Agenda item

The Chair introduced the Financial and Performance Review Report stating that he would draw attention to the red indicators as they came up.

Cllr Stubbs referred to a line in the report that said that at the end of Q1, all savings had been achieved  but there were no breakdowns of what they were or how they were achieved.  The Service Director for Finance (S151 Officer) referred to appendix A where the savings were listed.

Cllr Jones asked the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth about an item under issues at paragraph 3.3.  An amber action flag for Walleys Quarry stated that the Council was awaiting permission from the Secretary of State.  Cllr Jones understood that permission had now been granted.  The Portfolio Holder was asked if he was confident that there was enough money in the budget to undertake the legal proceedings.  The Portfolio Holder confirmed that he was.

Cllr Stubbs, referring to the accounts, stated that there had not been any income from interest payments in the budget.  There would be significant income sitting in the bank account that would provide significant income interest payments that were not in the budget.

The Service Director – Finance (S151 Officer) stated that, in respect of the interest receivables, there were forecasts which set out, as and when it would be spent and therefore it was expected that the funding would have been spent before it actually was and hence would not have generated interested.

Councillor Stubbs stated that over the last two years the Council had almost been saved by those interest payments but they weren’t shown in the budgets and it was a significant amount.

The Service Director – Finance (S151 Officer) stated that, regeneration projects moved at different speeds.  There was a plan of when certain aspects of the capital spend would be spent. 

Councillor Stubbs stated that the amount should be shown somewhere.

The Chair stated that everything had been declared transparently.

Cllr Jones referred to the table outlining £3.286m in sales over the year.  The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth was asked to outline what they were and how much was yet to be realised.   The Portfolio Holder advised that some had come from Aspire and money from the new energy site.  The Service Director – Finance (S151 Officer) advised that there were other areas which the Chair requested be circulated to all members of the Committee. 

Cllr Jones stated that he had not seen a list of asset sales at this Committee, Council  or on the Cabinet agenda and asked the Portfolio Holder if he could advise where the information was available for members.  The Service Director -Finance (S151 Officer) clarified the question which was related to bigger sales or sales happening in the future.  The information would come to this Committee in the form of a table showing what the Council was expecting to achieve against what had actually been achieved but the actual assets were not included in the table.

Cllr Fox-Hewitt asked the Portfolio Holder, in respect of the previously discussed additional borrowing that had occurred, what was the interest rate.  The Portfolio Holder advised that the Council thought that they were not going to borrow and therefore thought that there would be no interest to pay,  The Service Director – Finance (S151 Officer) advised that, for budget purposes there was an estimate of 5% but as months progress it could change.

Cllr Fox-Hewitt referred to, previously mention £400k approximately, borrowing.  Would that be taken in one go or stage it in when the interest rates plateaued.  The Service Director - Finance (S151 Officer) advised that, as and when borrowing was required it would be actioned as and when and not all in one go unless more beneficial to do so.  

The Chair went through the performance indicators, pointing out the red ones:

The percentage of stage one complaints processed in 20 working days.  The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth advised that things were now on track.  The figures in the report related to April and May.

The percentage of complaints informed within the required timescales of any action to be taken about alleged breaches of planning control.  The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth advised that there had been some complex cases to be dealt with which had taken up time and resources.

The Chair referred to the large red area under priority four.  This was due to some indicators that were missing from this report.  The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth advised that one indicator referred to markets.  Some of the stalls had been taken away and with temporary stalls now also being used, the best way to assess the indicators was being looked into.  Regarding the footfall indicator – this information was provided by the BID and it had not been provided in time.

Car parking usage – number of tickets purchased.  The Portfolio Holder stated that the below target figure was possibly due to more online shopping and, with the town centre regeneration that was currently underway there were a lot of vans and commercial vehicles parked up for the day.

Councillor Grocott referred to the BID stating that they had been asked to attend Economy and Place Scrutiny Committee for over fifteen months and also referred to the lateness of providing information for this Committee.  The Portfolio Holder advised that if the BID chose not to engage with the Council there was not much that could be done.

Councillor Stubbs asked if the Council was the senior partner and therefore there must be something that could be done.

Councillor Stubbs referred to ID 1.13 stating that long term sickness had fallen but there was a spike in short term and asked if there was any indication of what had caused the spike.  The Service Director – Strategy, People and Performance stated that a spike was expected with summertime related issues.  The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth stated that this figure had been red for many years  but the fact that it was coming down and staying down was an improvement. 

Resolved:    That the contents of the report and appendices be noted and that

the Council’s service and financial performance for this period continue to be monitored and challenged.

Watch the debate here