Agenda Item No

The Vale of Glamorgan Council

Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning): 7th September 2009

Report from the Director of Learning and Development

Revenue and Capital Monitoring for the period 1st April 2009 to 31st July 2009

Purpose of the Report

1.             To bring to the attention of this Scrutiny Committee, the position in respect of revenue and capital expenditure for the period 1st April 2009 to 31st July 2009 regarding those revenue and capital budgets, which form this Committee’s remit.

Recommendation

1.             It is recommended that the Scrutiny Committee note the position with regard to the 2009/10 revenue and capital monitoring.

Reason for the Recommendation

1.             That Members are aware of the position with regard to the 2009/10 revenue and capital monitoring relevant to this Scrutiny Committee.

Background

2.             Council on 4th March 2009 (Minute Nos. 844 and 843) approved the Revenue Budget and Capital Programme for 2009/2010. 

Relevant Issues and Options

3.             The Revenue Budget and projected outturn for 2009/2010 is shown in Appendix 1. The current forecast for this Directorate is for a balanced budget.

4.             Schools – The delegated budget relating to schools is expected to balance as any under/overspend is carried forward by schools.

5.             Education Service – Overall, the Education budget is projected to balance as at the end of March 2010. Any savings identified between now and the end of the year will be available to re-direct in to the School Investment Strategy or other reserves. Certain budgets within School Improvement and Strategy and Performance have been realigned following a restructuring of services. It is likely there will be further rationalisation later in the year. Due to uncertainty associated with predicting the demand from other local authorities for places in the Vale's Special Schools, recoupment income is £226,121 over budget. This has been offset by additional expenditure on Learning Support Assistants as a result of increased demand for individual support. It should be noted the Additional Learning Needs Budget is extremely volatile due to unpredictable demand and the high cost of specialist placements.

6.             Grant Related Expenditure - Schools also have access to the following Welsh Assembly Funded grants; A Support for Induction grant £7,933 for LEA assessment and quality assurance of newly qualified teachers. This is in addition to the £7,934 notified previously. Details of any other grants which have not yet been confirmed will be reported in subsequent monitoring reports.

7.             Libraries - This service is anticipated to outturn on target.

8.             Lifelong Learning –Currently this service is also anticipated to outturn on budget.

9.             Catering – Also anticipated to outturn on budget, however the service can be affected by external factors such as legislation and weather conditions. The budget will continue to be closely monitored and any variations reported to future meetings.

Capital Programme 2009/2010

10.        Appendix 2 details financial progress on the Capital Programme as at 31st July 2009.

Variance between Actual Spend to date and Profiled Spend

11.        Cabinet have previously agreed that further information would be provided where schemes have a value of over £500,000 and show a variance of 20% or more between actual spend and the profile. The following scheme meets this criteria:-

12.        Cowbridge Comprehensive School Remodelling - the actual spend to date is £389,000 over the profile due to earlier than anticipated progress on the scheme.

13.        Appendix 3 provides non-financial information on capital schemes with a budget of over £100,000. Where a budget shown in Appendix 2 is more than £100,000 but is made up of several schemes that individually are less than £100,000, the scheme is not included in Appendix 3.

Resource Implications (Financial and Employment)

14.        As detailed in the body of the report.

Legal Implications (to Include Human Rights Implications)

15.        None.

Crime and Disorder Implications

16.        None.

Equal Opportunities Implications (to include Welsh Language issues)

17.        There are no equal opportunity implications.

Corporate/Service Objectives

18.        Effective monitoring assists in the provision of accurate and timely information to officers and Members and in particular allows services to better manage their resources.

Policy Framework and Budget

19.        The report is in accordance with the Policy Framework and Budget.

Consultation (including Ward Member Consultation)

20.        The appropriate Chief Officer has been consulted. This report does not require Ward Member consultation.

Background Papers

None.

Contact Officer

Sian Keen (Senior Group Accountant) (01446 709255)

Officers Consulted

Director of Learning and Development

Responsible Officer:

Bryan Jeffreys, Director of Learning and Development