included in this report and was informed that it would not be unless there was an impact on large capital projects that would be shown as being slipped.

Cllr Brimacombe mentioned that at paragraph 4.6 it showed that £1,210,980 from the MHCLG has been awarded to the Borough for help with homelessness.  He asked if there had been an underspend on this the previous year and if the funding was linked to the homelessness strategy that was due out this autumn.  The Panel were informed that last year’s funding had been fully utilised and it was expected that this year’s allocation would also be used.  The funds were to help prevent homelessness as well as helping those who were homeless and the funds were ring-fenced.

Cllr Brimacombe asked if there was going to be any additional increase in borrowing and was informed that there were no plans for 2018/19.

The Chairman mentioned that a resident had raised concerns about the quality of pot hole repairs.  The Head of Finance said that the quality of repairs would be covered by the contract we have with  our contractors and action could be taken if they were not fulfilling their obligations.

Cllr Quick reported that a contractor had informed her that they filled pot holes but no longer ‘tapped’ the material down as this would be done by traffic.

Cllr Brimacombe also raised concerns about utility companies not repairing the road correctly after repairs and was informed that they were obliged to repair to the same standard they found the road.

In response to a question from the Chairman the Panel were informed that there still remained a concern with regards to pressure in Children’s Services and Adult Social Care. 

Resolved unanimously: that Corporate Services O&S Panel considered the Cabinet report and unanimously endorsed the recommendations.  The Panel asked for additional information regarding the quality of pot hole repairs and if any action can be taken against utility companies doing poor repairs.  The Panel also asked for clarification on the revenue budget for flexible homeless support; how the money was used and if it was linked to the upcoming homelessness report.