2	Hampshire County Council
	Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education)		Item 2
	10 December 2007
	Budget Monitoring 2007/08 - Children's Services Department - Period 7 (October 2007)
	Report of the County Treasurer and the Director of Children's Services

Contact: Gordon Shinn, (01962) 847545; [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This is the third revenue budget monitoring report for the financial year 2007/08, showing a forecast year end underspend of £556,000 as at 31 October 2007 (Period 7). After applying one-off funding of £508,000 this underspend increases to £1,064,000. This is made up of a forecast underspend of £1,093,000 on the Schools Budget and a forecast overspend of £29,000 on non-schools budgets (after one-off funding of £508,000), as shown in the tables below:

	Period 5	Period 7	Change
	£000	£000	£000
Performance & Resources	+279	-619	-898
Education & Inclusion	-225	+89	+314
Children & Families	-88	-26	+62
Total (rounded)	-34	-556	-522
Less: Additional one-off funding:
LPSA Funding set aside to repay 2006/07 overspend	-233	-233
Business Unit balances	-79	-79
Balance of unapplied grants	-196	-196
	-508	-508	0
Net forecast overspend (+) or underspend (-)	-542	-1,064	-522

Table showing forecast variations analysed by Schools/Non-Schools, after applying £508,000 one-off adjustments to non-schools

	Period 5	Period 7	Change
	£000	£000	£000
Schools	-382	-1,093	-711
Non-schools	-160	+29	+189
Total	-542	-1,064	-522

1.2 The main reason for the increase in underspend on the Schools Budget relates to an adjustment of £662,000 arising from the 2006/07 final accounts. This has been added to the Schools contingency budget as agreed by Schools Forum in November.

1.3 £370,000 of the Schools Budget forecast underspend relates to the `Combined Budget' where Schools Forum has agreed an allocation of £1.6m in 2007/08 (together with another £1.6m of Education Welfare Service budgets). Should this underspend materialise, Schools Forum on 26 September 2007 agreed it could be considered for carry forward into 2008/09 to meet full year pressures.

1.4 Other issues still likely to impact on the figures include:

· Children's Centres and Early Years, where there is a potentially significant underspend that Schools Forum will be asked to carry forward to 2008/09

· SEN - further review of out county placements, recoupment etc

· The impact of the current year's pay award. This should be fully reflected in next month's forecasts and could add over £100,000 to the outturn figure

· Review of grant-related spend

· Hantsdirect. Any savings or costs arising from the Contact Centre implementation will impact on the department's bottom-line position (as the savings have been achieved through top-slicing budgets).

1.5 It is anticipated that the non-schools' budgets pressures should be managed down to a balanced budget by the end of the financial year. This will be through management actions such as reviewing grant-related expenditure, the impact of work targeted at reducing high cost children looked after placements and closer scrutiny of all commitments.

2 Recommendations

The Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) is recommended to:

1 Note this report

2 Agree the current financial issues that are being addressed within the 2007/08 budget

3 Note the latest financial position of the Wessex Youth Offending Team and the CAMHS Trust

4 Note the position of the Business Units as at 30 September 2007.

3 Revenue Budget Monitoring 2007/08 at 31 October 2007 (Period 7)

3.1 Cash limits have been updated to reflect known changes, such as specific grant adjustments and amounts carried forward from 2006/07. These changes will be formally incorporated into the revised budget. The full analysis of the current adjusted cash limit and variances is shown in Appendices 1 (a) and 1 (b), with 1 (b) showing the analysis between Schools and non-schools budgets. The following are the reported variances by Branch:

