Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring
Renfrewshire Council · 9 March 2023
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 9 March 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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To: Education and Children’s Services Policy Board On: 9 March 2023 Report by: Director of Finance and Resources and Director of Children’s Services Heading: Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring as at 6 January 2023 1. Summary of Financial Position 1.1. The projected Revenue outturn at 31 March 2023 for Children’s Services is an overspend of £4.139m (1.8%) against the revised budget for the year. 1.2. The projected Capital outturn at 31 March 2023 for Children’s Services is an underspend of £0.100m (1.9%). 1.3. This is summarised over the relevant service in the table below and further analysis is provided in the Appendices. Table 1: Revenue Division Revised Annual Budget £m Projected Outturn £m Budget Variance £m Budget Variance % Children’s Services £229.185 £233.324 (£4.139m) (1.8%) Table 2: Capital Division Revised Annual Budget £m Projected Outturn £m Budget Variance £m Budget Variance % Children’s Services £5.303 £5.203 £0.100 1.9% 2. Recommendations Members are requested to: 2.1. Note the projected Revenue outturn position for Children’s Services detailed in Table 1 above, and further note that the forecast position is based on best estimates and confirmed government support at this point in time;
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2.2. Note projected Capital outturn position for Children’s Services detailed in Table 2 above; and 2.3. Note the budget adjustments detailed in sections 4 and 6. 3. Children’s Services Revenue 3.1. The Revenue Budget Monitoring report at Appendix 1 identifies a projected annual overspend of £4.139m (1.8% of total budget). Detailed service division reports can be found in Appendix 2, along with an explanation of each significant projected variance. 3.2. The main reasons for the projected outturn position are indicated below the table showing the objective analysis (which division is spending the budget). 3.3. A £3.479m overspend is anticipated within Children & Families related mainly to external residential accommodation placements. During the second year of the pandemic the service required to place a number of children and young people in external residential accommodation. These placements have resulted in overspend due to the cost of the specialised services required to meet the complex needs of the children and young people who have been accommodated. 3.4. All external placements are held under continual review by the service to ensure they continue to meet the needs of the individual children and young people. Options to mitigate cost pressure are examined on an ongoing basis. 3.5. The impact of rising energy costs across the various divisions of service is contributing a further £1.502m to the full-year projected overspend. This service is responsible for around 75% of the Council’s annual electricity and gas costs. 4. Revenue Budget Adjustments 4.1. Members are requested to note from Appendix 1 that budget adjustments totalling £3.420m have been processed since the last report. These relate mainly to the increase in budget arising from the local government (non- teachers) pay award. 5. Children’s Services Capital 5.1. The Capital Investment Programme 2022/23 to 2026/27 was approved by the Council on 3 March 2022. 5.2. The Capital Monitoring report at Appendix 3 indicates changes totalling £0.450m in the approved capital programme for Education and Children’s Services since the previous Policy Board, bringing the total changes to date to a net of £8.056m. This relates to budget carried forward into 2023/24 from 2022/23 for Other School Investment Programmes. The total budget adjustments to date of £8.056m comprise £7.606m of changes reported up
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until the previous Policy Board, plus a further £0.450m of changes since then (as described above). 5.3. Further detail, including reasons for significant variances, can be found at Appendix 3. 6. Capital Budget Adjustments 6.1. Since the last report, budget changes totalling £0.450m have arisen which reflect the following: Budget carried forward to 2023/24 from 2022/23 (£0.450m) • Other School Investment Programmes (£0.450m) to reflect the timing of the expected start of Park Mains High School and St Andrew’s Academy extensions. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of this report 1. Financial The projected budget outturn position for Children’s Services’ Revenue budget is an overspend of £4.139m. Income and expenditure will continue to be monitored closely for the rest of the financial year and, where necessary, steps will be taken to mitigate any overspend including applying flexibility within specific grant funding as permitted by the Scottish Government. The projected outturn position for Children’s Services’ Capital budget is an underspend of £0.100m. The Capital programme will continue to be monitored closely for the rest of the financial year. 2. HR and Organisational Development None directly arising from this report. 3. Community/Council Planning None directly arising from this report. 4. Legal None directly arising from this report. 5. Property/Assets None directly arising from this report. 6. Information Technology None directly arising from this report.
