Revenue Budget Monitoring for the Year 2023/24

Argyll and Bute Council · 27 June 2024
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Page 1

ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COUNCIL 
FINANCIAL SERVICES 27 JUNE 2024
REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING – FOR THE YEAR 2023-24 
1.  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
1.1 The main purpose of this report is to advise Members of the revenue budget
position of the Council as at the end of financial year 2023-24.  The report also
summarises the movement in the General Fund balance. 
1.2 The performance against budget for the financial year 2023-24 was an overall
overspend, before considering the Loans Fund position, of £1.004m (0.32%). 
The favourable position from the Loans Fund budget of £5.932m resulted in an
overall underspend, before earmarking requests, of £4.928m (1.57%).  The
new unspent budget earmarking requests amount to £3.200m and, if approved,
will result in an overall underspend of £1.728m (0.55%). 
1.3 The underspend within the Loans Fund was a result of effective Treasury
Management combined with increased interest rates on investments and a
reduced need to borrow due to significant slippage in the capital programme. 
Much of our capital programme was able to be financed from cash balances
held rather than taking borrowing particularly when interest rates were so high. 
There was also an opportunity to realise a one-off gain of £0.870m on the early
repayment of loans.   Note that the favourable position within Loans Fund is not
expected to be recurring as outlined in paragraph 4.4.1. 
1.4 Social Work, managed by the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), was
overspent by £0.165m and this amount was covered from their creditor balance
which created a nil variance on the revenue monitoring. 
1.5 The General Fund Balance has moved from £86.356m at the end of financial
year 2022-23 to £115.741m at the end of 2023-24.  The movement represents
an increase of £29.385m as there has been a high amount of new earmarkings
this year from the Service Concessions one-off gain. 
1.6 There is a separate report that details the earmarked reserves which outlines
proposals to earmark a total of £107.443m from the General Fund balance,
leaving £8.298m unallocated.  Of this £6.039m is required to be held as the
General Fund contingency, leaving an unallocated balance of £2.259m.   
1.7 There have been 5 virements of revenue budget over £0.200m in the period
January to March 2024 for approval.

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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COUNCIL 
FINANCIAL SERVICES 27 JUNE 2024
REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING – FOR THE YEAR 2023-24 
2.  INTRODUCTION 
2.1 This report summarises the revenue budget position of the Council as at the
end of the financial year 2023-24.  The overall revenue budget monitoring
statement for the Council is attached as Appendix 1 and departmental outturn
summaries are attached as Appendix 2.  
3. RECOMMENDATIONS 
3.1 Members to consider the revenue budget monitoring position as at the end of
financial year 2023-24. 
3.2 Members to note that the unallocated balance within the General Fund as at 31
March 2024, after taking into account the contingency, amounts to £2.259m.   
3.3 Members to approve the revenue virements over £0.200m between January
and March 2024. 
4. DETAIL 
4.1 Final Outturn Variance (Un-audited) 
4.1.1 The performance against budget for the financial year 2023-24 was an overall
overspend, before considering the Loans Fund position, of £1.004m (0.32%). 
The favourable position from the Loans Fund budget of £5.932m resulted in an
overall underspend, before earmarking requests, of £4.928m (1.57%).  Note
that the favourable position within Loans Fund is not expected to be recurring
as outlined in paragraph 4.4.1. 
4.1.2 There are new unspent budget earmarking requests amounting to £3.200m
and, if approved, will result in an overall underspend of £1.728m (0.55%).  A
summary of the final outturn position is noted within the table below.

