The Committee received a report from Mayor John Biggs, Councillor Candida Ronald and Neville Murton. This provided an overview of the quarter 3 monitoring position against the approved budget, 2019-20.

The following points were discussed.

• That the Cabinet agenda for 29^th July 2020 comprised a number of reports relating to the budget and the impact of COVID-19.
• Details of the budget  outturn position in relation to the General Fund, Dedicated Schools Budget, Housing Revenue Account and earmarked reserves for 2020-21.
• The natures of the challenges due in the main to COVID-19, particularly in relation to the demand for services, income from business rates,  the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, and similar to other Councils, an overspend on the Children’s Social Care budget
• Level of additional government funding received.
• That to help address this, the Council should continue to work with other Councils to lobby the Government to provide assistance.

In response to the presentation, the Committee discussed the following:

·         Members sought further details on the nature of the overspend and the likelihood of further slippages.

·         It was confirmed that, unless the Government provided further assistance, the Council will need to identify additional saving. In addition, it was possible that the savings target may no longer be achievable, due to such factors as unavoidable delays in consultation exercises because of COVID-19. The Council needed to carry out further work to fully identify the implications of this.

·         The Committee also discussed the provision of Government assistance, providing the Council with additional funding and concessions. Neville Murton noted that this amounted to £19.4M.

·         The new measures enabled the Council to spread the deficit over three years and provided relief  in relation to a number of areas. It was noted that this funding should reduce the budget deficit. Further support may be provided.

·         Committee were also advised of governance guidance regarding operating with a deficit and loss of income.

·         The Committee asked questions about the level of overspend due to COVID-19.

·         It was noted that the Capital Outturn report sets out the figures. The report indicated that,  even with the mitigation, funding would need to be drawn down from reserves. Details of which were noted.

·         A further report should be available in Autumn 2020.

·         The Committee also sought further information on the Children’s Service Budget, given the previous overspend on the budget relating to the Children’s Improvement Plan. Some concern was expressed about the misjudgement over the level of funding and the impacts such issues have on budget planning.

·         In response, Members were advised of the reasons for this and the need for the additional resources at that time to support the plan. However, it was noted that the overspend for this year is less than that for other services. Many other Councils have experienced the same issues.  The Council had also put in place a number of measures to reduce the overspend  by for example reducing the number of agency social workers.

·         Members sought assurances on the controls to ensure that spending remained within budget, and budget holders were held to account for spending. It was felt that tracking savings should be a priority.

·         It was noted that Budgets were managed in line with the Council’s constitution including the finance and procurement regulations.

·         Officers had introduced additional controls and intended to put in place further controls to ensure this, including applying restrictions over recruitment and strengthening the internal mechanisms in holding budget holders to account.

·         The Committee Chair suggested that the budget process for next year should start now, including much earlier consultation – given the importance of upcoming decisions.

·         The Committee also discussed the consequences of a reduction of reserves and unmade savings.

·         The Committee also noted the advantages and disadvantages of a three-year rolling budget. A Member suggested that consideration should be looking at this year in isolation under the circumstances and this issue should be looked at further.

Mayor John Biggs and Councillor Candida Ronald were thanked for their presentation.