Revenue Budget Monitoring Report; Chief Executives and Other Corporate Services 1 April 2022 to 6 January 2023 (Period 10)

North Lanarkshire Council · 1 March 2023
Back to Finance and Resources Committee — 1 March 2023 and its agenda

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Page 1

North Lanarkshire Council
Report
Finance and Resources Committee 
Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes   ☒ No
Ref  EK/NL/PF Date 01/03/23 
Revenue Budget Monitoring Report; Chief Executives & Other
Corporate Services 01.04.22 –06.01.23 (Period 10) 
From  Elaine Kemp, Chief Officer (Finance)  
E-mail KempE@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07939 280 601 
1. Background 
1.1 The Council’s approved Financial Regulations require the Chief Executive to remain
within the approved budgetary provision, and to report all significant deviations -
defined as the higher of £100,000 or 5% - within budget monitoring reports. Where
significant deviations are identified, the Chief Executive must provide explanatory
commentary, outline the action required to rectify such deviations and where relevant,
must also highlight the impact this has on other budget headings. 
Executive Summary
This report provides a summary of the Chief Executive & Other Corporate Services
financial performance for the period 1 April 2022 to 6 January 2023 (Period 10).   The report
illustrates the provisional outturn as at 31 March 2023, with major outturn variances
highlighted and explained per the Council’s approved Financial Regulations. 
The Council approved its General Fund Revenue Budget on 17 February 2022, of which
£96.226m currently represents the Net Revenue Budget for the Chief Executive & Other
Corporate Services. The Service is currently projecting a favourable position of £1.171m
for the financial year which includes £2.171m of approved COVID funding.   
Recommendations
It is recommended that the Committee: 
(1) acknowledge the financial position of the 2022/23 Chief Executive & Other
Corporate Services revenue budget.  
The Plan for North Lanarkshire
Priority  Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base
Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully
evidence based decision making and future planning

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2. Report
2.1 Summary of Financial Position
2.1.1 The Council approved its General Fund Revenue Budget on 17 February 2022, of
which £93.565m (10.55%) represented the approved Revenue Budget for the Chief
Executive & Other Corporate Services. Incorporation of the COVID Recovery budget
of £2.171m and the realignment of Communities budgets have been included.
Following a number of budget realignments throughout the year there is a revised
budget for the service of £96.226m.
2.1.2 The overall projected outturn position of the Service is a favourable position of
£1.171m. Appendices one to five provide further information in respect of this position.
2.1.3 In light of the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and other financial pressures, Services have
been requested to continue to implement mitigating actions to ensure the position is
managed and the Council remains financially sustainable. The mitigating action
includes vacancy management and the curtailment of non-essential expenditure.
2.1.4 The 2022/23 budget incorporates a revised savings value of £0.361m previously
approved by Council.
2.1.5 The Service is currently anticipating increased costs as a result of inflationary pressures
within ICT contracts of £0.088m in the current year, however these costs can be
managed within the current budget envelope. Future year increases will be addressed
as part of the Budget Setting process.
2.2 Analysis of Significant Variances
2.2.1 Employee costs are anticipated to result in a year end net underspend of £0.403m,
primarily as a result of vacancies and pensions charges.
2.2.2 Supplies & Services are projected to be underspent by £1.248m due to management
action being taken within numerous contract lines and timing of the transition to Cloud
based solutions across the council.
2.2.3 Income is currently projecting to under-recover by £0.522m. This is a result of
continuing under-recoveries within licencing (liquor and taxi) due to the continuing
impact of Covid-19, coupled with under-recoveries in internal recharges for areas such
as printing and insurance and less grant income than was anticipated relating to the
modern apprentice programme.
2.3 Earmarked and One-Off Resources
2.3.1 In finalising the Council’s draft accounts to 31 March 2022, the service was given
approval to earmark £5.519m of resources to fund key projects and initiatives profiled
over a number of years. Following several realignments during the year, along with
identifying £1.362m to be deferred to future years there is a revised balance of £3.911m
within the Chief Executive’s service. It is anticipated that £3.154m of the reserve
balances will be utilised in 2022/23 with a total £0.757m of reserves identified as no
longer required.
2.3.2 Details of the Service’s earmarked funds are provided in Appendix 4.
2.3.3 The Service has not yet incurred any VRS costs relating to savings/restructures. There
is therefore no requirement to utilise any of the Corporate Change Management fund
at this time. Costs arising from 2022/23 savings/restructures will be reported in future
reports as they are incurred