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4.2  Net Expenditure Budget Outturn 
4.2.1 The performance against budget shows net expenditure (excluding Loans
Fund) being £1.037m (0.42%) over budget.     
4.2.2  Within the Chief Executive’s Unit (Community Planning) there was a small
underspend (£0.006m) resulting within travel codes due to staff travel costs
coming in under budget due to increased digital working and less face to face
meetings. 
4.2.3 Within the remit of Executive Director Douglas Hendry (Education, Legal and
Regulatory Support and Commercial Services), there was an operational
underspend after accounting for automatic earmarkings of £0.691m.  The main
underspends were due to: 
• Receipt of one-off historic water rate refunds.
• Staffing underspends due to delays in recruitment and staffing
underspends within Cleaning, ELC and Legal and Regulatory Support.
• Underspends within the Scheme of Devolved School Management
where previous carry forwards were not fully utilised. 
4.2.4 Within the remit of Executive Director Kirsty Flanagan (Roads and
Infrastructure, Development and Economic Growth and Customer Support
Services), there was an operational overspend of £1.352m after accounting for
automatic earmarkings.  The key overspends include: 
Variance
(Overspend)
Underspend
£ £ £ %
Chief Executive's Unit 1,155,011 1,161,208 6,197 0.53%
Executive Director (Douglas
Hendry) 139,307,911 139,998,734 690,823 0.49%
Executive Director (Kirsty
Flanagan) 58,610,514 57,258,349 (1,352,165) (2.36%)
Weather related incident costs
(not covered by Bellwin) 839,000 0 (839,000) 0.00%
Joint Boards 1,318,703 1,396,371 77,668 5.56%
Other 11,584,462 11,583,993 (470) (0.00%)
Service Concessions (40,869,000) (40,489,000) 380,000 (0.94%)
Social Work 77,604,909 77,604,909 (0) 0.00%
Net Expenditure 249,551,510 248,514,563 (1,036,947) (0.42%)
Total Funding 314,826,700 314,793,907 32,793 0.01%
OVERSPEND BEFORE LOANS FUND (1,004,154) (0.32%)
Loans Fund 8,614,463 14,546,979 5,932,516 40.78%
4,928,361 1.57%
3,200,000
1,728,361 0.55%
UNDERSPEND BEFORE EARMARKINGS
NEW Unspent Budget Proposals
UNDERSPEND AFTER EARMARKINGS
Final Outturn Variance (Un-audited)
2023/24
Department Actuals Budget Percentage

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• Reduction in income within Piers and Harbours
• Additional fleet costs across the service
• Increased staff costs for Pupil Transport
• An unrealised Depot saving
• Increased electricity costs for street lighting
• Additional Car Parking maintenance costs
• Reduction in TRO income in Roads. 
4.2.5 There was £0.839m of costs related to the weather incident that could not be
claimed through the Scottish Government Bellwin scheme so this added to the
overall overspend.   
4.2.6 Within Joint Boards, SLA payments were £0.078m lower than available budget. 
4.2.7 Other costs include non-controllable and central costs which balanced to
budget. 
4.2.8 As part of the budget setting process on 22 February 2024, Council made the
decision to transfer £0.380m from the Service Concessions one off gain
(Priorities Investment Fund) to the unallocated general fund.  This is
contributing to the overall underspend and will therefore automatically go into
the General Fund as part of year end processes. 
4.2.9 Social Work Services, managed by the HSCP, were overspent by £0.165m
(0.21%).  Under CIPFA LASAAC Guidance, this amount has been drawn from
the creditor on the Council’s balance sheet.  The overspend of £0.165m before
drawing from the creditor was as a result of ongoing demand for older people
care services, both residential and non-residential. 
4.3 Funding Budget Outturn 
4.3.1 The performance against budget for funding was a net underspend/over-
recovery of income of £0.033m.  Included in this outturn position is an
adjustment to update the 2023-24 budget to reflect the new automatic
earmarking at the year-end, these new earmarkings total £3.363m and relate to
the Strategic Housing Fund and TIF income.   
4.3.2 There is a year-end favourable position in relation to Council Tax of £0.033m
which is due to Council Tax debt recovery after court summons being more
than anticipated.   
4.4 Loans Fund Budget Outturn 
4.4.1  The performance against budget for Loans Fund was a net underspend of
£5.932m (40.78%).  This underspend within the Loans Fund is not expected to
be recurring and was a result of effective Treasury Management combined with
increased interest rates on investments and a reduced need to borrow due to
significant slippage in the capital programme.  Much of our capital programme
was able to be financed from cash balances held rather than taking borrowing

