How we managed resources in 2007/08
Service allocations and variations from the approved budget
For 2007/08 the revenue budget was set at £198.2 million. During the year all services are closely monitored to assess their financial performance in relation to their budget allocation and achievements against their service targets. The budgetary control process is continuous throughout the year and examines expenditure and income and compares it to the approved budget. This process highlights any areas where costs may be exceeded or additional income received and provides an early warning to ensure that if necessary appropriate corrective action can be taken. In the main each directorate is expected to meet any unforeseen expenditure by making compensatory savings elsewhere.
The amounts allocated to services is shown below
| Services | Original budget 2007/08 adjusted for service transfers (million pounds) | Latest estimated costs 2007/08 (million pounds) | Variation (reduction) or increase in spend (million pounds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Executive | 12.3 | 12.1 | -0.2 |
| Children's Services | 49.5 | 49.7 | 0.2 |
| Community Health & Social Care | 68.6 | 68.3 | -0.3 |
| Customer & Support Services | 9.0 | 8.9 | -0.1 |
| Environmental Services | 15.6 | 15.1 | -0.5 |
| Housing & Planning | 27.5 | 28.2 | 0.7 |
| Levies and charges | 22.9 | 22.4 | -0.5 |
| Capital financing | 22.4 | 21.9 | -0.5 |
| Inflation/contingency/centrally held items | -8.2 | -8.2 | 0.0 |
| Net cost of services | 219.6 | 218.4 | -1.2 |
| Reversal of capital charges* | -18.5 | -18.5 | 0.0 |
| Contribution from General Fund Reserves | -2.9 | -1.7 | +1.2 |
| Budget requirement 2007/08 | 198.2 | 198.2 | 0.0 |
In 2007/08 the monitoring of the revenue budget has continued to identify significant spending pressures in a number of our services and these have implications for future budgets. In Children’s Services there has been an increase demand for additional agency foster care services and a requirement for additional transport routes needed for special needs children. Adult Social Care services have seen additional demands for care services provided to elderly clients and for people with learning difficulties. In Housing and Planning we have seen pressures on our homelessness service and the level of income has fallen below our budget targets in respect of rents, accommodation charges, markets and building control.
Whilst the above mentioned service increases are considerable they have been more than offset by significant reductions achieved elsewhere in the revenue budget, although these include many factors of a one off nature which will not help to alleviate budget pressures in the long term. Details of the variations are given below: -
| Details of variations | (Million pounds) | (Million pounds) |
|---|---|---|
| Approved budget 2007/08 | 198.2 | |
| Major service variations: | ||
| Children's Services | ||
| - increased costs of home to school transport for special needs children | 0.2 | |
| - continued increase in demand for foster care services | 0.2 | |
| - less than anticiapted increase in the costs of residential care outside placements | -0.2 | |
| Community Health & Social Care | ||
| - pressures on our care services to clients with learning difficulties | 1.1 | |
| - funding of the above pressures from efficiencies including review of individual care packages and use of earmarked reserves | -1.1 | |
| Environmental Services | ||
| - waste disposal - delay in the introduction of the co-mingled recycling service and reduction in refuse disposal costs resulting from a decrease in the amount (tonnage) deposited | -0.4 | |
| Housing & Planning | ||
| - increased accommodation costs | 0.3 | |
| - continued reduction in Markets income | 0.1 | |
| - increased demands on the homelessness service | 0.1 | |
| - Salford Innovation Park & Forum - reduced occupancy levels | 0.1 | |
| Levies & Charges | ||
| - Waste Disposal levy reduction in delay in implementation of waste PFI contract | -0.5 | |
| Capital Financing | ||
| - increased investment income and restructuring of debt and a change in regulations resulting in a reduction in required debt repayments | -0.5 | |
| General | ||
| - non filling of vacant posts | -0.6 | |
| -1.2 | ||
| Change in net contribution from reserves 2007/08 | 1.2 | |
| Outturn budget 2007/08 | 198.2 |
The budget strategy 2008/09 to 2010/11
This page was last updated on 19 March 2008
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