Agenda item

To consider the level of spending against the Council’s Revenue and Capital budgets for the first seven months to 31 October 2017.

Mr Thompson, Director of Resources presented the level of spending against the Council’s Revenue and Capital budgets for the first seven months to 31 October 2017. He reported that performance had been improving over the previous quarter but had declined for month seven (October 2017) of the financial year. Collection of Council Tax and Business Rates had seen improvements year-on-year.

In response to a suggestion that financial reporting summaries of Children’s Services had been more effectively presented in the past, Mr Thompson explained that the relevant detail was still contained within the report appendices. He added that the recent budget impact had been mainly due to increasing costs within Children’s Services primarily Children’s Social Care which had a forecast overspend of £4.62m. However, that needed to be considered within the context of the Council’s budget having reduced by £137m in recent years with government funding reductions.

The Leader added that service demand pressures (from families requiring support or other action) were not predictable and demand could be skewed by a small number of cases. He added that initiatives included recruiting temporary administrative staff in 2018 would free up time for social workers to focus on supporting families, in particular identifying children who could be safely released from Child Protection Plans which required time as producing court orders for consideration was required.

Members enquired if families coming in from areas outside of Blackpool were increasing pressures and whether family planning was being promoted.

The Leader explained that Children’s Social Care was working with families who were mostly established in Blackpool. Family Planning and sexual health awareness were important. He cited effective approaches, e.g. Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) for women which had reduced teenage pregnancies and added that men needed to take responsibility too. He added that focused positive action such as creating aspirational goals for young people could reduce demand pressures.

He referred to schools which were important for supporting young people. Primary schools were more effective for pastoral care than secondary school academies. These could be more focused on academic and other targets. It was important to build good working relationships with secondary school head-teachers and this was being pursued effectively at a senior level within the Council and with regional government officials. Other approaches included use of people to act as ‘role models’ to encourage young people. Young people and families needed to understand healthy relationships.

Members referred to the ten year Better Start Programme which had a budget of £45m from 2015 to 2025 to reduce problems through developing effective support for families particularly in deprived wards. The Leader explained that change took time and that the Better Start Programme aimed to reduce pressures at early stages of pregnancy and a child’s life. Good development for a child in their first three years was known to have a positive longer-term impact. However, change took time and the Programme had been running less than three years. 

The Leader added that the Better Start Programme was robustly monitored including reports to the Resilient Communities and Children’s Scrutiny Committee. Officials from The Big Lottery, which funded the Programme, were keen that innovation was applied and changes made to secure effective outcomes.  He added that the Better Start Board also had a new independent chair.

Members noted that there was a contradiction in the report referring to delays in taking out any new long-term borrowing and then reference to having increased both new short-term and long-term borrowing. The Leader confirmed that short-term and long-term borrowing had increased. He explained that the period for receiving loan applications through to issuing funding was in the region of three months. He added that loans could be delayed due to the applicant so it was important for effective timings. He re-iterated that £71.3m loans had been applied for and the full amount could be given within the current financial year. He added that risks were considered but loans could still fail to deliver optimum returns. Interest returns on the loans would take some time to come through. 

Members noted that Treasury Management had a good investment performance record but this did not appear to still be the case. Mr Thompson explained that there was a savings target (of £1.8m) within the budget and that investment returns, on the Business Loans of potentially £71.3m, would be delivered in due course. He expected Treasury Management performance to improve over the next month.

Members noted that working cash balances were at risk being closer to £2m rather than the target £3m. Mr Thompson gave assurance that the £3m target was being pursued.

Members queried why there had been delays with implementing on-street parking changes which had resulted in those budget targets not being met.  The Leader explained that the Highways Service had planned to implement the changes in good time but now that the major roadworks programme around town had started it was more appropriate to reschedule the parking changes. In response to some new yellow lines having reduced parking spaces, he explained that these were not connected issues.

Members referred to the Print Services reduced income and review which had taken some time to complete. Mr Cavill explained that staff had been given the opportunity to take forward their income suggestions but the targets sought had not been achieved so the service review was now required. Staff would be consulted with a new service planned to come into effect from the start of the 2018-2019 financial year in April 2018.

Members enquired what the cost of the Illuminations Switch-on event had been to the Council and queried why the cost of Very Important Persons (VIP) tickets for the Live Wire event had been lower than usual as this could have impacted upon revenue. Mr Cavill explained that switch-on costs had been in the region of £200k. The Leader added that the Live Wire event had been outsourced to the Sands Venue who had been responsibility for ticket pricing but more tickets had been sold. Next year, in 2018, it was proposed to combine the Switch-on and Live Wire events as a more cost-effective approach.