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particularly when interest rates were so high.  There was also an opportunity to
realise a one-off gain of £0.870m on the early repayment of loans.   
4.5 Unspent Budget Proposals 
4.5.2 The overall favourable position has provided the opportunity to propose
earmarking of unspent budget for specific purposes and these are included in
the ‘Earmarked Reserves – 2023-24 Year End’ report on this agenda.  Unspent
budget earmarkings will only be considered when the purpose is aligned to the
objectives, priorities and targets of the Council, there is a business case to
justify the expenditure and the general reserve contingency is met.  The detail
of the proposed unspent budget earmarkings and their associated business
cases can be found in the Earmarked Reserves report. 
4.6 Impact on the General Fund 
4.6.1 The movement in the General Fund balance is different to the underspend
noted above, as it also reflects earmarked reserve withdrawals and
contributions.  The General Fund balance at 31 March 2023 was £86.356m
and has increased by £29.385m to £115.741 as at 31 March 2024.  The
movement in the balance is summarised in the table below. 
£m
Balance on General Fund 31 March 2023 86.356
Revenue Budget 23-24 - transfer to general fund 0.019
Released earmarked sums to service budgets 2023-24 (27.286)
Contributions to earmarked reserves 2023-24 – Service
Concessions 35.658
Contributions to earmarked reserves 2023-24 19.275
Supplementary Estimate (0.008)
Overall budget underspend as above 1.728
Rounding (0.001)
Balance on General Fund 31 March 2024 115.741 
4.6.2 The balance on the General Fund has increased from last year. The movement
represents an increase of £29.385m as new earmarkings have been
particularly high this year due to the one-off gain from the accounting for
Service Concessions materialising and being earmarked for the agreed
commitments. 
4.6.3  The closing balance on the General Fund as at 31 March 2024 is £115.741m.
Of this, £107.443m is earmarked for specific purposes and £6.039m is required
to be held as the General Fund contingency, leaving an unallocated balance of
£2.259m as shown in the table below.

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£m
Balance on General Fund 31 March 2024 115.741
Earmarked balances at 31 March 2024 (as per
Earmarked Reserves report) (107.443)
Contingency balance (2.0% of net expenditure) (6.039)
Unallocated balance as at 31 March 2024 2.259 
4.6.4 The £2.259m unallocated balance as at 31 March 2024 represents an increase
of £1.060m on the £1.199m unallocated balance as at 31 March 2023.   
4.7 VIREMENTS OVER £0.200M (REVENUE) 
4.7.1 Virement is the process of transferring budget between cost centres, services
or departments or between capital projects.  The Council’s constitution notes
that virements over £0.200m require approval by Council.  This section of the
report will be used to outline revenue virements in the period that require
approval.   Capital virements are included within the capital monitoring report. 
4.7.2 For the period January to March 2024, there are 5 virements over £0.200m
requiring authorisation:
• £4.831m from Head of Legal & Regulatory Support to Loans Fund to
recode the service concession saving.
• £0.930m moved from Other Income and Expenditure to Executive
Director Douglas Hendry £0.786m and Executive Director Kirsty
Flanagan £0.146m to right size utilities budgets. 
• £0.422m from Roads to Loans Fund to recognise Piers and Harbours
Loans Charges.
• £0.319m from Other Operating Income and Expenditure to Roads to
allocate the agreed Winter Pressure funding.
• £0.216m from Education to the Loans Fund to recognise Energy
Efficiency Savings. 
5. CONCLUSION 
5.1 The performance against budget for financial year 2023-24 was an overall
underspend of £1.728m (0.55%). The General Fund balance has increased by
£29.385m as there has been a high amount of new earmarkings this year from
the Service Concessions one off gain.   
6. IMPLICATIONS 
6.1 Policy Automatic earmarking as per the policy have been
taken into consideration with the final reported
outturn position.

