Agenda item

Joint Report of the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Economic Development and Corporate Director - Resources – Finance Manager, Resources.

The Chairman introduced the Principal Accountant, Resources, Ed Thompson who was in attendance on behalf of the Finance Manager, Resources, Azhar Rafiq to speak to Members in relation to the Quarter 3 Revenue and Capital Outturn 2013/14 (for copy see file of minutes).

The Principal Accountant reminded Members of the areas reported upon, the General Fund Revenue Account, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the Capital Programme for the RED Service.  Members noted the service was reporting a cash limit spend being over budget by approximately £273,000 for 2013/14, based on the Quarter 3 forecast outturn, against a revised General Fund Revenue Budget of £43.212 million.  Members noted the major variances fell within Planning and Assets, with the detailed explanations as set out within the report including an increased income due to a small number of major applications generating extra income such as the Hitachi site at Newton Aycliffe and the Dalton Park site.  The Committee were informed that relating to Traffic, specifically to parking services and enforcement activities, the area continued to be over budget.

The Committee noted that the HRA for 2013/14 had no major issues; with a forecasted balanced position after using a projected surplus of £861,000 towards the Capital Programme. 

As regards the Capital Programme, the Principal Accountant explained that subsequent to revisions to take into account grant additions/reductions and re-profiling the budget now stood at approximately £87.099 million split between the General Fund (£37.280 million) and HRA (£49.819 million).  Members noted that the spend to the end of December 2013 had been approximately £53.377 million.

The Chairman thanked the Principal Accountant and asked Members for their questions on the finance report.

Councillors asked questions in respect of: the potential impact of Welfare Reform, Right to Buy (RTB) sales and void properties; promoting the quality of Council owned properties; management of the Durham Key Options (DKO) bidders lists and the ease of bidding; and traffic enforcement spend.

The Principal Accountant, Resources, John Hughes noted that RTB sales were approximately 30 above the target of 50 properties, and that a sustainability group was looking at issues of rents, council tax, with a wider group looking at the impacts of welfare reform.  It was added that there was perhaps a perception that renting a property from the Authority was more difficult than the private sector, and other issues beyond the property itself, for example the nearby built environment such as car parking, can be an issue for prospective tenants.  The Housing Directions Manager, Marie Roe noted that within the Stock Transfer process, issues were being looked at in respect of sustainability of the stock and the impact of welfare reform.  Members noted feedback they had received from local residents, with several noting that there was a move to properties with fewer bedrooms in light of welfare reform changes.  The Housing Directions Manager and the Performance and Planning Manager, Regeneration and Economic Development, Graham Tebbutt noted that further details as regards DKO statistics could be provided for the Committee.      

The Principal Accountant, Resources, John Hughes explained that in relation to Traffic being over budget, specifically relating to parking services and enforcement activities, it was anticipated that this would be partly resolved at the retendering stage as this was the final year of the current contract for the service.

Resolved:   

That the report be noted.