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2.3.4 These costs are not included in the Service outturn position.
2.4 2022/23 Budget Savings
2.4.1 The 2022/23 budget incorporates £0.361m of savings approved by Council on 17
February 2022.
2.4.2 The Service has not fully implemented the approved 2022/23 savings however there
has been management action taken to offset these in the current year:
• Business and Digital – there has been a planned reduction of spend within Contract
lines to support savings target of £0.198m,
• POD – there has been a proactive approach to vacancy management to support
the savings target of £0.163m in the current financial year.
2.4.3 Appendix 5 provides a summary of the savings, including commentary in relation to
challenging savings and any actions taken to address the funding gap which has arisen.
2.5 Covid-19 Costs
2.5.1 The approved COVID Recovery Budget has been incorporated with an additional net
expenditure budget of £2.674m provided. This reflects anticipated increased costs of
£1.895m, and additional investment of £0.779m. The Service is currently projecting
slippage of £0.770m to 2023/24 due to delays in recruitment of staff and has identified
£0.009m of funding no longer required. Details of the Service’s COVID Budget are
provided in Appendix 6.
2.6 Management Actions
2.6.1 The Service is being pro-active to ensure expenditure is contained within its approved
2022/23 budget.
3. Measures of success
3.1 The Service continues to operate within approved budget resources.
4. Supporting documentation
Appendix 1 Objective Summary
Appendix 2 Subjective Summary
Appendix 3 Payments to Other Bodies
Appendix 4 Earmarked Reserves
Appendix 5 Budget Savings
Appendix 6 COVID Recovery Budget
Elaine Kemp
Chief Officer (Finance)

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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 
5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty 
Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public
Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? 
Yes ☐ No ☐ 
If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact?   
If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s
website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-
and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments 
Yes ☐ No ☐
5.2 Financial impact 
Does the report contain any financial impacts? 
Yes ☒ No ☐ 
If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with
Finance? 
Yes ☒ No ☐ 
If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 
The Service is being pro-active to ensure expenditure is contained within its
approved 2022/23 budget. 
5.3 HR policy impact 
Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? 
Yes ☐ No ☒ 
If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People
Resources? 
Yes ☐ No ☐ 
If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 
5.4 Legal impact 
Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory
considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? 
Yes ☐ No ☒ 
If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal
and Democratic? 
Yes ☐ No ☐ 
If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 
5.5 Data protection impact 
Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal
data?   
Yes ☐ No ☒ 
If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the
data subject? 
Yes ☐ No ☐ 
If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e-
mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk 
Yes ☐ No ☐

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5.6 Technology / Digital impact
Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital
transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management,
or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi?
Yes ☐ No ☒
If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact?
Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has
an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the
Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)?
Yes ☐ No ☐
5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact
Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any
environmental or carbon matters?
Yes ☐ No ☒
If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact?
5.8 Communications impact
Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s
communications activities?
Yes ☐ No ☒
If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact?
5.9 Risk impact
Is there a risk impact?
Yes ☒ No ☐
If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts,
highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or
Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed?
All activities undertaken by the Council are subject to risk, and in acknowledging the
Council’s approved Risk Management Strategy, Services manage these as part of
their overall corporate and service planning processes. The current economic
climate, in particular, has the potential to impact upon the Council’s ability to provide
quality services within approved budget levels.
Reflecting the risk analysis matrix included within the Risk Management Strategy,
the Service considers delays or amendments to savings proposals could present an
ongoing risk to the financial outturn for 2022/23.
To minimise risk this report has been prepared by service based Financial
Solutions personnel in consultation with budget managers, in accordance with the
Financial Regulations.
5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty
Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e.
does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex-
Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)?
Yes ☐ No ☒
If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to
ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the
Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage
compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.