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6.2 Financial Report notes the underspend against budget during
2023-24 and the movement in the General Fund
balance.
6.3 Legal None
6.4 HR None
6.5 Fairer Scotland Duty None
6.5.1 Equalities None
6.5.2 Socio-Economic Duty None
6.5.3 Islands Duty None
6.6 Climate Change None
6.7 Risk None
6.8 Customer Services None
6.9 The Rights of the child
(UNCRC)
None 
Kirsty Flanagan
Section 95 Officer
4 June 2024 
Councillor Ross Moreland, Policy Lead for Finance and Commercial Services 
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 – Overall Revenue Budget Monitoring Statement 2023-24
Appendix 2 – Department 2023-24 Outturn Summaries 
For further information contact Anne Blue, Head of Financial Services
anne.blue@argyll-bute.gov.uk

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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL - SUMMARY OF ACTUAL AND BUDGET COMPARISON 2023/24 Appendix 1
Actual
2023/24
Budget
2023/24
Council Tax
Income
Ringfenced for
SHF
Unspent Grant
monies
Third Party
Contributions
CHORD DMR School
Carry
Forwards
Previous
Council
Decision
Existing Legal
Commitments
Scottish
Government
Initiatives
Energy
Efficiency
Fund
Piers and
Harbours
Surplus
Electric
Vehicle
Charging
Surplus
Fleet - Timing
Delay
Hermitage
Park
NEW Unspent
Budget
Previously
agreed
Adjusted
Budget
2023/24
"Real
Variance" 
(Over)/
Underspend
Comment
Expenditure £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
Chief Executive's Unit 1,155,011 1,168,944 7,736 0 0 1,161,208 6,197 Outwith reporting criteria
Executive Director (Douglas Hendry) 139,307,911 143,099,843 1,167,084 0 644,837 57,176 1,212,012 20,000 139,998,734 690,823 Underspend is largely due to one off historic water
rate refunds. There were also delays in recruitment
and staffing underspends within Cleaning, ELC
and across Legal and Regulatory Support.  Within
the Scheme of Develoved School Managament,
previous amounts carried forward were not fully
utilised. These are partially offset by overspends
within Commercial Cafes and Residential School
Accommodation.
Executive Director (Kirsty Flanagan) 58,610,514 61,562,691 2,235,569 232,604 120,596 1,335,720 37,445 342,408 57,258,349 (1,352,165) Overspend due to reduction in income in Piers &
Harbours, additional Fleet costs across the service,
increased staff costs for Pupil Transport,
unrealised Depot Saving, increased electricity
costs for Street Lighting, additional Car Parking
Maintenance costs and a reduction in TRO income
in Roads.  These overspends have been partially
offset by an over-recovery of vacancy savings due
to delays in recruitment combined with funding for
ferries previously internally funded and slippage on
Route Optimisation Project.
Weather related incident costs (not
covered by Bellwin)
839,000 0 0 (839,000) Costs associated with weather incident that could
not be claimed through the Scottish Government
Bellwin Scheme.
Joint Boards 1,318,703 1,396,371 1,396,371 77,668 SLA payments to Joint Boards for 2023/24 were
lower than available budget
Other 11,584,462 11,708,484 0 124,491 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11,583,993 (470) Outwith reporting criteria
Service Concessions (40,869,000) (4,831,000) 35,658,000 (40,489,000) 380,000 Council agreed on 22 February 24 to transfer
£0.380m from the Service Concessions one off
gain (Priorities Investment Fund) to the unallocated
general fund.
Social Work 77,604,909 77,604,909 77,604,909 (0) Outwith reporting criteria.
Total Expenditure 249,551,510 291,710,241 0 3,534,880 232,604 120,596 644,837 57,176 0 1,212,012 20,000 1,335,720 0 0 37,445 36,000,408 248,514,563 (1,036,947)
Funding
AEF & NDR Income 225,642,006 224,854,386 787,620 225,642,006 0
Council Tax 61,908,860 59,301,000 2,575,067 61,876,067 32,793 The level of Council Tax debt recovered after court
summons was £33k more than anticipated.
Budgeted/withdrawn from Earmarked
Reserves
27,286,334 27,286,334 27,286,334 0
Supplementary Estimates Approved 8,000 8,000 8,000 0
Budgeted Contribution to General Fund
Balance
(18,500) (18,500) (18,500) 0
Total Funding 314,826,700 311,431,220 2,575,067 0 0 0 0 787,620 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 314,793,907 32,793
Under/(Overspend) before Loans
Fund 65,275,189 19,720,979 2,575,067 3,534,880 232,604 120,596 644,837 57,176 0 1,212,012 20,000 1,335,720 0 0 37,445 36,000,408 66,279,344 (1,004,154)
Loans Fund 8,614,463 19,720,979 5,174,000 14,546,979 5,932,516 Increased level of interest received on investments
combined with reduced borrowing costs resulted in
an improved position in excess of £3m compared
to previous year. Significant slippage in the capital
programme in 2022-23 resulted in lower principal
repayments in 2023-24 than anticipated. There
was also a one-off gain of £0.870m as a result of a
discount received on the early repayment of loans. 
Overall Under/(Overspend) 56,660,726 0 2,575,067 3,534,880 232,604 120,596 644,837 57,176 0 1,212,012 20,000 1,335,720 0 0 37,445 41,174,408 51,732,365 4,928,361
NEW Unspent Budget Proposals 3,200,000
Revised Under/(Overspend) after proposed unspent budget earmarkings 1,728,361
Adjustment for Funds Earmarked in General Fund Reserve