	Current Cash Limit 2007/08	Period 5 (August) variation	Period 7 (October) variation	Change Period 5 to Period 7	Report Para
Cash limited expenditure
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Performance & Resources
Schools Contingency	4,087	-40	-702	-662	3.4
Other Supply Cover	482	0	+200	+200	3.6
Home to School/College Transport	22,206	+517	+207	-310	3.7
Interest on Schools balances	-1,004	-251	-251	0	3.11
Support Services	13,639	+52	+29	-23	3.12
Premature Retirement (Schools)	2,787	0	-100	-100	3.13
Total P&R		+278	-617	-895
Education & Inclusion
Early Education & Childcare Unit	14,744	-14	3	+17	3.14
Payments for 3 & 4 year olds	24,548	-150	-150	0	3.15
Branch Management Budget	5,688	+16	+16	0	3.16
Education Inclusion Service (formerly EOTAS)	7,813	0	+272	+272	3.17
School Improvement Services (Standards Funds)	7,291	0	+97	+97	3.18
Hampshire Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (HEMAS)	889	+8	0	-8
Education for Children Looked After	932	-86	-106	-20	3.19
Secondary Exceptions - Pupil Support	305	0	-43	-43	3.20
Total E&I		-226	+89	+315
Children & Families
Statemented Pupils	7,827	0	-211	-211	3.21
Out of County Special Schools	8,281	+150	-230	-380	3.25
Pupil Support (Primary & Secondary)	88	0	-28	-28	3.28
Inclusion	13,090	-344	-376	-32	3.29
Commissioning & Social Work	12,475	-274	-325	-51	3.32
Children Looked After	30,665	+51	+580	+529	3.33
Family Support Services	6,408	-68	+325	+393	3.52
Youth Justice	449	+105	-3	-108	3.59
Other Children's Services	5,528	+78	+271	+193	3.61
Management & Support	3,230	+202	-20	-222	3.65
Contribution to Wessex YOT	1,828	+13	-9	-22	3.67
Total C&F		-87	-26	+61
Total all branches (rounded)		-34	-556	-522

3.2 The following appendices are also attached:

· Appendix 2 - Key Activity Data

· Appendix 3 - Business Unit balances as at end of September 2007 (2nd quarter).

3.3 The following paragraphs provide explanations for the forecast variances.

Performance and Resources Branch Budget

LMS (Schools) Contingency
Cash Limit £4,087,000 Variance -£702,000 (-17.2%)

3.4 The increase in underspend of £662,000 since Period 5 is the result of the budget being increased with unallocated Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) arising from underspends in 2006/07. This was agreed for carry forward but subsequently omitted when the 2007/08 budget was prepared. Schools Forum has agreed that this should be kept centrally to offset pressures which may arise.

3.5 The balance of £41,000 underspend estimate mainly relates to the net effect of adjustments to individual schools' budget shares as a result of updated information following initial allocations.

Other Supply Cover

Cash Limit £482,000 Variance +£200,000 (+41.5%)

3.6 This budget has been under considerable pressure for the past five years. This is mainly due to the increased number of staff who have been suspended from duties and an increasing complexity in individual cases.

Home to School Transport

Cash Limit £22,206,000 Variance +£207,000 (+0.9%)

3.7 The pressure of £207,000 is made up as follows:

	£000
Escorts	+77	CRB checks deferred to 2007/08, Salary costs
Contracts	+662	Price rises, increase in no. of contracts
Season Tickets	+9
Income	-24
Contingency	-517	Offset against above pressures
Total	+207

3.8 This variance is £310,000 less than the £517,000 reported at the end of August. This consisted mainly of a reduction in the contract costs assumption by £200,000 (reduced numbers of contracts and price rises not as high as expected), and a further income of £112,000 as a result of a new grant for primary school pupils (£115,000) not being fully needed due to low take-up. This new non-ring-fenced grant is to cover the extended school transport rights for children from low income groups aged eight to eleven, from September 2007, to receive free transport to their nearest suitable school more than two miles from their home (compared with the previous three mile limit) and can be applied to the overall budget whilst take-up is growing.

3.9 The total number of contracts is currently 1,302, compared with 1,332 previously reported in July and 1,290 a year ago.

3.10 The increased costs are mainly associated with children with Special Education Needs (SEN), the largest element of this relates to the Education Inclusion service.

Interest on Schools' Balances

Budget -£1,004,000 Variance -£251,000 (-24.9%)

3.11 This underspend (increased income) is the result of schools' balances and interest rates increasing since the budget was prepared in autumn 2006. Interest rates have increased from 4.75% in October 2006, to 5.75% in July 2007.

Support Services

Cash Limit £13,355,000 Variance +£29,000 (+0.2%)

3.12 This includes pressures of £46,000 for Information Services and £28,000 in respect of the Reviewing Service, offset by an underspend of £43,000 in the Training budget.

