To enable Cabinet to consider the updated financial forecast and detailed estimates for 2018/19 for consultation with the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED that –

a)         the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee is thanked for the work it has done to date in reviewing the forecast as it has developed;

b)         the comments of the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder in response to issues raised by the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee be endorsed;

c)         the updated Financial Forecast 2019/20, as set out in item A.6 of the Report of the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder and its accompanying Appendices, be approved and;

d)         the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s comments on this latest financial forecast for 2019/20 be requested.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a detailed report of the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder (A.6) which sought to enable Cabinet to consider the updated financial forecast for 2019/20 for consultation with the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Members were informed that, as part of maintaining a ‘live’ forecast, further updates to the position for 2019/20 had been made since the financial forecast had been last considered by Cabinet on 9 November 2018.

It was reported that, at this stage of the budget process, there was a net surplus of £0.002mforecast in 2019/20, an overall change of £0.511m compared with the £0.509m deficit previously reported to Cabinet on 9 November 2018. The long term forecast therefore remained on target.

Cabinet was advised that it was important to highlight that the 2019/20 budget included an estimated collection fund surplus of £0.710m.Although this was an on-going item in the budget it was reviewed each year based on in-year collection performance and could therefore only be deemed a one-off ‘saving’ in 2019/20. Although the amount was available to support the 2019/20 budget, if this was excluded from the forecast, there would be a budget deficit of £0.708m for 2019/20.

Members were informed that, although subject to potential changes to the forecast over the remaining budget setting period, the current forecasted surplus of £0.002m would be paid into the Forecast Risk Fund.

It was reported that any necessary changes emerging from the detailed Local Government Finance Settlement would be included in the figures that would be presented to Cabinet in January 2019 when it considered the final budget proposals after consultation with the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Cabinet was made aware that once the final position for 2019/20 was determined, the remaining years of the 10 year forecast would be revised, set against the revised 2019/20 position and would be reported to Members later in the budget setting process.

Members were informed that the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee, at its meeting held on 29 November 2018, had considered the in-year performance against the budget as at the end of September 2018 and the long term financial forecast update and had made the following recommendations to Cabinet:-

1)     that the Section 151 Officer  undertakes a review of the digital transformation business case in terms of estimated costs and planned savings and the performance against the budget to date, with an update to be provided in the Quarter 3 Corporate Budget Monitoring Report 2018/19.

2)     That the Head of IT and Corporate Resilience attends the Resources and Services Committee meeting on 11 February 2019 to discuss digital transformation, as part of the review of the Performance Report 2018/19, Third Quarter.

The Cabinet was aware that the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder had noted and supported both of those recommendations.

With the permission of the Leader of the Council, Councillor Watling MP addressed the meeting on the subject matter of this item.

The Leader of the Council thanked the Head of Finance, Revenues and Benefits (Richard Barrett) and his officers for their ongoing hard work in maintaining the Council’s budgets and accounts. He also made the following statement:-

“There have only been a limited number of changes since we considered the forecast on 9 November – these are highlighted in Appendix A with comments provided within the report.

One of the more significant amendments is in respect of increased business rate income, which may not be such a surprise given the level of commercial property growth we are seeing around the district.

It would be good if I could give the assurance that this level of income was something that automatically continued year on year across the long term forecast. However I can’t. The reason being that we nervously await the outcome from the Government’s fair funding review next year and indications suggest that business rate income could be subject to a ‘reset’ with us potentially losing some of this money to the treasury.

The extension to the waste and recycling contract has now also been fully reflected within the updated forecast. The cost of this is more than expected due to RPI increases which would apply across the waste collection market in general rather than something more specific to our own local arrangements.

In terms of net savings, we have identified £328k with all items set out in Appendix B.

We have included a number of unavoidable cost pressures at this stage but recognise there are further items we need to consider funding in 2019/20. Details are set out in Appendix C. It is worth stating that I am committed to providing funding for a number of items set out in the appendix such as the mental health hub and air show. I expect these to be included within the final budget that we will recommend to Council in February.

Several months ago I announced at Cabinet my plan to set up a Clacton Town Centre Working party and I felt that it would be helpful to update Cabinet today on progress made and a practical way in which we plan to back up the work of the Working Party on the ground.

Firstly, I would like to thank Councillor Fairley and the Working Party for the excellent work which they have done.

I am really looking forward to the feedback from the various aspects which it has investigated and the actions to be recommended to the Cabinet. I think that these discussions will shape the future direction of the town centre and bring new economic and community opportunities.

I know that the discussions so far have included looking at the planning policy for the future of the town, car parking, town centre living and digital connectivity etc.

These are all key strategic issues which if we get right will provide a foundation for the town centre to flourish in the 21sr Century and beyond and which I am delighted the Working Party is addressing.

When considering something like the Town Centre, however, it is sometimes difficult to look beyond the practical and immediate issues “on the ground, here and now”. So inevitably a number of more operational issues have been considered. These are for other parts of the Council to address and take forward.

One such issue is street drinking and anti-social behaviour in the Town. We will always consider every possible solution to these issues and recognise there is a need for a balance between proactive measures and enforcement.

To support this key issue we are pressing forward aiming to appoint an anti-social behaviour post, licensed to take enforcement action. This will create a visible presence in the town centre and address anti-social behaviour quickly, thus encouraging residents and visitors to spend more time in the town centre.

Overall we have moved from a deficit of £509k to a small surplus of £2k and continue to remain in-line with the long term forecast.

Although subject to the Government’s fair funding review, we remain in a good position going into 2019/20 and beyond.

There may be further changes to the forecast as it develops, which will be reflected in the report to Cabinet in January. However the forecast set out in the report provides the most up to date position and I welcome the comments from the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee who are meeting on Monday.”

Having considered all of the information provided in the report and its appendices:-

It was moved by Councillor Stock OBE, seconded by Councillor Skeels Snr. and:-

RESOLVED that –

a)         the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee is thanked for the work it has done to date in reviewing the forecast as it has developed;

b)         the comments of the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder in response to issues raised by the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee be endorsed;

c)         the updated Financial Forecast 2019/20, as set out in item A.6 of the Report of the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder and its accompanying Appendices, be approved and;

d)         the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s comments on this latest financial forecast for 2019/20 be requested.