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REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING 2023-24 - DEPARTMENTAL OUTTURN SUMMARIES (including Social Work) Appendix 1 Appendix 2
Department Service Actual
2023/24
Budget
2023/24
Council Tax
Income
Ringfenced
for SHF
Unspent Grant
monies
Third Party
Contributions
CHORD DMR School
Carry
Forwards
Previous
Council
Decision
Existing
Legal
Commitments
Scottish
Government
Initiatives
Energy
Efficiency
Fund
Piers and
Harbours
Surplus
Electric
Vehicle
Charging
Surplus
Fleet - Timing
Delay
Hermitage
Park
NEW Unspent
Budget
Previously
agreed
Adjusted Budget
2023/24
(Over)/
Underspend
Variance %age Comment
Expenditure £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
Chief Executive's Unit Chief Executive 1,155,011 1,168,944 7,736 1,161,208 6,197 0.53% Outwith reporting criteria
Chief Executive's Unit Total 1,155,011 1,168,944 0 7,736 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,161,208 6,197 0.53%
Executive Director (Douglas Hendry) Executive Director (Douglas Hendry) 423,043 526,689 526,689 103,646 19.68% Over-recovery of vacancy savings
due to delays in recruitment.
Executive Director (Douglas Hendry) Head of Commercial Services 11,769,965 11,992,862 7,114 0 20,000 11,965,748 195,783 1.64% One off historic water rate refunds
and staffing underspends within
Cleaning service, partially offset by
overspends within Commercial Cafes
and Surplus Properties.
Executive Director (Douglas Hendry) Head of Education 106,648,921 109,781,816 1,116,210 0 644,837 1,212,012 106,808,757 159,836 0.15% Underspend within ELC and unspent
DSM carry-forward, offset by
overspends within Schools and
Residential Accommodation.
Executive Director (Douglas Hendry) Head of Legal & Regulatory Support 20,465,983 20,798,477 43,760 57,176 20,697,541 231,558 1.12% One off historic water rate refunds,
staffing underspends within
Procurement and Legal services.
Executive Director (Douglas
Hendry) Total
139,307,911 143,099,843 0 1,167,084 0 0 644,837 57,176 0 1,212,012 20,000 0 0 0 0 0 139,998,734 690,823 0.49%
Executive Director (Kirsty Flanagan) Executive Director (Kirsty Flanagan) 237,787 1,011,720 1,011,720 773,933 76.50% Over-recovery of vacancy savings
due to delays in recruitment
combined with funding for ferries
previously internally funded and
slippage on Route Optimisation
Project.
Executive Director (Kirsty Flanagan) Head of Customer Support Services 9,212,172 9,366,051 12,800 9,353,251 141,079 1.51% Staffing underspends combined with
underspends on software
maintenance.
Executive Director (Kirsty Flanagan) Head of Development & Economic
Growth
8,864,853 11,237,380 2,195,179 232,604 120,596 8,689,001 (175,852) -2.02% Overspend on homeless
accommodation and costs of
enforcement action in Environmental
Health combined with income under-
recovery for Fish Exports partially
offset by additional income in
Transportation policy.
Executive Director (Kirsty Flanagan) Head of Financial Services 6,837,595 7,070,849 27,590 144,408 6,898,851 61,256 0.89% The underspend is mainly due to
underspend in staffing costs.
Executive Director (Kirsty Flanagan) Head of Roads & Infrastructure
Services
33,458,106 32,876,691 1,335,720 37,445 198,000 31,305,526 (2,152,580) -6.88% Overspend due to reduction in
income in Piers & Harbours,
additional Fleet costs across the
service, increased staff costs for
Pupil Transport, unrealised Depot
Saving, increased electricity costs for
Street Lighting, additional Car
Parking Maintenance costs and a
reduction in TRO income in Roads.
Executive Director (Kirsty
Flanagan) Total
58,610,514 61,562,691 0 2,235,569 232,604 120,596 0 0 0 0 0 1,335,720 0 0 37,445 342,408 57,258,349 (1,352,165) -2.36%
Total Departmental Expenditure 199,073,436 205,831,478 0 3,410,389 232,604 120,596 644,837 57,176 0 1,212,012 20,000 1,335,720 0 0 37,445 342,408 198,418,291 (655,145) -0.33%
Funds carried forward to 2024/25

