Agenda item

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability introduced the report, and drew Members attention to Appendices A and B, which detailed revenue budget, forecast outturn and significant variances. He said that although these were disappointing, they were prudent, with the forecast overspend showing ‘one off items’.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability referred to Appendix C of the report which gave information about 2024/25 savings, and said that again these were disappointing, with some savings delayed.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability referred to Appendix D of the report, which gave details on the 2024/25 capital programme and forecast outturn, and said that there were very few variants, with ongoing projects within budget and mitigations in progress. 

The Chair thanked the Executive Member for Financial Sustainability for his report.

Councillor Deering said that he had attended the recent Executive meeting where the report had originally been presented and referred to the last bullet point of paragraph 2.7. He asked for clarification regarding Charringtons House, and asked if it would be demolished or be part of the redevelopment of Old River Lane.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that Charringtons House was part of the Old River Lane scheme, and that it would be sold to the developer once an agreement was signed, thus alleviating the council’s responsibility to pay business rates on the building. He said that due to the delay in signing the agreement consideration had been given to demolishing the building (again to negate the business rates responsibility), but this had proved too expensive.

Councillor Williams referred to Appendix D of the report and asked if the revised budget from the end of February was significant.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that the figures in the Appendix included carry forwards from previous years.

Councillor Williamson asked why Appendix E of the report did not appear to be included on the agenda.

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that Appendix E should have been included and would therefore be circulated to Members.

Councillor Nicholls referred to Appendix D and asked for more information about the sum of money allocated to the Pinehurst Community Hall.

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that these were Section 106 monies, for both work to the hall and an outside play area.  

Mr Sharman asked if there would be any impact on the current £2.9m level of outstanding debt. 

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that old debts would be worked on, and reviewed to see if they should be written off. He said that he was confident that with staff training recovery would be possible with regards to licensing debtors. He said that with effect from November a new payment system would be in place, allowing opportunities for more and enhanced card payments.

Mr Sharman said that this was good news, and asked how confident the Executive were that the level of underspend would not deteriorate in the coming months.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that the forecast was prudent, with scenarios worst case, allowing for gains on the big numbers.

Mr Sharman said that it was hard to judge this from the report narrative, and that it was therefore good to hear that the forecast was prudent. He asked where money would be found should the outturn overspend transpire.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that there were no great issues pertaining to the current year, with monies to go into the Council’s reserve account.  He said that future years would be dependent on external factors and any savings made.

Mr Poppy referred to the variants relating to Buntingford Depot in Appendix B of the report, and asked if these were a cost to the council or the contractor.

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that the current contractor paid rent at the depot, but that the new incoming contractor would not. He said that it made no sense to charge such rent as the contractor only charged this back to the council. He added that a new depot site continued to be sought.

Mr Poppy asked if there were yet figures available for BEAM, which had been operating for approximately a month. 

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that it was too early to have any concrete numbers pertaining to BEAM. He said that however, early indications were that performance had not been as good as hoped.

Mr Poppy asked if the Planning Department would require less external staffing support if the number of planning applications went down. 

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that if there was a lag in planning applications the workload for the Planning Department would decrease.

Councillor Hart asked if the staffing underspend within departments as detailed within the report was sustainable.

The Interim Chief Executive said that considerable savings had been made as the Head of Revenues and Benefits had medically retired, and the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development had left the council. She said that a Senior Management Review was being undertaken and that Members would be advised of any further restructure. She added that some vacant posts were being held to enable decisions to be made as to if recruitment was necessary.

Councillor Nicholls asked if the effect of the council’s ban on overtime was known.

The Interim Chief Executive said that the overtime savings were not ‘true’ within the Revenues and Benefits Department as vacancy monies were being used to pay overtime and short-term agency staff. She said that this was necessary to improve performance, meet benefit targets and maintain staff wellbeing.  

Councillor Deering asked for the direction of travel in respect of agency staff spending.

The Interim Chief Executive said that such spend had been static over the past 6 months, with the biggest expenditure at all grades within the Planning Department. She said that short term agency staff were used to fill critical posts, with any vacancies brought before Leadership Team before the recruitment process started.

The Chair asked if the overspend effected the decisions made by East Herts.

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability said that the budget effected every decision, with thoughts already underway regarding next year. 

It was moved by Councillor Nicholls and seconded by Councillor Hart, that the recommendations, as detailed, be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, this motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that (A) The reasons for the net revenue budget end of year projected overspend of £1.1m be considered; and

B) that the capital programme forecast outturn of £50k be considered.