Agenda and minutes

There were no Declarations of Interest to report.

There were no questions from members of the public or the press.

Caroline Webb, Senior Adviser, Scrutiny and Member Development, provided an update following the recent sub-group, chaired by Councillor Atkin, looking at the Corporate Plan outcomes and the way that performance was reported.  Two sessions had taken place with staff from the Performance and Quality Team. The first performance report using the format would be submitted in September, 2014.  This would also be included in the Self Regulation Select Commission’s Work Programme going forward.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th January, 2014 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Further to Minute No. 49 of the meeting of the Self Regulation Select Commission held on 9^th January, 2014, Stuart Booth, Director of Financial Services, gave a presentation on the financial challenge facing the Council in setting its 2014/15 budget.

The presentation provided information on:-

·                The financial challenge update on the 2014/15 budget position.

·                Budget summary position 2014/15.

·                Additional proposals supported by Cabinet to close the funding gap.

·                Increasing Council Tax – impact.

·                Impact on households with a Council Tax increase.

·                A summary of the key area of savings.

·                Next steps.

Discussion ensued on the Council Tax figures and if precepts had already been accounted for which had been included in the Council spend, the verification and robustness of risks and assurances that equality impact assessments had been undertaken for the delivery of services going forward, maximisation of income, impact of the budget savings and the delivery of savings in collaboration of key partners and the continuation of safeguarding children and the most vulnerable.

Resolved:-  (1)  That Stuart Booth, Director of Financial Services, be thanked for his informative presentation.

(2)  That the presentation be received and the contents noted.

Further to Minute No. 175 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 5^th February, 2014, consideration was given to a report presented by Stuart Booth, Director of Financial Services, which provided details of progress on the delivery of the Revenue Budget for 2013/14 based on performance for the first nine months of the financial year.  It was currently forecast that the Council would overspend against its Budget by £2.217M (+1.0%). This represented an improvement in the forecast outturn of -£0.882M since the November monitoring report. The main reasons for the forecast overspend continued to be:-

·                The continuing service demand and cost pressures for safeguarding vulnerable children across the Borough.

·                Income pressures within Environment and Development and ICT Services.

·                Continuing Health Care income pressures within Adult and Children’s Services, with concern that this pressure was increasing further.

·                Additional, one-off property costs relating to the continued rationalisation of the Council’s asset portfolio as part of the efficiency drive to reduce operational costs.

·                Some savings targets were currently pending delivery in full in 2013/14.

The moratorium on all except ‘essential’ spend had been in place since 16th October, 2013 and was contributing to the reduced forecast overspend. Services were continuing to explore opportunities to maximise the flexible use of grant funding, whilst ensuring grant conditions were complied with. Further, the recent opening of the offer for staff to apply for Voluntary Early Retirement/Voluntary Severance (VER/VS) was also generating savings which would contribute to both reducing the in-year pressure and potentially contribute to closing the 2014/15 Budget Gap. These savings would become more evident in the next monitoring reports as applications were approved and reflected in the revised forecast outturn.

Meetings were taking place with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) about concerns over access to, and timely payment of, Continuing Health Care income for clients with Continuing Health Care needs. An Action Plan was being developed and updates presented to a series of future meetings between early December and the end of the financial year. As the financial impact of these meetings became clearer, this would be reported through to Cabinet.   

The Select Commission considered each of the key areas of forecasted spend, whether this was an over or an underspend, in turn and asked a number of questions.

Children and Young People’s Services:-

·                Current numbers of looked after children and whether an increase would skew the budget causing an in-year pressure.

·                Vulnerability of young people with mental health issues and their inclusion on adult wards.

·                Complexity of the higher care needs of some children and the impact of this on the budget.

·                Recruitment of foster carers and if they had relevant experience/specialism to work with children with more complex care needs;

·                Raising of specific questions about looked after children at the meeting of the improving Lives Select Commission on 12^th March, 2014 which was being convened to look at this issues and to which an invitation would be extended to all Scrutiny Members of the Council.

Environment and Development  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Resolved:-  That the next meeting of the Self Regulation Select Commission take place on Thursday, 27^th March, 2014 at 3.30 p.m.