Premature Retirement
Cash Limit £2,787,000 Variance -£100,000 (-3.6%)

3.13 This is based on the latest review of commitments against the budget.

Education and Inclusion Branch Budget

Early Education and Childcare Unit (EECU)

Cash limit £14,744,000 Variance +£3,000 (+0.06%)

3.14 The overall budget for EECU is showing a small overspend this is due to a number small increases across a number of budget headings being reported during October. These amounts will be managed to balance the budget by the end of the year.

Payments for 3 and 4 year olds

Cash Limit £24,548,000 Variance -£150,000 (-0.6%)

3.15 This budget relates to 3 and 4 year olds in Private, Voluntary and Independent Schools. The broad position after the autumn payments remains unchanged with the underspend of £150,000.

Education and Inclusion Management Budget

Cash limit £5,688,000 Variance +£16,000 (+0.3%)

3.16 This budget covers central recharge for the business unit core services as well as the strategic management of education related services. The overspend relates to increased staffing costs.

Education Inclusion Service

Cash limit £7,813,600 Variance +£272,000 (+3.4%)

3.17 Following a detailed review of these budgets the following pressures are evident:

· There is a rising demand for emotionally and unwell children and this is expected to continue in the coming months. There are several special cases where children are having to be given 1 to 1 tuition to ensure the safety of others, with five cases expecting to cost an extra £50,000.

· In the South East and West Hampshire agency staff are being used to cover vacant posts, due to recruitment difficulties, as well as meeting individual pupils' needs. Preventative work with schools is being undertaken to avoid permanent exclusions with a team recently being set up in the Basingstoke and Deane area. There are a rising number of looked after children receiving support from the service, either directly or with their school.

· The impact of the Day 6 legislation has already resulted in the South East and West teams having to set up provision for primary school pupils (estimated cost in South East £50,000). Also there is expected to be growing demand for the service whereas in the past the Autumn term would generally have seen lower activity.

School Improvement Services (Standards Funds)

Cash limit £7,291,100 Variance +£97,000 (+1.33%)

3.18 This represents the 50% match funding requirement of the Primary Intensifying Support Programme (ISP) Standards Fund grant, for which no budget provision was made.

Education for Children Looked After

Cash limit £932,000 Variance -£106,000 (-11.4%)

3.19 The team is currently undergoing a review which will result in a significant restructure of the staffing. The team is currently carrying one teaching post vacancy and 1.25 education support worker vacancies resulting in a projected underspend of £106,000, an increase of £20,000 since August. The situation regarding staffing levels will continue to be monitored on a monthly basis and given the current status of the review of the service, which is now due to be implemented in April 2008, it is likely that further one-off savings will occur during this financial year.

Secondary Exceptions - Pupil Support

Cash Limit £305,000 Variance -£43,000 (-14.1%)

3.20 An underspend of £43,000 is forecast against this budget due to lower than anticipated expenditure on school uniform grants

Children and Families Branch Budget

Statemented Pupils

Cash Limit £7,827,000 Variance -£211,000 (-2.7%)

3.21 This forecast underspend consists of:

	£'000
Provision of additional support for SEN pupils, mainly with low incidence needs (as written into statutory statements) - lower spend than anticipated.	-78
Payments and receipts arising from inter Local Authority recoupment for the cost of additional support to SEN pupils with statements.	-119
Specialist equipment for SEN pupils attending main stream schools (PD/HI/VI).	-14
	-211

3.22 The number of mainstream low incidence statements has reduced from 902 as at April 2007 to 858 as at September 2007. This is in line with previous year (861 statements as at September 2006).

3.23 Confirmation of support arrangements required for SEN pupils for the Autumn term has enabled forecasts to be reviewed for 2007/08. This includes assumptions around SEN meeting pay and benefits cost of Learning Support Assistants who support SEN pupils in schools.

3.24 There is a reduced level of inter-authority recoupment payments and increased receipts reported during 2007/08 as shown below.