Page 10

Department Service Actual
2023/24
Budget
2023/24
Council Tax
Income
Ringfenced
for SHF
Unspent Grant
monies
Third Party
Contributions
CHORD DMR School
Carry
Forwards
Previous
Council
Decision
Existing
Legal
Commitments
Scottish
Government
Initiatives
Energy
Efficiency
Fund
Piers and
Harbours
Surplus
Electric
Vehicle
Charging
Surplus
Fleet - Timing
Delay
Hermitage
Park
NEW Unspent
Budget
Previously
agreed
Adjusted Budget
2023/24
(Over)/
Underspend
Variance %age Comment
Social Work Chief Officer Integration (22,453) 711,310 711,310 733,763 103.16% The underspend is due to an over-
recovery on vacancy savings
combined with underspends on
centrally held funds, printing &
stationery and postages. The final
reserve transfer of £165k to balance
overall budget position for Social
Work is included within this service
area.
Social Work Head of Acute and Complex Care 19,692,853 19,829,884 19,829,884 137,032 0.69% The forecast underspend reflects
known demand for Residential
Placements in the Learning Disability
(LD) service and staff vacancies in
Addictions and Mental Health teams.
This is partially offset by overspends
on LD Supported Living and Respite
and MH Supported Living and
Residential Placement budgets.
Social Work Head of Health and Community Care 41,385,226 39,660,364 39,660,364 (1,724,861) -4.35% The overspend reflects the demand
for external and internal care home
placements and homecare. This is
offset by underspends within the
progressive care centres and
assessment and care management
teams due to staff vacancies.
Social Work Head of Children & Families 16,083,935 16,929,013 16,929,013 845,078 4.99% Underspend due to reduced demand
for Fostering, Adoption and staff
vacancies in the area teams. This is
combined with additional income
received from the Home Office for
Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking
Children. This is all partially offset by
overspends in the Children's Houses
and demand for residential
placements.
Social Work Head of Strategic Planning &
Performance
465,349 474,337 474,337 8,989 1.90% Outwith reporting criteria
Total Social Work Expenditure 77,604,909 77,604,909 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 77,604,909 (0) 0.00%
Weather related incident costs (not
covered by Bellwin)
839,000 0 0 (839,000) 0.00% Costs associated with weather
incident that could not be claimed
through the Scottish Government
Bellwin Scheme.
Total  Expenditure 277,517,345 283,436,387 0 3,410,389 232,604 120,596 644,837 57,176 0 1,212,012 20,000 1,335,720 0 0 37,445 342,408 276,023,200 (1,494,145) -0.54%