Agenda item

Report of Assistant Director of Finance (S151 Officer) and Assistant Director Customer Focus

Purpose of report

To report to the committee the council’s forecast financial position and performance at the end of Year 2024-25. 

The full report, as submitted to the 10 June 2025 Executive meeting, is submitted to Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee is responsible for considering the performance aspects of the report (Sections 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5, Appendices 8 and 9). The Budget Planning Committee is responsible for considering the finance aspects.

(Please note that there is no appendix 6)

Recommendations

The Overview and Scrutiny resolves:

1.1     To consider and note the contents of the council’s financial and performance report at the End of Year 2024-25, focussing on the performance aspects.

Resolved 

(1)        That the Council’s End of year performance report for 2024/25 be noted.

(2)        That Executive be recommended to consider how agency staff costs are included in departmental budgets, specifically for Waste Services, to better reflect the need to use agency staff to maintain 'business as usual'.

The Committee considered a report from the Assistant Director – Customer Focus that detailed the council’s performance position at the end of the financial year 2024-2025.

In introducing the report, the Assistant Director – Customer Focus advised that the council had performed well against its objectives, which consisted of 36 Business Plan Measures, 15 Annual Delivery Plan actions, and 25 Equalities Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan activities. Of the 19 business plan measures 11 achieved their year-end target or were within the agreed tolerance, with the remaining eight measures missing their target and ending the year reporting red.

In response to a question relating to indicator BP 1.2.01, number of households living in temporary accommodation, and the possible reasons for the increase in demand, the Assistant Director – Housing & Wellbeing advised that many factors contributed to the increase. These included some landlords leaving the market due to the impending Renters Rights Bill, leading to a reduction in available properties; a static local housing allowance rate that wasn’t keeping pace with rental amounts; ongoing cost of living implications since the pandemic; and more complex cases with health needs being presented.

In response to a question regarding the £0.663m overspend in Environmental Service which was primarily due to an increased usage of agency staff within the waste collection team, the Assistant Director of Environmental Services explained that due to the urgent nature of the service agency staff had to be used to supplement any shortages to enable the service to continue. The service had experienced an increase in sickness absence, including some long term absences, and this had resulted in additional agency staff being required. 

The Corporate Director – Communities added that the way the budget was profiled across the financial year meant that the year-end report always showed the department as having an overspend, due to the fluctuations in agency staff use across the year.

In response to a follow-up question on support available for staff with regular or long-term sickness absence, the Corporate Director – Communities explained that the team worked alongside HR to signpost services and support available via the Employee Support Programme, as well as occupational health where required. 

It was recommended and agreed by Committee that as the use of agency staff within Waste Service was necessary for the service to operate ‘business as usual’, Executive be recommended to consider how agency staff costs are included in departmental budgets.

Resolved 

(1)          That the Council’s End of year performance report for 2024/25 be noted.