Agenda item

[Claire Nye, Chief Accountant, to update the Panel on progress in respect of income generation as a contribution towards the Council’s savings target.]

Claire Nye, Chief Accountant, presented the report. The report provides an update on work done during the previous years and also going forward to generate income towards meeting the Council’s budget savings target.

Chief Accountant explained that £26 million of additional income had been generated  during the period 2011/12 to 2015/16.  Chief Accountant explained that £14 million of additional income had been generated through Council Tax increases and changes to the local scheme. Chief Accountant explained that the building of each new house generated new income from council tax and New Homes Bonus grant. Over the period reported, New Homes Bonus totalled £3.8 million for the Council.

Chief Accountant noted that significant income is generated through fees and charges and that a report will be presented to Cabinet Resources Panel on 20 October with proposed changes for 2016/17.

Chief Accountant explained that the Treasury Management Team is supported by specialist advice from Capita.  Recent discussions with Capita confirmed that the Council’s strategy continues to make the right balance between minimising the cost of borrowing and maximising returns on investment.

The report also includes specific savings proposals for income generation detailed in Table 2 which had been considered by Cabinet on 22 July 2015.  A report will be presented to Cabinet on 21 October which will consider further income generating proposals. The Council will continue to monitor the situation and explore opportunities to generate additional income.

The panel queried the policy as regards the setting of fees and charges and specifically if they are based on a flat rate increases or based on more detailed work.

Chief Accountant explained that a flat rate is not applied and that financial modelling is undertaken to assess the impact of different levels of percentage increase and the effect on demand.

The panel queried the challenge in achieving the outstanding savings target for 2016/17 of £5.1 million that had been reported to Cabinet in July and the progress made towards meeting this aim. Chief Accountant explained that significant progress had been made and that an update will be reported to Cabinet on 21 October. It was noted that there is uncertainty about the level of funding for 2016/17 and that the Government’s Autumn Spending Review on 25 November will provide further information.

The panel queried the savings figure quoted in Table 1 – Savings proposals classified as income generating (2011/12 to 2015/16) and the reasons for the reduction in savings for the period 2015/16 compared to the period 2014/15.

The panel queried Table 2 - Savings proposals classified as income generating 2016/17 and the reason that no savings were expected in 2017/18 and 2018/19 for bus lanes phase 2.

Chief Accountant explained that in both instances the table shows the annual increase and these figures do not represent the cumulative change.

The panel discussed the need for more detailed information about the individual savings proposals.  Chief Accountant explained that more detailed reports will support the report to Cabinet on 21 October.

Resolved:

The panel to receive a briefing paper and report on the performance of Agresso in paying suppliers to the panel meeting on 2.12.15.