Bedford Borough Council says it is confident it will deliver £18.6 million of savings this year, despite a £1.8 million gap, high-risk plans and pressure in Children’s Services.
Laura Church gave the assurance during a meeting of the Finance and Improvement Committee on Wednesday (22 April), after cllr Marc Frost (Conservative, Wixams and Wilstead) questioned whether the council could still meet its target.
Cllr Frost, the council’s portfolio holder for finance and corporate services, said members had “line of sight” on just over £16 million of savings.
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“That feels quite reassuring until you start to interrogate it a little bit [more],” he said.
“A significant proportion of actions by value are ‘red’, I hear what you say about [those projects] that have not started.
“I’d like to see a bit more narrative, really, and mitigation around those things just so we can see what impact they’re going to have.
“I understand that Children’s [Services] is already showing some pressure, and that’s the single biggest risk, I think, to this council.
“We’ve got no shortage of activities, meetings, workshops, spreadsheets, and all the rest of it. What I’m not clear about yet is whether we’ve got evidence that all this is translating into hard-cash savings, and that’s the only thing that matters right now.
“Are you confident that we can still deliver the £18.6 plus the deficit in this financial year?”
Red ratings
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Ms Church replied: “Yes, I’m confident.”
The report presented to the committee said forecast savings currently stood at £16.778 million, leaving an adverse variance of £1.868 million against the approved target of £18.646 million.
The same report said 18 per cent of savings actions were rated Red, 42 per cent Amber, and 39 per cent Green or non-projects.
The report presented to the meeting did not define “red”, “amber”, or “green”, but these are the colours used for the RAG status project management tool.
RAG uses a traffic light system to visually indicate a project’s health or progress. Red indicates significant issues requiring immediate attention, amber signals potential risks or delays, and green means the project is on track.
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Ms Church said the report represented “a point in time” because it was prepared at the beginning of April.
“They were reviewed and challenged by the mayor, deputy mayor and finance portfolio holder on 7 April,” she said.
“That doesn’t mean that we’ve stopped work and are waiting till the next review.
“There is quite a lot of work that is still ongoing to look at both the delivery of the improvement plan and the efficiency savers.”
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A separate report appendix also said there were “significant risks” to achieving the council’s planned savings target.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
