Agenda and minutes

The Members had before them:

A.        The Agenda papers (previously circulated); and

B.        The Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 16 April 2015 (previously circulated).

(A copy of document A will be attached to the signed Minutes).

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of

Legal and Democratic Services in writing or by e-mail indicating both the

nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am

on the working day before the meeting (in this case Wednesday 20 May

2015). Further details are available on the Council's website. Enquiries

can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed

below.

None.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 April 2015 have been previously circulated.

RESOLVED:  that the Minutes of the Cabinet held on 16 April 2015 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Cabinet considered a report on resource matters.  The report set out the provisional financial results for the year ending 31 March 2015 (including a capital investment and Pension Fund update); an insurance update; proposed earmarked reserves, new investments and general balances; redeployment within the capital programme – Timberdine Nursing and Rehabilitation Unit; FutureFit Programme update; and borrowing and lending transactions 2014/15. The details considered were set out in the report.

In the ensuing discussion, the following main points were made:

(a)    The Leader of the Council introduced the report. He made particular reference to:

·         The provisional financial outturn for the year ending 31 March 2015 was to break even compared with the Council's budget of £332m. This was a fantastic achievement in the light of the financial challenge and also managing Children's Social Care Placement additional cost pressures of £5-7m. Income from Business Rates totalled £56.6m which was a surplus of £0.1m compared with the budget. In the future, savings would be more difficult to find and more complex in nature. Considerable challenges lay ahead if the Council wanted to ensure that its finances were balanced

·         The Pension Fund had an operating deficit of £11.2m for 2014/15. This deficit was unusual and as a result of the probation service transferring out to the Greater Manchester Pension Fund. Despite this, the Pension Fund's net assets increased by £190m at the end of 2014/15 to almost £2bn

·         Plans had been revised for redeployment in the Capital programme for Timberdine Nursing and Rehabilitation Unit to ensure that nursing management and patient dignity was maximised. The revised total cost was £760,000. An additional £140,000 cost could be funded from the existing capital funds within the Social Care Reform capital pot

·         FutureFit Programme – The £6.4m raised in capital receipts from the sale of redundant properties was in excess of targets for the release of buildings. The roll out of the Broadband Programme across the County remained ahead of schedule. 'Your Life Your Choice' had been launched and in the first week over 2,000 users had accessed the system to get information and advice. Since 2011/12 the Council had delivered savings of £96.8m through FutureFit. The Council would continue with its proactive approach to planning for change whilst listening to ideas and views from the public  

·         Base rates had remained stable during 2014/15 and he anticipated that this would continue. £5.2m of existing loans had been repaid during the year. He paid tribute to the Treasury Management team for the way in which they had managed debt on behalf of the Council 

(b)    Although the Council had delivered savings of nearly £100m since 2011/12, there was still much work to do and the pace of change needed to be maintained. However it would become harder to deliver further savings in the future and could result in an increase in exposure to risk. There had been significant capital investment which should help increase the County's income base through the building of new homes, creation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1660.