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APPENDIX 1
[1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [8] [9] [10]
DIRECTORATE & SUPPORT 628,972 616,598 12,374 FAV 874,841 852,804 22,037 FAV 2.5% (212)
FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS 17,870,165 17,856,054 14,111 FAV 45,590,644 45,575,304 15,340 FAV 0.0% 6,321
AUDIT & RISK 486,399 457,445 28,953 FAV 579,364 545,285 34,079 FAV 5.9% 2,734 Underspend due to vacancies
LEGAL & DEMOCRATIC SOLUTIONS 1,763,058 1,987,391 (224,333) ADV 2,155,476 2,394,687 (239,211) ADV (11.1%) 335 Under recovery in relation  to postage and printing
income, legal insurance fee and registrars and
overspend associated with the opening / closure of
Civic Centre partially offset by underspends within
Employee costs, printing and postages
BUSINESS & DIGITAL 12,766,239 12,216,750 549,488 FAV 17,404,666 16,797,175 607,491 FAV 3.5% 357,500 Increased underspends within contract lines and
vacancies within employee costs partially offset by one-
off costs associated with WIPRO insourcing.
PEOPLE & ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 6,874,202 6,687,283 186,920 FAV 8,142,731 7,896,840 245,892 FAV 3.0% 143,011 Underspends due to vacancies partially offset by
turnover plus receipt of Young Persons Guarantee Grant
income within MA programme resulting in increased
underspend within the core programme.
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS 4,204,093 4,108,424 95,669 FAV 5,156,219 5,025,049 131,170 FAV 2.5% 13,031 Vacancies across the service and underspends within
admin, travel costs and supplies and services.
OTHER CORPORATE SERVICES 2,566,608 2,256,969 309,639 FAV 3,684,556 3,330,210 354,346 FAV 9.6% 18,328 Underspends in transitional relief no longer applied to
CLNL properties, Pension Increases / DLO Pension
charges, staff travel and admin costs partially offset by
increased costs for ICT purchases for newly elected
members.
JOINT BOARDS 9,491,805 9,491,805 0 12,637,971 12,637,971 0 0.0% 0
NET EXPENDITURE 56,651,540 55,678,718 972,822 FAV 96,226,468 95,055,324 1,171,144 FAV 1.2% 541,048
FAV = Favourable Variation, underspend etc
ADV = Adverse Variation, overspend etc
NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL
Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Objective Analysis
Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023)
A - Chief Executive's
DIVISION OF SERVICE BUDGET TO
DATE
ACTUAL TO
DATE
YEAR TO DATE
VARIANCE
ANNUAL
BUDGET
[4] [7]
PROJECTED OUT-TURN
VARIANCE
PROJECTED
OUT-TURN % PERIOD
MOVEMENT ANALYSIS

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APPENDIX 2
[1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [8] [9] [10]
EMPLOYEE COSTS 27,856,604 27,464,727 391,877 FAV 38,287,387 37,884,572 402,815 FAV 1.1% 161,789 Underspend due to vacancies across all services.
PROPERTY COSTS 1,800,298 1,844,848 (44,550) ADV 2,267,111 2,330,676 (63,565) ADV (2.8%) 9,000
SUPPLIES & SERVICES 9,302,711 8,346,400 956,311 FAV 10,563,672 9,315,689 1,247,983 FAV 11.8% 256,680 Underspend primarily within Business and Digital  due
to advancement of budget to support the transition to
Cloud based solutions.
TRANSPORT & PLANT 90,153 57,939 32,215 FAV 164,671 122,355 42,316 FAV 25.7% 12,713 Decreased staff travel across all areas and spend within
school holiday club transport.
ADMINISTRATION COSTS 4,044,269 4,032,962 11,307 FAV 6,691,950 6,648,226 43,724 FAV 0.7% 10,601
PAYMENTS TO OTHER BODIES 12,449,728 12,363,679 86,049 FAV 17,976,333 17,882,709 93,624 FAV 0.5% 81,000
TRANSFER PAYMENTS 60,099,096 60,092,886 6,210 FAV 111,404,054 111,395,354 8,700 FAV 0.0% 0
CAPITAL FINANCING COSTS 500,000 500,000 0 4,072,342 4,072,342 0 0.0% 0
REVENUE FINANCING COSTS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 0
OTHER EXPENDITURE 3,147,539 3,210,177 (62,638) ADV 3,847,047 3,929,857 (82,810) ADV (2.2%) (60,959)
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 119,290,398 117,913,617 1,376,781 FAV 195,274,566 193,581,780 1,692,788 FAV 0.9% 470,824
INCOME (62,638,858) (62,234,899) (403,959) ADV (99,048,101) (98,526,456) (521,645) ADV 0.5% 70,224 Under recovery in L&D postage and printing income,
legal insurance fee and registrars, Learning Centre
partially offset by receipt of Young Persons Guarantee
Grant (MA programme) plus other minor over-
recoveries.
NET EXPENDITURE 56,651,540 55,678,718 972,822 FAV 96,226,466 95,055,324 1,171,142 FAV 1.2% 541,048
FAV = Favourable Variation, underspend etc
ADV = Adverse Variation, overspend etc
[4] [7]
PROJECTED OUT-TURN
VARIANCE
PROJECTED
OUT-TURN % PERIOD
MOVEMENT ANALYSIS
NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL
Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Subjective Analysis
Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023)
A - Chief Executive's
CATEGORY BUDGET TO
DATE
ACTUAL TO
DATE
YEAR TO DATE
VARIANCE
ANNUAL
BUDGET