	Sept 2006	April 2007	Sept 2007
Other LA pupils in Hampshire Schools	130	137	127
Hampshire pupils in other LA schools	190	195	203

Out County Special Schools

Cash limit £8,281,000 Variance -£230,000 (-2.8%)

3.25 This variation consists of:

	£'000
Out County Special School Placements	-380
Pre-School placements for 3 and 4 year olds	+150
Total	-230

3.26 The activity for out County special schools has reduced compared with original budget forecasts. The following table shows the comparison with last year's numbers:

Term	2007/08	2006/07
Summer (April)	228	237
Autumn (September)	214	220
Spring (January)	TBC	214

3.27 The £150,000 relates to SEN pre-school attendance, for which a new flexible entitlement is being piloted by the authority. This position reflects the forecast after payments for the Autumn term.

Pupil Support (Primary & Secondary)

Cash Limit £88,000 Variance -£28,000 (-31.8%)

3.28 This relates to clothing grants and pocket money allowances for SEN pupils in residential special schools both in and out of county. This estimate is based on commitments to date.

Inclusion

Cash Limit £13,090,000 Variance -£376,000 (-2.9%)

3.29 An underspend of £370,000 is forecast against the Combined Budget for Common Assessment Framework and Locality teams. This is Schools Budget and, therefore, DSG funded, so will not be available to offset pressures arising within other County Council funded budgets.

3.30 A detailed report on progress in this area was submitted to Schools Forum on 26 September 2007. In summary, the under spend has arisen primarily from two areas - staffing and IT. Most of the cost of the locality teams is associated with staffing, and the under spend arises from having to re-advertise some posts to ensure that sufficient and appropriate staff are in place in the teams set up so far. Further delays have been experienced in receiving some references and CRB checks, again delaying anticipated appointments and associated spend.

3.31 Schools Forum has agreed to consider carry forward of this underspend to 2008/09 at its December meeting.

Commissioning and Social Work

Cash Limit £12,481,000 Variance - £ 325,000 (-2.6%)

3.32 This position reflects the difficulties in recruiting to a number of posts (both in-house and via agencies. Recruitment to the various fieldwork teams is also being considered as part of a countywide review of social work teams (spans of control etc) and the impact of the implementation of Hantsdirect.

Children Looked After

Cash Limit £30,665,000 Variance +£580,000 (+1.9%)

3.33 A model has been developed to monitor actual activity against planned activity. This captures unit cost information and is used to revise forward projections.

3.34 The graph below shows the recent trends and that the total number of children looked after at the end of July fell to its lowest level since January 2005 of 997 in September 2007 with a slight increase to 999 at the end of October 2007. A breakdown of these figures is provided in Appendix 2.

3.35 The overall forecast outturn is broken down as follows:

	August 2007 Variation	October 2007 Variation	Movement Aug - Oct
Service	£'000	£'000	£'000
Purchased Residential Care (NCPs)	+182	+405	+223
Purchased Fostering (IFPs)	-28	+95	+123
HCC Children's Homes	-65	-61	+4
HCC Fostering	+19	+212	+193
Other (e.g. CLA supported lodgings)	-57	-70	-13
Total	+51	+581	+530

Purchased Residential Care (Non-County Placements) +£405,000

3.36 This represents +4.7% of the cash limit of £8,557,000, which is an increase of +£223,000 compared with period 5. Average numbers (about 60) have been slightly higher than budgeted (57) but nonetheless represent an overall reduction in numbers and costs compared with 2006/07 (total cost £9.2m, average of 65 placements).

3.37 The number of children placed in NCPs has reduced by two since period 5, from 58 placements to 56 (excluding block and respite placements). Four new placements have been made (all in September), whilst six placements have ended. Responsibility for one child has transferred to Surrey County Council in October, saving £78,000.

3.38 Other changes relate to costs of three placements not previously accounted for (£175,000), an increase in estimated costs of various continuing packages of £41,000 including increased support costs for one child of £37,000. By applying a forecasting model, £150,000 has been added to projections in respect of future new placement costs for the remainder of the year.

Independent Fostering Providers (IFPs) +£95,000

3.39 This represents +1.5% of the cash limit of £6,451,000. This is an increase in forecast expenditure of £123,000 since period 5.

3.40 There has been a net reduction of seven children placed within independent fostering provider placements since period 5, from 145 placements to 138. Within this net reduction, seven new placements have been recorded, and 14 have been confirmed as ceasing.

