Agenda item

To consider Item 10

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets presented to Members the Budget Monitoring Report as at the end of September 2021.  Table 1 provided an overview of each directorates budget and forecast outturn.  The current expenditure forecast of £31.456m against a budget of £32.277m resulted in an underspend of £821k.  However, due the additional funding of £329k in relation to protection grants and local tax income guarantee, the Authority would see a net overall underspend of just over £1.1m. Based on current projections, there was no longer a need to use reserves of £1.1m, instead the Authority was projecting an additional underspend of £38k. Any fluctuations in the figure throughout the financial year would be captured and monitored to ensure the use of reserves were minimised and offset against any underspend identified within the expenditure.

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that with the summary of variances being seen within each directorate, the largest underspend was within Finance and Assets, Delivery, Corporate Development and Planning. Within Finance and Assets, a £256k underspend related to a rebate received with relating to a business rates review carried out.  The review carried out by external specialists identified reductions in the rateable value of several stations and was backdated to 2017. The other area with high levels of underspend related predominantly to employee costs. 

Table 2 showed the breakdown of favourable and adverse variances relating to direct employee costs. A higher underspend was shown under wholetime relating to new recruits joining the 2015 pension scheme, replacing existing post holders on the 1992 scheme which had a higher employer contribution rate.  On-call underspend related to activity and training costs.  Underspend seen within Support staff was due to delays in recruitment caused by Covid, and also restructuring taking place resulting in savings in establishment costs.

Table 3 showed the actual spend since March 2020 in relation to the Covid Pandemic and how the Authority had utilised £801k of Covid funding. Funding had been used to cover additional employee costs, protective equipment, and IT upgrades.  The Covid grant had now been fully utilised, and the spend until the end of September was £807k.

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that the Capital Programme budget for 2021/22 was £2.402m. Property capital funds were utilised to carry out planned capital projects as per the condition surveys. The majority of fire appliances and equipment budget would be utilised to purchase red fleet appliances and the related operational equipment. A slippage of £369k had been forecast due to delays in the delivery of 2021/22 fire appliances. The support budget related to ICT hardware purchases and £500k for the WAN/LAN rollout. Scoping works had been completed and hardware requirements agreed which would be installed and completed by the end of September.

A Member asked for the latest update in the efforts to secure precept flexibility.

The Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that since the last meeting, the Budget had been held and Councils had been limited to no more than two percent increase in their precept. As Members were aware, the Authority had been pushing for several years for flexibility to increase the precept by up to £5. The Authority was awaiting the results of the Local Government Finance Settlement, which was where the referendum principles would be finalised. The Local Government Finance Settlement was expected the week commencing Monday 13 December, and a further update would be provided, hopefully, at the next Fire Authority meeting on 16 February 2022.

A Member asked if the underspend on the business rates of £256k was a nett figure.

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised that it was, but stressed it was a one-off payment backdated to 2017.

A Member asked regarding the age of the USAR vehicles, were there any plans to replace them in the future.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that USAR was part of the New Dimensions Programme that the government funded back in 2002/2003. There was a New Dimensions review taking place at present which was looking at a refresh of USAR, and what that would look like in the future. This was due to be delivered in 2024.

A Member asked what the total On Call budget was.

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised that in this report the on-call budget was not broken down and only the variances were reported on. The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets would provide Members with an accurate figure following the meeting.

A Member asked why there was a problem with recruiting on-call firefighters at certain stations.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised Members that the Service was constantly recruiting for on call firefighters, using targeted campaigns when required, and contracts had been changed to second, third or fourth line availability, which was quite unique, so people did not have to live within the five minute turn out time of the station.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised Members that this was not just a local issue, but a national one too. There were some stations within Buckinghamshire, where recruitment was not an issue, which was why there were targeted campaigns for others. The Service had also undertaken some joint work with Oxfordshire and Royal Berkshire around on-call recruitment. There was also a new on-call support manager who was looking at where the Service needed to target and also some future campaigns in specific areas to ensure that demand was met locally.

The Chief Fire Officer suggested that Members receive a presentation from the On Call Manager about the work that was ongoing and the problems and issues currently being faced at the next Executive Committee meeting.

All Members were in agreement.

The Chief Fire Officer advised Members that he was hopeful that the comprehensive spending review would give the Authority a three year view of its finances, for the first time in a number of years, and this would enable the Authority to plan. It had been discussed that Members receive, on a quarterly basis, or whenever there was an update in terms of financial reports, and it would be linked to an update on recruitment and retention. This would give Members a clearer picture of where finance was being spent and in what areas.

The Chief Fire Officer also advised Members that there were unique opportunities within the Service for on-call staff not only to be on a range of contracts in terms of response times, but they also had the opportunity to crew wholetime appliances. Recruitment for on-call staff needed to target specific areas, and on a station-by-station basis. The new Communications Manager had been working really closely with Human Resources, looking at different social media platforms for recruitment, and how to approach different communities.

The Chairman would provide the Head of Human Resources with contact details for Buckinghamshire Business First, to approach regarding on-call recruitment.

RESOLVED –

That the provisional outturn forecast for the Authority as of 30 September 2021 be noted.