PURPOSE OF REPORT

To present the projected revenue and capital expenditure position, as at 27 February 2020.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Authority approved a revenue budget of £35.2m at its meeting on 17 December 2018. The forecast outturn position remains that the Authority will achieve a breakeven against this budget. A budget realignment was approved at the FRA meeting in September 2019.

The Authority approved a capital budget of £3.1m on 17 December 2018. This has been reviewed and revised to £2.1m.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Members are asked to note that the Authority is:

(i)            currently forecasting to fully utilise its revenue budget of £35.2m during 2019/20; and

(ii)           forecasting capital expenditure of £1.2m during 2019/20.

OBSERVATIONS FROM EXECUTIVE PANEL/AUDIT COMMITTEE

This report has not previously been considered by Members.

BACKGROUND

This report provides information on the draft revenue and capital expenditure outturn position for the 2019/20 financial year.

INFORMATION

REVENUE BUDGET

The table below sets out the draft revenue outturn position for the 2019/20 financial year. This details a breakeven position against the budget of £35.237m.

For the 2019/20 financial year, the budget for expenditure relating to employees is £27.060m which represents 77% of expenditure. The draft outturn forecast is an underspend position of £0.363m. The underspend relates to delays in the recruitment of apprentice firefighters and vacancies in wholetime firefighters. During 2019/20 it was necessary to prioritise the recruitment of wholetime firefighters to maintain operational capacity. The recruitment process for apprentice firefighters has commenced and it is anticipated that appointments will be made early in 2020/21.

Premises

The budget for premises is £2.190m and an overspend of £0.294m is projected. Key areas of overspend include utility and refuse collection costs. Fixed wire testing has been completed at all stations and this has resulted in remedial works being required in order to comply with legislation.

Transport

The projected expenditure for transport related costs is £1.02m which is a minor overspend. The overspend is due to the legal requirement to replace tyres in excess of 10 years old on all appliances. The anticipated cost to complete this work in 2019/20 is £32,600. This will also be a budget pressure for future years and will be carefully managed. 

Supplies

The projected expenditure on supplies amounts to £4.533m which is an overspend of £0.384m against budget. This includes increased costs in relation to computer licences, computer maintenance, operational equipment, protective clothing and the cost of liability cover.

Capital Financing

The capital financing budget is £3.055m. The capital financing costs include the charge to revenue for depreciation and also the cost of borrowing. There is an anticipated underspend of £0.296m which reflects the reductions in the 2018/19 capital programme. This forecast anticipates that interest rates will remain at their current level.

Income

The income budget, excluding grants, is £0.457m and the forecast outturn is £0.501m. The increase relates to claims submitted to Derbyshire and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services for assistance provided during the flooding at Whaley Bridge and Doncaster.

Revenue Grant Funding

A breakdown of grant funding for 2019/20, is detailed below.

CAPITAL PROGRAMME

The Authority approved a capital programme of £3.119m. The capital programme has been reviewed and amended to fully reflect projects that are planned to be delivered in year. The revised capital programme is £2.052m.

The provisional outturn for the capital programme is £1.204m.

Further slippage has been experienced in relation to the delivery of the capital programme. Within the Facilities budget delays have been experienced due to the need to retender works. The ICT and Control slippage relates to delays in upgrading the Incident Command and Control System (ICCS) and the all Wales project for the upgrades of mobile device terminals in fire appliances.

It is anticipated that funding will be rolled over to 2020/21, to accommodate this slippage.

IMPLICATIONS