3.41 Of this £123,000 net increase, £128,000 of additional expenditure has been included in the forecast in respect of the seven new placements. This is offset by savings generated from 11 of the 14 ceased placements which were not previously included in the forecasts (-£220,000).

3.42 Additional costs of £160,000 have been included in respect of potential new placements that have been identified by managers. There is also a reduction in forecast income of £54,000 in respect of claims against the unaccompanied asylum seekers' grant.

3.43 There has been an overall reduction of two in the number of children and young people placed in NCPs, and a net reduction of seven IFP placements since the start of the financial year. This is illustrated within the following table:

Provision	Client numbers at March 2007	Client numbers at August 2007	Client numbers at October 2007
Non-County Placements (NCP)
· Non-disability	19	20	17
· Children With Disabilities (CWD)	38	38	39
Total NCP	57	58	56
Independent Fostering Providers (IFP)
· Non-disability	132	133	126
· Children With Disabilities (CWD)	10	12	12
Total IFA	142	145	138

Residential Children's Homes -£61,000

3.44 This represents an underspend of -0.9% on a cash limit of £6,462,000, a reduction of £49,000 since period 5. The savings mostly relate to staffing costs at three homes.

3.45 This movement mainly relates to an increase forecast spend at Cypress Lodge (+£43,000) due to additional costs that will arise following the relocation to the Corner House premises (e.g. staff travel from Basingstoke to Aldershot). Various other smaller changes account for the remaining net increase of £7,000.

Fostering Service +£212,000

3.46 This is an overspend of +2.4% on the cash limit of £8,812,000 and is a increase of £193,000 compared with period 5.

3.47 The breakdown of the overspend compared with period 6 is as follows:

	August 2007 Variation £'000	October 2007 Variation £'000	Movement Aug - Oct £'000
Family Placement Teams (Staffing)	0	0	0
Family Placement (Skills Fees)	-41	-32	+9
Fostering Allowances and other payments	+60	+244	+184
	+19	+212	+193

3.48 Based on the number of payments going through SAP to foster carers, the average number of children placed with HCC foster carers is the same at the end of October as at the end of August (540). This means an overall reduction of one placement since 31 March 2007. Further details are provided in Appendix 2. Comparison of average numbers over the last two years:

Year	Ave no. in foster care
2006/07 year average	569
2007/08 to date	537

3.49 More detailed work is in hand to understand the reasons for the net increase in fostering allowances. Some of this work has transferred between staff and, as a result of initial reviews, some revisions of previous forecasts have taken place e.g. exclusion of expenditure in relation to holiday, birthday and religious festival payments.

Other Residential -£70,000

3.50 This represents a projected underspend of -18.3% on a cash limit of £383,000. This an increase in underspend of £13,000 since period 5.

3.51 The majority of this expenditure relates to care leavers who are placed in supported lodgings and other accommodation.

Family Support Service

Cash Limit £6,408,000 Variance +£325,000 (+5.1%)

3.52 There has been an increase in forecast variance of £393,000 since period 5. This variance and movement from period 5 is broken down below:

	August 2007 Variation	October 2007 Variation	Movement Aug - Oct
Service	£'000	£'000	£'000
Direct Payments	+81	+95	+14
Day Care	+6	-9	-15
Services for Under 8s	+2	-4	-6
Home Care	+2	+79	+77
Equipment and Adaptations	-52	-51	+1
Other Family Support (e.g. FST SSAs, Prevention & Support, Kinship Care, RO's and SGO's)	-107	+215	+322
Total	-68	+325	+393

3.53 The number of children receiving direct payments has increased by 11 since the end of March 2007, from 129 to 140. Whilst the recent growth allocations to Direct Payments budgets have improved the reported variance against this budget heading since 2006/07, a pressure continues to be reported. This is partly as a result of the increasing use of this scheme.

3.54 The increase reported in direct payments is mainly as a result of a new arrangement being set up which has replaced a more expensive support arrangement, a net saving to the branch of approximately £50,000 per annum.