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APPENDIX 3
[1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [8] [9] [10]
PAYMENTS TO OTHER BODIES GENERAL 310,438 234,169 76,269 FAV 915,378 834,378 81,000 FAV 8.9% 81,000
Underspend as a result of reduced by-election costs
plus a reduction in social media account costs
MEDICAL FEES 724 724 0 9,637 9,637 0 0.0% 0
AGENCY FEES 19,633 19,633 (1) ADV 81,542 81,542 0 0.0% 0
TOWN TWINNING 2,720 1,283 1,437 FAV 3,533 3,533 0 0.0% 0
CHILDRENS PANEL 3,767 5,204 (1,436) ADV 25,035 25,035 0 0.0% 0
COSLA ANNUAL LEVY 195,000 192,376 2,624 FAV 195,000 192,376 2,624 FAV 1.4% 0
COMMUNITY COUNCIL GRANTS 80,696 73,540 7,156 FAV 158,629 148,629 10,000 FAV 6.3% 0
GRANTS TO ORGANISATIONS 895,706 895,706 0 1,129,625 1,129,625 0 0.0% 0
EXTERNAL AUDIT FEE 0 86 (86) ADV 529,389 540,526 (11,137) ADV (2.1%) 0
ELECTION PROVISION 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 0
TOURISM - VISIT NORTH LANARKSHIRE 20,998 20,998 0 37,000 37,000 0 0.0% 0
SCOTTISH WELFARE FUND 3,069,177 3,069,177 0 4,402,115 4,402,115 0 0.0% 0
SUB-CONTRACTOR PAYMENTS 0 0 0 1,869 1,869 0 0.0% 0
LOCAL TAX PAYPOINT COMMISSION 15,064 15,064 0 35,000 35,000 0 0.0% 0
COSLA MIGRATION SCOTLAND 112,500 150,000 (37,500) ADV 150,000 150,000 0 0.0% 0
LANDS VALUATION CONTRIBUTION 1,579,434 1,577,190 2,244 FAV 2,105,910 2,105,910 0 0.0% 0
SPT CONTRIBUTION 4,089,840 4,068,684 21,156 FAV 5,453,118 5,453,118 0 0.0% 0
SPT CONCESSIONARY FARES CONTRIBUTION 429,708 428,930 778 FAV 572,943 572,943 0 0.0% 0
CUSTOMER FIRST CONTRIBUTION 1,624,323 1,611,000 13,323 FAV 2,700,000 2,700,000 0 0.0% 0
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 12,449,728 12,363,766 85,964 FAV 18,505,722 18,423,235 82,487 FAV 0.5% 81,000
FAV = Favourable Variation, underspend etc
ADV = Adverse Variation, overspend etc
[4] [7]
PROJECTED OUT-TURN
VARIANCE
PROJECTED
OUT-TURN % PERIOD
MOVEMENT ANALYSIS
NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL
Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Payments to Other Bodies
Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023)
A - Chief Executive's
CATEGORY BUDGET TO
DATE
ACTUAL TO
DATE
YEAR TO DATE
VARIANCE
ANNUAL
BUDGET

