Lead Member – Councillor Malcom Pate - Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Strategy, Financial Strategy, Budget and Business Plan.

Report of the Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance [s151 Officer]

Contact: James Walton      Tel: 01743 258915

RESOLVED:

i)  That at the end of Quarter 2 (30 September 2016), the full year forecast is a potential overspend of £0.635m;

ii) That the impact of this on the Council’s General Fund balance be considered.

iii) That the reallocation of funding from the New Homes Bonus Reserve be approved as detailed in Appendix 3.

iv) That the virement of funding allocations be recommended to Council as set out in paragraphs 7.2 to 7.5 of the     report.

The Leader and Portfolio Holder for Strategy, Financial Strategy, Budget and Business Plan presented a report from the Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance [s151 Officer] setting out the Revenue forecast for 2016/17 as at Quarter 2 and identified the current projections on delivery of savings included within the forecast.  He commented that the report showed that all areas of the Council were mindful of the financial position. A Member commented that the use of one-off sources of funding to address services pressures identified in year would be the subject of debate at a forthcoming meeting of the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee.

In answer to concerns raised on the level of Continuing Healthcare [CHC] debt, the Leader stated that action was being taken to try to recover this.  The Chief Executive added that a meeting was to be held that very day to ascertain if a way forward could be established.  It was noted that the Head of Adult Services confirmed that case by case evidence had been prepared to support the Council’s endeavours in this matter.

Responding to a Member’s comment on the £500,000 allocated to Recycling Empty Homes, the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing, Regulatory Services and the Environment stated that he was delighted with the £250,000 per year for 2016/17 and 2017/18 to continue the work with recycling empty properties and thereby contributing to the regeneration of Shropshire’s communities.  The Portfolio Holder for Rural Services and Communities stressed that real efforts were being made to bring empty properties into re-use and genuine progress was being made.

RESOLVED:

i)  That at the end of Quarter 2 (30 September 2016), the full year forecast is a potential overspend of £0.635m;

ii) That the impact of this on the Council’s General Fund balance be considered.

iii) That the reallocation of funding from the New Homes Bonus Reserve be approved as detailed in Appendix 3.

iv) That the virement of funding allocations be recommended to Council as set out in paragraphs 7.2 to 7.5 of the     report.