Agenda item

The Director of Finance submits a report setting out the Council’s financial performance against its revenue budget for the financial year.  The Committee is recommended to consider the overall position presented within this report and make any observations it sees fit.

The Director of Finance submitted a report setting out the Council’s financial performance against its revenue budget for the financial year 2019/20.  She explained that, due to delays caused by the Covid-19 crisis, assumptions had had to be made about some elements of the Statement of Accounts, but these could be rectified later if necessary.

The Director further explained that:

·           It was difficult to predict care costs, due to the different needs of those entering and leaving the care system;

·           There was year-on-year continued growth on the Adult Social Care budget; and

·           The VAT refund referred to in the report was a one-off windfall and would be used to support match-funding for the Transforming Cities programme.

The Committee noted the underspend on preventative services, that had been caused by staff vacancies.  The Director of Finance confirmed that there had been problems recruiting new staff to the service and that it had been suggested to the Strategic Director Social Care and Education that a report could be presented to the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission discussing how this could be addressed.

Members noted that the use of independent fostering agencies continued to increase and enquired whether anything could be done to encourage more people to become foster carers through the Council, rather than through these agencies.  The Director of Finance suggested that consideration could be given to whether publicity could be strengthened to identify the support the Council gave to foster carers beyond that offered by independent fostering agencies.

It also was questioned whether it would be more economical for the Council to use independent providers for specialised residential placements for children.  In reply, the Director of Finance noted that every child’s needs were different, so the best ways of addressing those needs required more than just premises.  However, active discussions were being held with Leicestershire County Council regarding the possibility of making use of some of that authority’s premises.

The Committee suggested that a decision on repurposing the welfare reserve, to give it a wider remit, be deferred until full information was available on a broad post-Covid anti-poverty strategy, as it was felt that insufficient information currently was available to consider if a widening of the remit could be supported.  The Director of Finance reminded Members that reserves could only be used for the purpose for which they had been set up.  The report suggested increasing the reserve, but this could be reviewed if wished.

AGREED:

1)    That the report be received and noted;

2)    That, in order to help address concerns about the increasing use of independent fostering agencies, the Strategic Director Social Care and Education be asked to consider whether publicity can be strengthened to include more information on the additional support that the Council provides to foster carers compared to that provided by independent fostering agencies;

3)    That the Executive be asked to consider deferring a decision on the proposal to repurpose the welfare reserve to give it a wider remit until full information is available on a broad post-Covid anti-poverty strategy, due to this Committee’s concerns that insufficient information currently is available to consider if a widening of the remit can be supported;

4)    That the Director of Finance be asked to include the purpose of reserves held by the Council in future budget monitoring reports; and

5)    That the Executive be asked to take account of the comments and concerns of this Committee recorded above when considering this report.