Agenda item

The Committee will a report in respect of the Corporate Financial Monitoring Report for Quarter 1, 2023/24 and a verbal update in respect of the Medium Term Financial Statement.

Contact: Service Director, Finance/Section 151 Officer.

The Committee received a report in respect of the Corporate Financial Monitoring Report for Quarter 1, 2023/24 and a verbal update in respect of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy.

Councillor Graham Turner, the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Regeneration, Rachel Spencer-Henshall, the Strategic Director for Corporate Strategy, Commissioning and Public Health and Isabel Brittain, the Interim Service Director, Finance were in attendance and a presentation was given which highlighted the following:

·       The headlines from the Quarter 1 Monitoring Position Report.

·       An overview by directorate and a breakdown of the key service variances.

·       The mitigations and actions that had been put in place.

·       The Medium-Term Financial Strategy established a financial planning framework, with the aim of ensuring delivery against savings and supporting budget planning, aligned to the objectives within the Council Plan. This would be considered at Cabinet the following day and would be the subject of a key discussion debate at Council on 13^th September.

·       Activity was ongoing to resolve the immediate issue of the forecast budget gap and to ensure a balanced budget by February 2024, alongside the development of robust proposals for future years.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       One of the Council’s priorities was transforming services to be more effective and the potential of investing to save, such as in respect of transport costs, would be a consideration, although it was noted that the cost-benefit analysis of such proposals could be complex. It was confirmed that there was a budget associated with the transformation work.

·       More detail could be provided to Members about partnership working on tree planting.

·       The Authority would be cognisant of the potential financial impact of challenges in respect of changes to care packages and placements.  The approach would be to work within a framework to ensure that an individual solution was reached in each case.

·       An undertaking was given to provide more detailed information, after the meeting, in respect of re-profiling and variances between the current figures and the figures submitted to Council in February.

·       In terms of the achievability of the forecast savings, and when the authority would be in a position to have more certainty on this, the Service Director explained that she was undertaking a robust review of the saving plans and their effect to provide assurance that they could be achieved.

·       It was important that the issue of capacity was considered within decisions relating to recruitment, to ensure that the Council would still be able to take advantage of opportunities. Assurance was given that that the panel responsible for managing vacancies would take into account the importance of avoiding a negative impact on income and would also consider capacity to ensure that resources were utilised in the best possible way.

·       It was believed that there should be systematic approach to identifying opportunities for funding; including by/through partners and through working with the community and voluntary sector who would have access to funding that was not available to the Council. It would be beneficial for there to be wider visibility and understanding of the Council's approach in this regard.

·       The Council had an External Funding Officer who scanned for such opportunities.

·       It was noted that accessing external funding could be challenging under the current system of bidding for pots of national funding. There had to be an appropriate level of balance in terms of risk and return and due consideration of the cost associated with submitting a bid and the chances of success. There were also issues associated with challenging timescales both for the submission of bids or deadlines for funding to be used.

·       Partnership working with the community and voluntary sector in Kirklees was very effective.

·       The Committee had identified at the issue of procurement and external funding as an issue for consideration within its work programme for 2023/24.

·       In terms of the effectiveness of processes associated with reducing spend, it was believed that there was a strong financial team with a robust approach. Detailed examination was being undertaken as the authority moved towards the end of Quarter 2 and further information would be provided to the Committee at future meetings.

·       Forecasting of the impact of changes in the demographic profile of the district and demand for social care needs was undertaken as proficiently as possible but was challenging due to the many factors that influenced the results. It was acknowledged that the number of people with special educational needs and disabilities had increased, and investment was being made into specialist schools to increase capacity.

·       Regeneration proposals, including the Huddersfield Blueprint and the Cultural Heart, had been incorporated into the Capital Plan, and would be considered in the review of capital spending.

·       There was a need to invest to save and to increase the Council’s future income.

·       The Department for Education supported the Council’s approach in respect of the ‘safety valve agreement’ for Children and Families and was assured that the actions plans were deliverable. Although it was not possible to predict levels of demand, there was a robust SEND transformation programme in place which took account of all the relevant factors.

·       It was queried whether land that would not be used for a period of time could be used to increase the amount of parking in Huddersfield town centre, this would also generate additional income.

·       The Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) provided the principles and framework for setting the budget and delivering savings. Engagement with Councillors and residents on the detail was an integral part of the approach. The underlying detail on actions and delivery would follow.

·       There was a clear approach, in achieving efficiencies, to ensure that the needs of each service was assessed to ensure that valuable corporate memory was not lost. There was also a focus upon the development of graduate opportunities and University placements so that the next generation of staff could be developed in those areas where recruitment could be a challenge.

Resolved –

(1) That further information on the position at Quarter 2, the achievability of savings and detail of the re-profiling of the Capital Plan be provided to Members of the Committee at the earliest possible opportunity.

(2) That it be noted that the following issues were included within the Committee’s Work Programme for 2023/24:

(i)       Procurement and external funding.

(ii)       The approach to asset management.

(iii)      IT Strategy.