Contact: Ejner Knudsen, Assistant Treasurer 01962 847403;
[email protected]
David Howells, Director of Corporate Services, 023 8062 6835,
[email protected]

1 Introduction

1.1 This report sets out for members the latest budget predictions for the year. Overall net savings of £283,000 have been identified (excluding pensions) since the last meeting removing the previously predicted overspend of £100,000 and reducing the requirement on the modernisation reserve by £183,000. Expenditure on pensions is predicted to be £136,000 higher than originally anticipated and it is assumed that any overspend on this budget head be met from the general balance. The reasons for these variations are set out in the following paragraphs.

2 Revenue

2.1 The latest position is given in Appendix A.

Wholetime firefighters pay and allowances (-£111,000)

2.2 The following establishment changes were reported to the Human Resources Committee on 8 September :

- Following the completion of the grey book job evaluation exercise 4 watch manager posts at Basingstoke Fire Station have been deleted from 1 April 2006 saving £177,000 in a full year.

- As part of the middle manager review a station manager HR support post has been created with effect from 1 April 2006 (£48,000 in a full year).

- A watch manager safety compliance officer has been created with effect from 1 April 2006. (£44,000 in a full year).

2.3 As part of the middle manager review 2 divisional officer FDS posts have been changed to station manager A posts saving £37,000 in a full year. Also an animal rescue adviser post has been created for a 12 month period beginning 1 September 2006 (£12,000 in 2006/07, £7,000 in 2007/08) and one station officer post has been deleted from 1 January 2007 saving £11,500 this year (£46,000 in a full year) These changes will be reported to the Human Resources Committee in due course.

Support staff pay (-£85,000)

2.4 Following a review of staffing requirements it has been agreed to delete 3 workshop posts from the establishment saving £90,000 in a full year. In addition a central services post has been created with effect from 1 January 2006 (£5,000 in 2006/07, £21,000 in a full year). Both of these changes will be reported to the Human Resources Committee in due course.

Premises (-£113,000)

2.5 The cost of business rates is estimated to be £113,000 less than originally planned this year. This is due to successfully appealing the rateable values for a number of properties and over estimated inflation.

2.6 The underspend will continue in 2007/08 but due to the difficulties of calculating the tapering effect of transitional relief it is proposed to keep next year's budget at current levels and adjust when more information is available.

Operational Equipment and Other Supplies (-£5,000)

2.7 As a result of various contract negotiations procurement discounts have been achieved for uniforms (£10,000 in a full year) and operational equipment (£30,000 in a full year).

2.8 An increase in consultants fees has arisen due to a contribution to the Isle of Wight's options appraisal (£15,000), Isle of Wight's consultation exercise (£10,000) and an external verification of the Service Continuity Plan (£10,000).

3 Pensions (+£186,000)

3.1 The latest projections for the costs for which the Authority is liable is £886,000 which is £186,000 over that estimated last quarter and £415,000 more than the original budget of £471,000. This is due to the fact that the transfer values out are exceeding those coming in that relate to employees who left or joined the Authority before 31 March 2006.

3.2 In addition there are a number of firefighters whose posts have been evaluated under the job evaluation exercise and are entitled to back payments of both pension and an increase to the lump sum they received and an estimated sum has been included to cover these costs. It is felt that, given the nature of this expenditure, this overspend should be met from the general balance.

4 Modernisation Reserve

4.1 The balance on the modernisation reserve currently stands at £760,000. It is proposed to fund the following projects included in the projected outturn from this fund if there are insufficient underspendings elsewhere in the budget at outturn:

4.2 At present the projected outturn would require a contribution of £320,000 as £251,000 has been met from the original budget.

5 Capital

5.1 There is little to report this quarter on capital. The payments profile for the 2006/07 frontline appliances is slightly different to that originally assumed as they should be completed in the current financial year. Normally payments are made over two financial years however as the order could be placed earlier for this year's vehicles they are ahead of schedule.

5.2 The effects of the proposed Headquarters phase 2 scheme which is elsewhere on the agenda have been ignored as present but will be incorporated into the capital programme should the Authority approve the scheme.

6 Equality impact assessment

6.1 An impact assessment has been made on the proposals in the paper and shown that they are not discriminatory. They are considered compatible with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Race Relations (Amendment Act 2000).

Recommendation

That it be recommended to the Authority that the latest budget position be noted.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

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

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works.

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

Fire Budget Monitoring PP 3.33 (d)