(a)

the estimated revenue overspend was £4.607m as at July 2014; the overall net spend equated to £209.387m against a budget of £204.680m which was a variance of 2.25 percent;

(b)

these figures needed to be taken within the context of setting £16m of management and net transformation savings in 2014/15; on the back of balancing the 2013/14 revenue budget where £17.8m of net revenue reductions were successfully delivered;

(c)

the key pressure points remained in Adult Social Care, where although client numbers were broadly in line with the set budget, the average cost per care package, per client was significantly higher (which reflected the more complex needs of clients that were being supported);

(d)

in addition the number of children within the council’s care was approximately 40 more than the set budget which equated to a projected overspend of £1.45m; a thorough review of all high cost placements was being undertaken and a number of additional actions had been put in place to contain the spend on social care in the current year;

(e)

the projected council overspend had improved b £1.072m from the position reported at the end of May 2014;

(f)

the latest capital programme 2013/14 to 2016/17 stood at £207.670m which had been approved at Full Council on 24 February 2014 (including the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry at £7.445m);

(g)

following the approval of new schemes, re-profiling, variations and the inclusion of future years’ Government grants and other identified income streams (such as increased developer contributions); the revised capital programme for 2013/14 to 2016/17 was £216.398m (an increase of £8.738m).

(h)

following the completion of the high cost placements review, an analysis of the information would be undertaken to ensure that the service was being provided efficiently; once this work had been undertaken decisions could be made on whether further reductions in other service areas would be required;

(i)

the savings identified from the integrated health and adult social care of £1.6m by 2014/15 had been included in the overall figures;

(j)

the delay with the Energy from Waste (EfW) plant had caused a timing delay in the receipt of PFI credits; in addition, the procurement of Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) had resulted in net costs of £720,000;

(k)

an improvement in the overspend had been reported which was currently under £4m.