Archived decisions

Hampshire County Council

Culture and Communities Select Committee Item 8

19 July 2007

Executive Member - Recreation and Heritage Item 4

5 July 2007

Finance and Performance 2006/07 and 2007/08

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. Summary

1.1 The purpose of this report is to:

· Outline the final budget position for 2006/07 and its implications for the new financial year.

· Present service performance against key targets in 2006/07.

· Summarise the key financial issues for 2007/08.

1.2 Revenue expenditure for 2006/07 was very close to cash limit and £518,000 of

capital resources were carried forward to 2007/08, of which £24,000 is not earmarked for specific programme areas.

2. Recommendations

2.1 It is requested that the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage approve the following recommendations:

· That the financial and performance information for 2006/07 be noted.

· That the 2007/08 financial position be noted.

3. Financial and Performance Position 2006/07

3.1 Appendix 1 summarises actual revenue expenditure compared to the cash limit. There was a net overspend of £12,000, which is 0.04% of budget. This result represents a considerable achievement given the budget pressures experienced in the course of last year, and is in line with the monitoring report considered at the March decision day.

3.2 There was an overspend on the Library Service which was due to a combination of:

· Costs associated with posts being re-graded.

· Energy costs.

· Shortfall in income from DVD's, videos and fines.

This was largely offset by underspending on other services, most notably on the Policy Fund. This was mainly due to reduced costs on planned projects and vacancy management.

3.3 The £12,000 does need to be repaid in 2007/08. This will be achieved by means of a reduction in the Recreation and Heritage cash limit, which will be taken into account in managing budgets in 2007/08.

3.4 The approved capital cash limit for 2006/07 (including resources brought forward from previous years) was £1.679 million. Schemes to the value of £1.143 million were started in the course of the year. This left £536,000 available to carry forward to 2007/08. The majority of this is earmarked for specific projects and programme areas. There is a balance of £24,000 which is available to supplement the 2007/08 capital programme.

3.5 Performance against key service targets is attached as Appendix 2. This shows

that in most cases performance has exceeded target and also 2005/06 levels. Managers achieved the efficiency savings required in the course of the financial year, and these and other performance indicators confirm that efficiency gains are not being made at the expense of service levels and quality. In addition 2006/07 was a year of significant achievement for Recreation and Heritage, as indicated by the following major achievements:

· Charter Mark award for the whole of R&H, a significant mark of quality services and customer focus.

· Launch of Renaissance - funded community Museum schools programme leading to 12% increase in visits to museums by children in organised school groups.

· Extension of outreach and lifelong learning opportunities by Hampshire Record Office and significant increase in remote access to digitised archive material.

· Record levels of sessions delivered in Outdoor Activity Centres including targets activities for young people and families.

· "Making Space" craft project opened in Leigh Park providing workshops for craftspeople and outreach activities in the community.

· Funding secured from Arts Council South East to continue the highly successful Creative Hampshire Programme in Hampshire Schools for a further three years.

· 4% increase in adult participation in sport and physical activity, achieving and surpassing Local Public Service Agreement target two years ahead of schedule.

· Silver Surfer Council of the Year award for Community Support Unit's partnership with IT services; citation recognised that "...the Council has supported IT imaginatively by linking it with community events and by making sure that life-long learning is embedded in the services that it provides".

· New mobile library fleet introduced; some vehicles equipped with People's Network computers (public access internet terminals) to increase of the reach of the service.

· Staunton and Queen Elizabeth Country Parks received Green Flag awards-the highest quality national standard for Parks and Green Spaces.

4 Financial Position 2007/08

4.1 The revenue budget for 2007/08 requires services to achieve average savings of over 4% in order to fund the following:.

· Revenue costs of Winchester Discovery Centre and Bursledon Library.

· Addressing pressures in the Library Service budget.

· An increase in the Policy Fund.

· Corporate requirements (Pay and benefits, Hantsdirect, guideline redistribution).

4.2 As reported to the Cabinet, services have plans in place to achieve these savings and these will be monitored and reported in the course of the year. Monitoring reports will continue to include performance information, so that any performance implications can be addressed.

4.3 The most significant aspect of achieving the overall savings is the implementation of the Library Service restructure, which will reduce the pay bill by approximately £1 million p.a. whilst ensuring that there are no library closures and no reductions in opening hours.

4.4 The new field structure became effective on 1 June. Whilst some of the financial details remain to be finalised, it seems likely that the eventual staffing savings will be £1 million p.a. There are clearly one-off costs associated with this:

· Redundancy costs (to date all redundancies have been voluntary).

· Charges to the employer for release of pension, where redundant staff have immediate access to their pension.

4.5 The costs outlined below have yet to be finalised. Those relating to the field restructure need to be finally confirmed, whilst the headquarters restructure has a later implementation date than 1 June and detailed information on savings, and their associated costs, is not yet available.

4.6 Redundancy costs all need to be borne in 2007/08, whereas the pension cost will be spread over three years. The ultimate salary savings will not be available in the current financial year as the restructure takes effect from 1 June. Taking into account these one-off effects, and the salary savings in 2007/08, there remain pressures in the current financial year of some £475,000. It is proposed to meet these from.

· Allocation from Policy fund £ 50,000

· Invest to save resources to be discussed at

Cabinet 25 June £175,000

· Management control of Library Service

Budget £250,000

4.7 The invest to save resources will need to be repaid over the coming three years and the impact of this will need to be built into the review for Cabinet in September which will take into account for Recreation and Heritage (and other portfolios):

· Value for money benchmarking information and activity.

· Performance forecasts.

· Budget pressures.

· Saving options to contain spending within financial limits.

4.8 Other issues which could have a financial impact in the financial year include:

· Pay and benefits - the net effect will clearly be dependent on the level of central funding available.

· The replacement of the library service management system - the current system will no longer be supported by the suppliers.

· Library income levels. The trend has been one of decline in recent years.

4.9 As mentioned earlier, the capital programme will be enhanced by the addition of £24,000 brought forward from 2006/07. The programme for 2007/08 is enhanced by bringing forward £100,000 from 2010/11. Nevertheless it is envisaged that the programme will be under severe pressure owing to the high level of demand.

4.10 The Leader, at his decision day in April 2007 gave his approval to the disposal of a house located in a country park, at an estimated sum of £250,000 and for this to be made available to Recreation and Heritage for improvements at Royal Victoria Country Park. The current year's capital programme includes £150,000 for essential repairs to the Chapel (the reason for bringing forward capital resources). When more detailed proposals are available it may be possible to supplement the capital programme with the remaining £100,000.

5. Impact Assessment

5.1 The proposals in this report are in accordance with the budget strategy and the County Council's financial management policy. This policy applies equally to all services and ensures consistent financial management decisions across all services, and the proposals outlined in this report are not considered discriminatory.

6. Conclusion

6.1 Actual net expenditure for 2006/07 was very close to cash limit, and performance levels remained high. 2007/08 will be another challenging year financially, and budgets will be closely monitored and managed in the course of the year to deliver a balanced budget.

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.

None.

APPENDIX 1

APPENDIX 2

* 2005/06 re-based since previous report

APPENDIX 3