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7. Equality and Human Rights The recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report because for example it is for noting only. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health and Safety None directly arising from this report. 9. Procurement None directly arising from this report. 10. Risk The potential risk that the Council will overspend its approved budgets for the year will be managed at a Council-wide level by the Chief Executive and Directors. 11. Privacy Impact None directly arising from this report. 12. 13. CoSLA Policy Position n/a Climate Risk None directly arising from this report. __________________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers: None __________________________________________________________________ Authors: Richard Conway, Extension 0879 Kevin Festorazzi, Extension 4885
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Appendix 1 Subjective Summary Approved Annual Budget at Period 8 Budget Adjustments Revised Annual Budget at Period 10 Projected Outturn Previous Projected Outturn Variance Movement £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 % £000 £000 Employees 161,628 5,410 167,038 164,218 2,820 1.7% 2,169 651 Premises Related 9,020 (20) 9,000 10,817 (1,817) (20.2%) (1,812) (6) Transport Related 4,599 0 4,599 5,897 (1,298) (28.2%) (1,181) (116) Supplies and Services 30,125 (1,331) 28,794 28,858 (64) (0.2%) 705 (770) Third Party Payments 13,204 0 13,204 17,565 (4,361) (33.0%) (4,581) 220 Transfer Payments 14,388 83 14,471 14,875 (404) (2.8%) (1,203) 799 Support Services 68 0 68 59 9 12.5% 7 2 Depreciation and Impairment Losses 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0 GROSS EXPENDITURE 233,032 4,142 237,174 242,290 (5,116) (2.2%) (5,896) 780 Income (7,267) (722) (7,989) (8,966) 977 12.2% 627 351 NET EXPENDITURE 225,765 3,420 229,185 233,324 (4,139) (1.8%) (5,269) 1,130 Budget Variance (Adverse) or Favourable RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING STATEMENT 2022/23 1 April 2022 to 6 January 2023 POLICY BOARD : EDUCATION & CHILDREN'S SERVICES
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Appendix 2 Objective Summary Approved Annual Budget at Period 8 Budget Adjustments Revised Annual Budget at Period 10 Projected Outturn Previous Projected Outturn Variance Movement £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 % £000 £000 Directorate 472 0 472 439 33 6.9% 30 3 Early learning and childcare 33,862 1,469 35,331 33,960 1,371 3.9% 1,386 (15) Primary 57,764 216 57,980 58,441 (461) (0.8%) (712) 251 Secondary 79,112 406 79,518 80,381 (863) (1.1%) (960) 97 ASN (Special) Schools 6,428 42 6,470 6,534 (64) (1.0%) (84) 20 Additional support for learning (ASL) 15,587 545 16,132 16,795 (664) (4.1%) (732) 68 Psychological services 744 0 744 764 (20) (2.7%) (20) 0 Education development 1,770 2 1,772 1,772 0 0.0% 0 0 Attainment Challenge (731) (18) (749) (749) 0 0.0% 0 0 Facilities management 577 13 590 580 10 1.6% (19) 29 Children & Families 30,180 746 30,926 34,405 (3,479) (11.2%) (4,158) 679 NET EXPENDITURE 225,765 3,420 229,185 233,324 (4,139) (1.8%) (5,269) 1,130 Objective Heading Early Learning and Childcare Primary Schools Secondary Schools ASN Schools Additional Support for Learning Children & Families Key Reasons for Projected Variance An underspend in Employee Costs is projected due to vacancies within the authority’s Early Learning & Childcare Centres. This underspend is offset by a projected overspend in Transfer Payments in relation to an increase in the rate paid to funded providers (private and voluntary sector nurseries and childminders), and a projected overspend in Premises Costs resulting from the increase in energy costs. Overspends in Premises Costs and Transport Costs are projected. The overspend in Premises Costs is due an expected increase in energy and refuse collection costs. The overspend in Transport is due to an expected increase in the cost of the mainstream school transport contract. These overspends are partly offset by an underspend within Employee Costs which is due to the impact of 3 days’ strike action by teachers. Overspends in Premises Costs and Transport Costs are projected. The overspend in Premises Costs is due an expected increase in energy and refuse collection costs. The overspend in Transport is due to an expected increase in the cost of the mainstream school transport contract. These overspends are partly offset by an underspend within Employee Costs which is due to the impact of 3 days’ strike action by teachers. An overspend in Premises Costs is projected. This is due to the increase in energy costs. This overspend is partly offset by an underspend within Employee Costs which is due to the impact of 3 days’ strike action by teachers. An overspend in Transport Costs is projected. This is due to increases in the cost of transport contracts for pupils with additional support needs. An overspend in Transfer Payments is projected, mainly in relation to external residential accommodation placements, where the number of complex, expensive packages has increased significantly. All external placements are held under continual review by the service, with options to mitigate cost pressure being examined on an ongoing basis. The full-year projected (adverse) variance has improved since the previous position due mainly to increased funding provided by the Home Office to support the placement of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children as part of the National Transfer Scheme. RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING STATEMENT 2022/23 1 April 2022 to 6 January 2023 Budget Variance (Adverse) or Favourable POLICY BOARD : EDUCATION & CHILDREN'S SERVICES
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Appendix 3 Prior Years Approved Budget Revised Projected Expenditure Budget Adjustments Budget Outturn Total Approved Projected to 31/03/2022 2022-23 in 2022-23 2022-23 2022-23 Budget Outurn Project Title to 31-Mar-27 to 31-Mar-27 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 EDUCATION & CHILDREN SERVICES Primary Schools Estate Programme(SEMP) 42,665 0 233 233 133 100 43% 42,898 42,798 100 0% Paisley Grammar New Campus 1,110 10,950 (9,950) 1,000 1,000 0 0% 41,250 41,250 0 0% Primary Schools Estate Programme(SEMP 2020) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 10,000 10,000 0 0% Other Schools Investment Programmes 22,057 2,009 1,661 3,670 3,670 0 0% 26,231 26,231 0 0% Technology Replacement Strategy ICT 0 400 0 400 400 0 0% 2,000 2,000 0 0% TOTAL EDUCATION & CHILDREN'S SERVICES BOARD 81,011 13,359 (8,056) 5,303 5,203 100 2% 137,558 137,458 100 0% *Rolling programmes have a prior year year expenditure of £0 as the expenditure is not directly linked from one year to the next as a singular project. Objective Heading Primary Schools Estate Programme(SEMP) RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL 1st April to 6th January 2023 POLICY BOARD: EDUCATION & CHILDEN'S SERVICES CAPITAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY - NON-HOUSING SERVICES Key Reasons for Projected Variance Minor underspends relate to St Fergus new build and St Anthony refurbishment. Budget Variance (Adverse) or Favourable Current Year 2022-23 Budget Variance (Adverse) or Favourable Full Programme - All years