To review performance for quarter 1 2019/20 and the budget outturn.

The cabinet member, finance and corporate services introduced the report. Key points highlighted were:

·         Projected budget position at year end was a £16k under spend, this was an improvement from the same point in the previous financial year;

·         Projected overspend in the children and families directorate reflected an increase in LAC costs but this was balanced out by a projected underspend in treasury management costs due to reduced and delayed borrowing for capital expenditure;

·         There were no corporate risks that remained red after mitigation had been applied;

·         Savings in workforce design in economy and place directorate of £270k still remained to be delivered;

·         The cabinet member would be working with officers to improve the relevance and coverage of metrics as part of the next corporate plan;

·         The persistent level of staff absence in the adults and communities directorate was under active investigation by managers.

In discussion of the report, it was noted that:

·         Expenditure on fastershire was less than planned due to phasing of works to get best value for money, all funds were expected to be spent but might not be fully committed in the current financial year;

·         Reasons for the level of staff absence in adults and communities directorate were being explored but possible factors included pressures of workload, extensive manual handling in some roles and a desire not to pass on illness to vulnerable individuals they were supporting.

Group leaders were invited to give the views of their group. It was noted that it was early in the new administration to make any real judgements but the current performance was satisfactory from a budgetary point of view. Concerns were expressed about the delay in progressing the Waverley House and Hillside projects and whether they still represented value for money. The cabinet member health and adult wellbeing explained that the two projects were on pause and would be reported on in the very near future.

In relation to the progress of the fastershire project, it was noted that active discussions had taken place with Gloucestershire on delivering the last 14% of the rollout and this would be reported on in the next quarter.

It was agreed that:

(a)  Performance and financial outturn for quarter 1 2019/20, as set out in appendices A - G, were reviewed and the Cabinet did not identify any additional actions to be considered to achieve future improvement.