Hampshire County Council

Recreation and Heritage Policy Review Committee Item 10

23 March 2006

Executive Member - Recreation and Heritage Item 2

23 March 2006

Finance and Performance Monitoring 2005/06

Report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage and the County Treasurer

Contact: Bevis Ingram (01962) 84 7508 [email protected]

Stuart Dorward (01962) 84 6110 [email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide members with up-to-date budget and performance information for the financial year 2005/06. There is also an initial look at the financial prospects in 2006/07.

1.2 Previous monitoring reports have indicated that there are significant pressures on the budget. As part of the approved revised budget, it was possible to provide £222,000 support for the Libraries Service (the service under the most severe pressures). As a consequence of this, it is estimated that there will be a residual overspending of £6,000 - virtually a balanced budget position. This is the result of continued management action by the Recreation and Heritage Departmental Team to deal with those significant pressures.

2. Financial Position 2005/06

2.1 The overall position, summarised in Appendices 1 and 2, shows a potential departmental overspend of £6,000. The most significant pressures on the budget are in the Library Service with income loss arising from library closure and the extended loan period, and pressure on spending owing to the need to achieve procurement savings. These have been partially offset by savings achieved through vacancy management. In the revised budget, it was possible to address the majority of the net effect of these factors by transferring £222,000 from other Recreation and Heritage Service budgets. There remain, nonetheless, pressures of £44,000 in the Library Service, and managers are continuing to take action to address this.

2.2 There are no other major pressures remaining on the 2005/06 budget. The position at Milestones Museum is worthy of note. Visitor numbers are lower than in 2004/05, partially because there is no Easter in the current year, whereas in 2004/05 there were two Easters. In 2004/05 there were some 87,000 visitors, and this year's figure is likely to be just over 70,000. As a result of tight financial management at the Museum, it is anticipated that there will be a net overspend of £16,000, which represents 1.5% of the Museum's gross budget. In fact, this is offset by an underspending on the main Museums Service which is the consequence of staffing savings. The absence of an Easter in the year has also affected income in the Countryside Service, although it is likely to be possible to contain this within the overall cash limit for Countryside.

2.3 The purpose of these reports has recently been widened to cover the monitoring of performance, and details of this are shown in Appendix 3. This shows a general improvement in those indicators for which previous year information is available.

3. Financial Prospects 2006/07

3.1 The budget, recently approved by Council, includes the addition, in 2006/07 only, of £220,000, for libraries and the marketing of services. At this stage, £170,000 has been allocated to Libraries, and £50,000 has been added to the departmental contingency. This, and the Policy Fund, have an unallocated balance of £270,000 in 2006/07. It is planned to open Basingstoke Library on Sundays early in the new financial year.

3.2 As a consequence of this addition to the Libraries budget, the savings to be achieved in 2006/07 have reduced to £287,000. A detailed scrutiny of staffing and running expenses has identified potential savings of over £150,000 - although it will be challenging to achieve these whilst not having an adverse effect on services. Progress will continue to be made on identifying the balance of savings - and to establish a longer-term plan recognising that the growth is non-recurring.

3.3 The Milestones Museum budget initially required £65,000 savings to be identified, following a reduction in Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's funding. Hampshire County Council has subsequently increased its funding by £20,000, leaving a shortfall of £45,000. Detailed scrutiny of the Museum's budget is also continuing to identify means of achieving a balanced budget for 2006/07.

3.4 The officers of the Recreation and Heritage Department will develop a longer-term financial plan for the Department. Clearly this will not create additional resource: the intention is to identify priorities and pressures as far in advance as possible so that resources can be managed accordingly. Although, at this stage, they cannot be quantified, it can be anticipated that forthcoming pressures will include:

· Costs of Pay and Benefits review

· Costs associated with the County Council's contact centre

· Continuing pressure on Library Service income

4. Capital Programme

4.1 An item elsewhere on this agenda recommends approval of major Community Buildings Fund grants of £37,000. It is recommended that this sum be allocated from the balance of the 2005/06 programme. It is currently estimated that at 31 March 2006 there will be unallocated capital resources of some £200,000 (assuming that this allocation is approved). The precise amount available will depend on the final cost of recently completed projects.

4.2 The Recreation and Heritage capital programme for 2006/07 has not yet been fully allocated: there remains a balance of £306,000, which, as mentioned earlier in this report, is likely to be supplemented by resources brought forward from 2005/06. It is proposed that the £306,000 be allocated as follows :

· Countryside and Rights of Way Improvements £100,000

· Community Buildings and Village Halls £100,000

· Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) projects £86,000

· Health and Safety Improvements £20,000

It is also recommended that £35,000 of the DDA resources be allocated to the installation of a lift at Aldershot Library, which would be joint-funded with Property, Business and Regulatory Services.

4.3 Further allocations to capital schemes are likely to be required in the course of 2006/07, although the timing remains to be finalised in some cases. The value of these schemes and block allocations, listed below, is £200,000. It is anticipated that those schemes that proceed in 2006/07 can be funded by the resources brought forward.

5. Impact Assessment

5.1 In completing this report, account has been taken of the Corporate Equalities and Race Scheme, and of the Department's service impact assessments.

6. Summary

6.1 Budget pressures continue to be significant, and are likely to remain so. Managerial action has reduced the impact of these pressures, and action plans are being prepared for the coming financial year.

Recommendation

It is recommended that Members support the following recommendations for the approval of the Executive Member:

1. the financial position be noted

2. the performance information be noted

3. a £37,000 capital programme allocation be made to Community Buildings and Community Halls in 2005/06

4. the proposed allocation of the 2006/07 capital programme, as detailed in paragraph 4.2, be endorsed

5. £35,000 of the Disability Discrimination Act resources be allocated to the installation of a lift at Aldershot Library

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

N.B. the list excludes:

1. Published works.

2. Documents that disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

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