3.55 Within Other Family Support the main areas of increases in pressure are:

· Unqualified staffing (SSA) budget forecasts, +£113,000

· Residence Order, SGO and kinship care allowance forecasts, +£240,000

· Non-CwD preventative and supportive forecasts, +£12,000

· CwD preventative and supportive forecasts, -£23,000

3.56 The increase in forecast for the unqualified staffing budgets is primarily as a result of a detailed review of forecasts of family support teams, although overall costs remain within budget.

3.57 As part of the budget strategy additional funding was allocated to meet the longer-term financial pressures that are anticipated as a result of the increasing numbers of children placed in kinship care, residence order and special guardianship placements. As at the end of October, the number of children placed with these carers, and for which financial assistance was being paid, had increased by 27 since the end of March (-2 kinship care, +1 residence order, +27 special guardianship order placements - see Appendix 2 for more details).

3.58 Forecasts have been set on the basis of the number of children who are in placement. It is therefore likely that this forecast will increase in future months, but we would also expect to see a reduction in the number of Children looked after and costs, in the instances where these placements relate to transitional cases.

Youth Justice

Cash Limit (combined) £449,000

Secure Unit (Swanwick Lodge) Variance -£82,000 (-96.5%)

3.59 There has been a forecast reduction of £52,000 in expenditure (mainly staff costs - agency and overtime) and a forecast increase in income of £30,000 (spot selling of beds) since period 5.

Other Variance +£ 79,000 (+13.7%)

3.60 This overspend relates to secure remand and escort costs. These costs are often difficult to predict or control, as they are not planned and are unavoidable.

Other Children's Services

Cash Limit £5,528,000 Variance +£ 271,000 (+4.9%)

3.61 This variance is broken down below:

	August 2007 Variation	October 2007 Variation	Movement Aug - Oct
Service	£'000	£'000	£'000
Adoption Services	-95	-4	+91
Leaving Care Services	+840	+197	-643
Other Children's Services	-667	+78	+745
Total	+78	+271	+193

3.62 The increase within adoption services is mainly due to an increase in adoption allowances (£68,000) and an additional £10,000 resulting from the placement of a child with disabilities through inter-agency adoption.

3.63 The movement in variance between Leaving Care Services and Other Children's Services reflects the allocation of £700,000 of the central contingency allocation towards offsetting the pressure currently being experienced within the Care Leavers service.

3.64 The overall number of care leavers being supported by this service has grown significantly over the last twelve months from 413 as at October 2006, to 466 as at October 2007.

Management and Support

Cash Limit £3,230,000 Variance -£20,000 (-0.6%)

3.65 Further work has been undertaken to review the legal budget forecast in line with the anticipated SLA charges for 2007/08, and the one-off expenditure that has been incurred to date. This has resulted in the forecast expenditure on Legal Services reducing by approximately £80,000 since period 5 (previously based on 2006/07 actual expenditure).

3.66 Further adjustments have also been made to the forecast expenditure against the Deputy Director budgets to reflect current spending plans. As with legal expenditure, forecasts had previously been based on last year's actual expenditure.

Contribution to Wessex YOT

Cash Limit £1,828,000 Variance -£9,000 (-0.5%)

3.67 The underlying pressure of £49,000 on the Behaviour Support element of the Wessex YOT contribution has been partially offset this year by grant carry-forward from 2006/07 of £36,000and a reduction of £22,000 in the main contribution.

4 Grants Monitoring

4.1 The Department's Management Team receive a monthly detailed breakdown of grant-related expenditure. Commitments against all of these are being reviewed and, where there is scope within the grant rules and to achieve most cost-effective use of the funds on highest priority areas, savings are being sought in order to reduce the pressure on this year's budget position and with a view to the longer term impact.

4.2 From 2007/08 several grants are pooled together under the Local Area Agreement (LAA). The total of the children's services grants expected at this stage to be pooled is £5.4m (of a total £9.9m), made up as follows:

	£
Children's Services Grant	3,064,073
KS3 Behaviour and attendance	183,300
KS3 Central Co-ordination	461,494
Primary Strategy Central co-ordinator	478,824
School Travel advisers	165,000
School Development Grant (SDG)	1,093,000
Total Children's Services	5,445,691

4.3 In 2008/09, several other grants will become pooled into the LAA grant (re-named Area Based Grant), including Connexions, Children's Centres and the Children's Fund plus a number of Standards Fund grants. The impact of this is being addressed in the medium term planning and financial strategy meetings.

