(i)            the projected overspend of £3.146m has been mitigated by a £2.144m VAT repayment from HM customs and excise and a £0.229m Local Authority Business Growth Incentive grant which has resulted in a projected overspend of approximately £400,000 after applying a number of ‘corporate health’ adjustments;

     (ii)            a further dividend from Heritable Bank of £195,000 has been repaid, although there was still money outstanding this was currently subject to legal process;

    (iii)            the capital position was outlined and the assessment of year end spend is £95.8m, actual spend on the Capital programme as at end of January 2009 is £62.364m.

    (iv)            the unexpected rejection of the bid for funding a gypsy site within the city was a significant problem, legislation stipulated that a suitable site would need to be created for gypsies. With the rejection of the bid the Council has continued to review its options which could include approaching the Homes and Communities Agency to look at any problems with the bid;

      (v)            there has been no extra funding set aside for the move to Localities, it is expected that the Localities programme would be funded from existing resources;

    (vi)            the spending gap on the capital programme between January and year end was an annual occurrence, the authority continues to improve project management to reduce slippage;

   (vii)            section 106 monies are now placed in a central pot. There is reference to section 106 monies within the overall capital position. It was suggested that to further scrutinise this area would require the presence of representatives from the Development Department;

 (viii)            budget pressures had been identified in Adult Services and Services for Children and Young People, these pressures have been addressed in part by transferring resources from the back office to the front line;

   (ix)            although statistical analysis can help forecasting of where budgetary pressure may be in the future it is not an exact science for example, further high profile cases such as the Baby P case could see further increases in the number of looked after children;

     (x)            which ever party forms the next government there are likely to be deep cuts to public sector spending, the Council will have to make painful decisions with partners on priorities for the city, it is clear that some services the council provides now will need to be cut in the future.

   (xi)            a culture of performance monitoring was being developed by the appraisal process to ensure improvements in service delivery;

  (xii)            the number of temporary staff employed by the council would be made available to members of the board;

(xiii)            the appraisal process has identified areas of development for individual staff, it was unknown what the budget implications would be, the process of the appraisals would contribute to the Council becoming an excellent authority by 2012.

(1)     The relevant Corporate Improvement Priorities score card be provided to each Overview and Scrutiny panel as a standing agenda item;

(2)     A representative from the Development Department and Director for Corporate Support are invited to a future meeting of the board to provide a break down of how section 106 monies have been collected, how they have been spent and how the new tariff system is likely to affect where and when they are spent.