Agenda item

This report provides details of the headline performance issues from the performance monitor session held on the 21^st December 2006, presents the latest projection of the Council’s revenue income and expenditure for the current year, and asks the Executive to consider requests for virements and supplementary estimates.

RESOLVED: (i) That the performance issues identified in the report be noted.

REASON: So that corrective action on these issues can be addressed by Directorates and EMAPs.

(ii) That responsibility for determining the final format of the amended Park and Ride scheme be delegated to the Director of Resources, taking into account the consultation exercise currently being undertaken and considering the practical implications of implementing the amendments, as outlined in paragraph 49 of the report.

REASON: So that the revised scheme can be implemented within budget and as promptly as possible.

(iii) That the applications for supplementary estimates of £55k to be funded from contingency, as set out in paragraph 59, be approved.

REASON: In accordance with the Executive’s Constitutional powers to make decisions on the level and granting of supplementary estimates.

(iv) That the transfer between general fund and the traded activities profit from Neighbourhood Services of £17,090 relating to procurement savings, as set out in paragraph 61, be approved.

REASON: This virement request is within the budget areas where the Executive is the responsible body.

(v) That the release of the £1,500k provision for Equal Pay, to fund the estimated costs as set out in paragraph 63, be approved.

REASON: The Executive is the responsible body for release of this provision.

(vi) That the transfer of £710k from the one-off resources in 2006/07 to the specific costs of equal pay, as set out in paragraph 63, be approved.

REASON: This virement request is within the budget areas where the Executive is the responsible body.

(vii) That the transfer of £330k from the one-off resources in 2006/07 to the project costs of job evaluation to cover the the period to October 2007, as set out in paragraph 65, be approved, but that further regular reports be requested on the detail of how this provision is being utlilised and that Officers be instructed to make every effort to control expenditure in this activity area.

REASON: This virement request is within the budget areas where the Executive is the responsible body and the Executive also has a responsibility to monitor the budget.

(viii) That it be agreed that the balance of the one-off resources for equal pay and job evaluation be transferred to Reserves at the year end, as set out in paragraph 65.

REASON: The transfer to reserves is within the budget areas where the Executive is the responsible body.

(ix) That departments be instructed to continue to look for savings within their own budgets rather than requesting supplementary estimates for additional expenditure pressures.

REASON: To ensure that all practicable action is taken in departments prior to seeking additional funding from the Executive.

(x) That the proposal to incorporate the £480k additional dividend from Yorwaste into the general fund reserves when it is received, as set out in paragraph 78, be endorsed.

REASON: This is a unique income source to the Council and should become part of the Council’s overall resources, controlled by the Executive.

(xi) That the action currently being taken by departments to manage the overspends identified be endorsed.

REASON: To enable the Executive to continue to monitor the budget.

(xii) That the allocation of £100k of any budget year end underspend, to be distributed (as in the current year) between ward committee budgets and local York Pride actions, be approved in principle.

REASON: To enable the continued funding of ward committees and York Pride neighbourhood activities at current levels, in view of the fact that the budget is predicted to out-turn at or better than the target level at the end of the financial year.

Members considered a report which provided details of the headline performance issues from the performance monitor session held on 21 December 2006 and presented the latest projection of the Council’s revenue income and expenditure for the current financial year.

With regard to performance issues, it was noted that:

Draft Delivery & Innovation Plans (DIPs) were being produced, setting out key actions and measures for the 13 priorities included in the Corporate Strategy. These would be used to monitor future progress on the corporate priorities.
Priorities 3 (York Pride) and 4 (Safer City), had continued to show an improving trend in the majority of performance areas, although data for some of the York Pride indicators would not be available until May. Notably, York had experienced continuous reductions in crime levels over the past six months, in contrast with the national trend.
Sickness absence and staff turnover levels were continuing to fall, although the Council was likely to remain within the bottom performance quartile in respect of the former.

Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) ratings for 2006 would be published in February 2007. It was expected that York would maintain its 3-star (‘good’) corporate CPA rating.
Customer First statistics showed fairly high levels of performance, with the exception of telephone answering in Resources and complaints in City Strategy and Housing / Adult Social Services.
Overall, the Council’s services across directorates were either performing well by comparison with other authorities, or improving.

With regard to budget issues, it was reported that the General Fund net expenditure budget for 2006/07, originally set at £99,058k, had increased to £100,315k. Details of the revised budget were set out in Annex 7 to the report. Table 1 at paragraph 46 of the report provided a summary of departmental budgets and variations, as reported to individual Executive Members and Advisory Panels (EMAPs) in each portfolio area. This included amendments to the position in Neighbourhood Services and in Adult Social Services, which had not been available at the time of the EMAP meetings. Table 1 indicated that the increased spending pressures in service areas amounted to £4,878k. However, action being taken to address overspends, if successful, could result in the Council underspending by £229k. In respect of the variations on budget / efficiency savings items summarised in paragraph 49, it was noted that the alternative staff park and ride scheme was still subject to consultation and had not yet been finalised with UNISON as indicated.

Paragraphs 58 to 78 of the report presented a number of requests for virements, supplementary estimates and other adjustments to the budget. These included, among others, requests to:

Release £55k contingency to reflect the shortfall in crematorium fees compared to the budget;
Transfer £17,090 between general fund and the traded activities profit from Neighbourhood Services, relating to procurement savings;
Vire £710k from one-off resources to help fund the costs of Equal Pay;
Approve the use of a further £330k from one-off resources to progress the Job Evaluation project.

The Chair congratulated Members and Officers the Council’s good performance in the past year, particularly on Safe City and York Pride, despite increased budget pressures.