5 Partnerships

5.1 The County Council is seeking to further develop best practice in terms of financial reporting. In part this involves ensuring significant partnerships are regularly reported. Within Children's Services there are two partnerships that fall within this category - Wessex Youth Offending Team (YOT) and the Hampshire Children's Trust.

Wessex YOT

5.2 The total budget for Wessex YOT is about £8m in 2007/08. It is funded primarily by the Youth Justice Board and partner organisations (whose contributions may be in cash and/or contributions in kind). The Children's Services contribution for 2007/08 is £2.079m.

5.3 The Wessex YOT Management Board receives regular finance and performance reports. At its meeting on 21 June 2007 the Board received the 2006/07 final accounts, which showed an overspend of £224,000. This reduced the surplus held in reserve to about £36,000. The main reason for this was a number of one-off investments during the year that were agreed by the Board.

5.4 At its meeting on 25 September 2007 the Management Board received a report on the financial position for 2007/08 as at the end of August 2007. This showed that, although there are a number of pressures, an overall balanced budget is anticipated.

5.5 The Management Board next meets on 11 December to consider its position as at the end of October. This will be reported in the next budget monitoring report to the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education).

Hampshire Children's Trust

5.6 At its meeting on 4 September 2007 the Trust's Management Board received the first report on the financial position for 2007/08, which showed a projected underspend of £207,000, after allowing decisions for carry forwards already agreed. The Board considered whether to repay this balance back to contributing partners or to allocate to other `one-off' service priority areas and agreed to progress a number of projects. However, the Board also agreed that any increase in the projected underspend during the remainder of the year would be re-paid to partners as all where likely to be facing tight financial pressures as the year progressed.

5.7 On 3 December 2007 the Board received an update on the position as at 31 October 2007, showing a slight increase in underspend of about £30,000. The Board reviewed its previous decisions and made further proposals regarding the use of the underspend for one-off projects and carry forward.

6 Business Unit balances

6.1 Appendix 3 shows the forecast year end business unit balances as at the end of September 2007 compared with the original budget. This shows that, overall, balances are estimated to be £1,042,000 at the year end, £950,000 higher than original budget. This is an increase of £300,000 on the position as reported at 30 June 2007. However, there are variations within each of the Business Units. The main changes (+ means an increase, - means a reduction) in forecast balances against original budget (with June figures in brackets) are:

· ICT Support & Development - £96,000 (-£155,000). Reduction in SLA income of £218,000 offset by increases in other income

· Education Personnel Services +£232,000 (+£90,000). Reason being investigated.

· Stubbington Study Centre +£208,000 (+£208,000). Proposed reduction in core funding now met by the Leader (£65,000), deferred revenue contributions to capital (£165,000)

· HIAS +£689,000 (+£609,000). Increase in Standards Fund grant (£455,000), additional fees and other income (£322,000) offset by additional staffing costs (£277,000) and other additional costs.

6.2 It has also been assumed that the £79,000 set aside to meet the 2006/07 revenue budget pressures will be applied to meet pressures in 2007/08.

7 Consultation

7.1 The forecast outturns are based on ongoing financial monitoring in consultation with partner organisations where appropriate e.g. Youth Offending Team.

8 Legal implications

8.1 None.

9 Financial implications

9.1 The financial implications are summarised at paragraph 1.

10 Personnel implications

10.1 None.

11 Impact assessment

11.1 The proposals contained in this report are not considered to be discriminatory .

12 Crime prevention issues

12.1 None.

13 Views of the Local County Councillor

13.1 No specific consultations or views sought.

14 Conclusion

14.1 Although there is a projected net underspend of £1,064,000 on the Children's Services Revenue Budget (after applying one-off funding), this is made up of a forecast underspend of £1,093,000 on the Schools Budget that is ring-fenced. It is expected that, through management actions, the pressure of £29,000 on non-schools budgets will be eradicated by the year end.

LINK(S) TO CORPORATE STRATEGY
	Yes	No
Hampshire safer and more secure for all	X
Maximising well-being	X
Enhancing our quality of place		X

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

TITLE None