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Provisional Outturn 2019/20

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.

2019/20 Budget

£000

2019/20 Projection

£000

2019/20 Variance

£000

Employee Costs

27,060

26,697

-363

Premises

2,190

2,484

294

Transport

994

1,024

30

Supplies and Services

4,149

4,533

384

Third Party Payments

417

412

-5

Income

-2,628

-2,672

-44

Capital Financing and Interest Charges

3,055

2,759

-296

Total Revenue

35,237

35,237

0

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.

£,000

Arson Reduction

1423

HFSC

223

Phoenix

163

National resilience

141

Firefighters Pension Contributions

1,085

Firelink

416

Total Grant Funding

2,171

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.

Department

Description

2019/20

£000

Capital Programme

2019/20

£000

Provisional Outturn

2019/20

£000

Requested
Rollover

Fleet

Replacement vehicles and Equipment

180

209

0

Operations/ Fleet

Equipment

41

0

0

Facilities

Building upgrades

878

606

278

ICT and Control

System upgrades and associated Works

954

389

338

Total Capital

2,053

1,204

616

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

Well-being Objectives

This report links to NWFRA’s long-term well-being objectives. Funding for the Service benefits the communities of North Wales and ensures there is sufficient investment in infrastructure to enable the service to provide emergency responses and prevention work well in to the future.

Budget

Budget is set annually in accordance with the proposed service delivery which includes emergency response and prevention work.

Legal

It is a legal requirement that the Authority produces the Statement of Accounts in accordance with the prescribed standards

Staffing

None

Risks

Income and expenditure is closely monitored to ensure that deviations from the approved budget are properly identified and reported to Members.

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