Archived decisions

Budget heading

Variation

Adjusted original cash limit

Reason

£'000

£'000

Schools Budget

School Specific Contingency

-414

3,349

Savings resulting from the cost of temporary classroom rentals being lower than expected (-£535,000), more income from excluded pupils (-£57,000), money set aside for emergencies such as flooding not being needed (-£50,000), extra cost of business rates (+£251,000), and a number of smaller savings including Criminal Records Bureau checks, other rentals, and income from Learning and Skills Council (-£23,000).

Education Other Than At School (EOTAS)

-88

7,121

Basingstoke School Plus underspend (-£109,000) which had already been agreed for carry forward by Schools Forum.

Rest of EOTAS, overspend (+£21,000) as a result of a combination of several small factors.

Pupils with Statements

-636

7,454

Underspend (-£400,000) identified in summer 2006, and used to offset pressures on out-county special school budget. Further underspend due to lower than forecast expenditure against high cost packages for special schools (-£114,000); and a saving from a combination of lower inter authority charges (fewer pupils), and greater income (-£122,000).

Independent and Voluntary (Out County) Special Schools

+328

7,461

Fee increases in 2006/07 (+£480,000), negotiated fee refunds (-£81,000), and late starts (-£71,000).

Inter Authority Recoupment

+337

634

Late notification of pupil movements from 2005/06 (+£100,000), above inflation cost increases from other LEAs (+£110,000), changes late in 2006/07 (+£22,000), and less income from Leigh House hospital school as a result of more pupils from Hampshire, and fewer from other authorities (+£85,000), and other small variances (+£20,000).

Special Education Support Services Recharge

-273

1,895

Slippage in the setting up of the Locality Teams has resulted in an underspending against the Change for Children - Combined Budget (-£100,000). Also, an underspending (-£173,000) had arisen in relation to Early Education and Childcare Unit (EECU) expenditure which is eligible for General Sure Start Grant (GSSG) funding. Schools Forum (December 2006) agreed that these amounts should be carried forward to 2007/08.

Assistance to Voluntary and Private Providers

-688

1,748

Grants to Early Years Providers eligible for GSSG funding, thereby resulting in an underspend. This is part of the £1.36m approved by Schools Forum in December 2006.

Early Years Support Services Recharge

-566

566

Underspending resulting from the transfer of eligible EECU expenditure to GSSG, agreed by Schools Forum (December 2006) to be carried forward to 2007/08.

Teachers' Pay Reform Payments

-618

18,856

Pay reform payments for supply teachers for September 2006 to March 2007 to be processed through 2007/08 accounts (-£200,000). Fewer claims than expected by schools for teachers entitled to such payments (-£418,000).

Other minor variations

+103

632,454

This cash limit includes the individual schools' budgets (£558.215m)

Carry Forward of Dedicated Schools Grant

+2,515

-2,515

DfES require that DSG funds be applied in the year in which they are used.

Sub Total Schools' Budget

0

679,023

LEA Budget

Premature Retirement

+106

2,663

Increases in ongoing pensions costs (+£208,000), offset by a saving of (-£99,000) in one-off redundancy costs.

Interest on Schools Balances and Other Miscellaneous

-139

-671

Increased interest rates, and increased schools' balances upon which the interest is calculated.

Home to School and Home to College Transport

+367

21,440

Increased contract costs (inflation, catchment schools being full, net effect of pupil movements, and complex needs, offset by spend to save savings) (+£382,000), underspends on escorts' salaries and overheads from vacancies (-£34,000), deferring Criminal Records Bureau renewals (-£25,000), and other pressures (mainly season tickets) (+£44,000).

Pupil Support

-79

400

A reduction in the number of claims for uniform allowances.

Teachers' Pay Reform Payments (non-Schools)

-87

413

A reduction in the number of non-schools teachers entitled to such payments.

Community

-37

2,008

One school ceasing community activities and returning allocation (-£12,000), part of a contingency not being needed (-£16,000), and various other small savings (-£9,000).

Departmental Support Services (eg, Education Psychologists, Education Welfare, IT, Performance & Resources Branch etc).

-371

24,384

Eligible expenditure recharged to GSSG, as agreed by Schools Forum in December 2006 (-£340,000). There was an underspend against the IT budget (-£112,000) as data warehouse and departmental restructuring costs incurred during the year were lower than anticipated, offset by additional recharges and other costs (£81,000).

Unallocated Adjustment

-116

116

Other minor variations

-4

16,776

This cash limit includes the Standards Fund - non-devolved (£6.557m)

Recovery Plan

-800

800

The savings relating to this have been achieved within the above headings

Contribution from Business Units

-221

0

Applied part of the agreed £300,000 contribution set aside to offset any overspend

Sub Total for LEA Budget

-1,381

68,329

Children's Social Care

Commissioning and Social Work

+450

17,235

Higher than anticipated expenditure within fieldwork teams including the impact of agency staff being used to cover difficult to recruit to vacancies.

Children Looked After

+1,961

30,730

This represents the ongoing pressures as regularly reported on, for which financial provision was made in the 2006/07 revised budget and in the 2007/08 budget. The main pressure areas are: Non-county placements (£784,000), Independent Fostering Agencies (£632,000), residential children's homes (£108,000) and in-house fostering (£492,000).

Family Support Services

+235

6,212

The majority of this budget relates to support for children with disabilities, for which there has been a significant increase in demand. The main variations relate to Direct Payments (£154,000 - an increase of about 20 clients to 130 at March 2007) and other forms of support such as adoption, kinship care, residence order and special guardianship order allowances (£218,000). These are offset by underspends on other services such as equipment and adaptations (-£77,000)

Youth Justice

-195

2,303

The final outturn for Swanwick Lodge Secure Unit is an underspend of £204,000. This includes reduced expenditure of £113,000 (staff and other costs) and additional income from `spot' selling of beds (-£91,000).

Other Children and Families

-381

5,533

This underspend largely reflects three areas where budgets were set up at the start of the year that have been re-allocated as part of the 2007/08 budget process (Youth Justice, Quality Protects and Asylum Seekers).

Management and Support

-291

291

Management & Support costs are generally apportioned or allocated across the various service headings within Children's Social Care. The under spend includes savings within training (-£80,000) and a reduction in the final amount of Service Level Agreement charges paid to Adult Services for vacancies held within the Performance Management Unit (-£60,000). A further £65,000 budget was transferred from Adult Services to Children's Services as final agreement on the legal budget disaggregation, therefore offsetting the earlier reported pressure on legal services.

Recovery Plan

-374

374

The savings relating to this have been achieved within the above headings

Other Minor Variations

-24

2,705

This cash limit includes the Children's Fund (£1.942m - nil variance)

Sub Total Children's Social Care

+1381

65,383

Total Children's Services Department

0

812,735