Page 9

APPENDIX 4
Value %
Service Specific Earmarked Reserves:
PWC VAT FS 27 0 27 27 27 100.0% 0 27
Support Plan for North Lanarkshire L&D 100 (67) 33 0 33 100.0% 0 33
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0Digital Savings L&D 45 0 45 45 45 100.0% 0 45
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0Digitisation Reserve B&D 2,499 (607) 1,892 767 1,135 60.0% 757 1,135 Budget required in 2023/24. £757k was incorrectly
carried forward into 2022/23 budget.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0Digital Savings B&D 1,000 (1,000) 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0Family Firm POD 173 (173) 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0
Creation of Learning Academy POD 100 0 100 0 100 100.0% 0 100
0 0 0 0 0% 0Creation of Construction Academy POD 300 (200) 100 0 100 100.0% 0 100
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0ESC Resources Reserve POD 154 (61) 93 66 93 100.0% 0 93
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0Digital NL Post POD 36 0 36 25 36 100.0% 0 36
Customer Services Hub SC 212 (82) 130 97 130 100.0% 0 130
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0Customer Services Hub SC 50 (50) 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0Cumbernauld Theatre SC 35 0 35 0 35 100.0% 0 35
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0VANL (New) SC 60 0 60 60 60 100.0% 0 60
LDP Prog Play Areas and additional projects SC 500 0 500 500 500 100.0% 0 500
0 0 0 0 0 0% 0Recover NL - grant award prog SC 172 (172) 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0 Service has prioritised spend against Growth funds of
£150k
Cost of Living EMR SC 450 0 450 214 450 100.0% 0 450
Cost of Living EMR (comms) SC 15 0 15 7 15 100.0% 0 15
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal MM 15 0 15 15 15 100.0% 0 15
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0Pakistan Flood Appeal MM 15 0 15 15 15 100.0% 0 15
Change Management / Non-Service Specific: 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 0
0 CLNL Insourcing POD / B&D 168 62 230 168 230 100.0% 0 230
0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0CLNL ICT Development B&D 135 0 135 0 135 100.0% 0 135
TOTAL 6,261 (2,351) 3,911 2,008 3,154 80.6% 757 3,154
DESCRIPTION OF EARMARKED RESOURCE DIVISION Reserve
Allocation
Adjustments
In Year
Approved
Reserve Total
Spend to
Date
Projected Spend Reserves No
Longer
Required
Reserves
Required In
Year
Commentary Regards Usage
NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL
Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Status of Earmarked Reserves
A - Chief Executive's
FINANCIAL YEAR 2022/23
Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023)

Page 10

APPENDIX 5
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Digital NL B&D 198 0 198 Management action taken within contract
lines in current year
198 0
Reduction of ESC Admin posts POD 163 0 163 WSCG (09/12/22) approved restructure
which will be fully implemeneted by
01/04/23. Vacancy management action to
support the savings target in the current
year.
163 0 Restructure approved 09/12/22.  FY saving will be
achieved in 2023/24
TOTAL 361 0 361 361 0
NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL
Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Savings
Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023)
A - Chief Executive's
CommentaryDESCRIPTION OF APPROVED SAVING DIVISION Target Value Value
Deliverable Saving Gap
APPROVED SAVINGS REPLACEMENT SAVING / FUNDING
DESCRIPTION Value BUDGET
GAP

Page 11

APPENDIX 6
£000 £000 £000 £000
Costs:
Increased Costs 1,895 1,665 230 (26) Underspends in Employee Costs / overtime relating to
Covid and Cost of Living Grants and Recover NL
programmes.  Service has identified funding for Webex
Licences (£0.007m) is no longer required
Reduced Costs 0 0 0 0
Lost Income 0 0 0 0
Income Over-Recovery 0 0 0 0
Delay in Achievement of Savings 0 0 0 0
Unavoidable Investment Commitments 0 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0 0
Investment Proposals Agreed 779 229 549 0 Extension of Recover NL staff to 31/08/2023, funding
required in 2023/24
Contingencies 0 0 0 0
Service Costs Total 2,674 1,895 779 (26)
Income:
Earmarked COVID Funding (2,674) (1,895) (779) 26
Service Contributions 0 0 0 0
NLC Use of Reserves 0 0 0 0
21/22 COVID Funding - GRG 0 0 0 0
21/22 COVID Funding - RF 0 0 0 0
Service Income Total (2,674) (1,895) (779) 26
TOTAL NET COSTS 0 0 0 0
NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL
Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Forecast COVID-19 Costs
Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023)
A - Chief Executive's
CommentaryDESCRIPTION OF COVID-19 COSTS BUDGET PROJECTED
OUT-TURN
PROJECTED
OUT-TURN
VARIANCE
PERIOD
MOVEMENT