Agenda item

To receive a report by the Corporate Team Manager and Head of Resources on progress against the Key Activities and Corporate Indicators listed in the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2015/16 for the period 1st April 2015 to 30th June 2015.

RESOLVED:

 i.  Considered and commented on progress made against Key Activities and Corporate Indicators in the Corporate Plan and current projects, as summarised in Appendix A and detailed in Appendices B and C of the Officer’s report.

ii.  Considered and commented on the Council’s financial performance to the end of June 2015, as detailed in the Financial Performance Monitoring Suite at Appendix D of the Officer’s report.

The Cabinet considered a report by the Corporate Team Manager and Head of Resources (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) and commented on progress against the Key Activities and Corporate Indicators listed in the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2015/16 for the period 1st April to 30th June 2015, and progress on the current projects being undertaken at the Council.

The Cabinet also considered and commented on the Council’s financial performance on revenue and capital spend as at the end of June 2015.

In the absence of the Head of Resources, the Accountancy Manager noted that as at the end of June 2015 the majority of capital projects had not commenced.  Following the Cabinet meeting in February 2015 where it was approved, as recommended by the Finance Governance Board, that the capital programme be reduced by £1.428m, the revised process now required business plans to be submitted to the Finance Governance Board before funds were released.  In future the only capital programmes that would be automatically carried forward from the previous financial year and approved were those where a contractual obligation existed.

It was further noted that the Council was not on target to deliver against the New Homes Bonus.  There was a level of frustration amongst the Cabinet as the three large sites identified within the Local Plan for development all had received planning permission yet there was no sign of significant development on any of the sites in the near future.

It was noted that the report had been well received by all three Overview and Scrutiny Panels and a Project Management Select Committee – 6 Month Review report was due to be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny (Economic Well-Being) Panel in October 2015.

The report presented to the Cabinet included a breakdown of projects including the purpose of the project and comments from the Programme Office as to the current status of each project, allowing for greater transparency and ensured visibility on how the project was progressing.  It was noted that there was now greater consistency in the quality of the Performance Indicator data which had been collected in accordance with standardised procedures.

Having considered the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Panels (Social Well-Being), (Economic Well-Being), (Environmental Well-Being) the Cabinet acknowledged that the Council was in a challenging position.  However, financially it was in a much better position than many other Authorities.  The Cabinet stated that Members and Officers should be proud of the achievements and the progress made against the Council’s ambition of not being reliant on Central Government Funding and it was,

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet

 i.  considered and commented on progress made against Key Activities and Corporate Indicators in the Corporate Plan and current projects, as summarised in Appendix A and detailed in Appendices B and C of the Officer’s report.

ii.  considered and commented on the Council’s financial performance to the end of June 2015, as detailed in the Financial Performance Monitoring Suite at Appendix D of the Officer’s report.