Agenda and minutes

The Chair reported that there were no items on the agenda that would require the press or public to be excluded from the meeting.

The Chair reported that there were no urgent items that required the Board’s consideration at the meeting.

Councillor Evans declared that he had a disclosable pecuniary interest in item 20 (Outcome of the Consultation and Recommendations on the Learning Disability Offer and the future of In-house Services for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism) as his partner was employed in a care home that would be affected by the proposals.

Councillor Wyatt declared that he had a personal interest in Minute No. 20 (Outcome of the Consultation and Recommendations on the Learning Disability Offer and the future of In-house Services for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism) as his daughter was employed in a care home that would be affected by the proposals.

There were no questions from the press or public.

Consideration was given to a report which outlined the pre-audit revenue, Capital and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) outturn positions for the 2016-17 financial year.

The report detailed the provisions of the original revenue budget and the additional budget allocation agreed by Council in December 2016 to address pressures within Children’s Social Care Services. It was reported that a outturn underspend of £765k against the revenue budget and a total of £1.968m of qualifying expenditure was capitalised, which resulted in a final charge against the revenue budget of £205,244m, which was £2.733m less than the revised budget.

It was reported that the outturn position should be viewed in the context of significant increasing cost and demand for Children’s Social Care Services, the increase in demand for Adult Care Services and the delays in implementing some aspects of the Adult Care Development Programme. Members noted that delivering the overall position necessitated the implementation of a moratorium on all but essential spend through stringent procurement controls and recruitment controls (via the newly established Workforce Management Board) and the concerted efforts of both Elected Members and senior officers in managing the reducing levels of funding at a time of increasing service need, and also the generally good and responsible financial management on the part of budget managers and budget holders.

It was noted that the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) underspent by £7.224m in 2016/17, the outturn for schools (including Declared Savings) was a combined balance of £1.304m, which will be carried forward into 2017/18 in accordance with Department for Education regulations.

It was further reported that the Capital Programme outturn showed an underspend of £9.850m against the estimated spend in 2016/17. That was due to the re-profiling of expenditure on a number of schemes.

Members sought clarification in respect the level of reserves for the Authority and requested reassurance that this was legally compliant. It was confirmed that the Authority did have sufficient reserves and was legally compliant. Furthermore, a review of reserves would be undertaken during the summer of 2017 as part of the budget planning process and the Medium Term Review.

Reference was made to the section of the report concerning the district heating scheme and the problems identifying suitable sites. It was noted that the gross capital budget for District Heating in 2016/17 was £1mand the £409k underspend was due to a number of technical challenges around the implementation of some schemes, causing a delay for a number of months. It was confirmed that, once resolved, the delay would have meant the work being carried out in the winter months and tenants affected would have been without heating for short periods of time. Consequently a decision was taken to defer those schemes until the 2017/18 financial year, so works could be carried out in the summer months.

Members queried the impact of the change in funding from continuing healthcare contributions for Looked After Children to understand the level of impact and the work being done to mitigate the impact. It  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

Consideration was given to a report which detailed the financial position for the Revenue Budget at the end of May 2017 and was based on actual costs and income for the first two months of 2017/18 and forecast for the remainder of the financial year.

It was reported that, as at May 2017, the Council had a forecast overspend on General Fund of £6.9m. The majority of the £24m budget savings approved within the 2017/18 were being achieved, with £11.9m of those savings were directorate budget savings. However, it was reported that, in addition to those budget savings, directorates also had to achieve £5.4m of budget savings in 2017/18 which were agreed in previous budgets. Total directorate savings for 2017/18 therefore were £17.3m. The current position indicated that around £5.3m of those total savings were at risk of not being achieved in the current financial year (and were reflected in the current overspend projection).

It was further reported that work would continue to identify alternative or additional savings in order to maintain a balanced budget position. Management actions would also continue to address areas of overspend. The overall budget position would continue to be monitored closely with regular updates on progress in maintaining a balanced budget position reported regularly through financial monitoring reports.

The forecast overspend should be set against a backdrop of the Council having successfully addressed cost pressures of £138m over the last six financial years and having to save a further £24m in the current year and to deliver an additional £42m in efficiencies and savings in the following two financial years in order to balance the Council’s General Fund Revenue Budget by 2019/20.

It was noted that a significant in-year pressure of £4.880m on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) High Needs Block continued to be an issue. A recovery strategy set in place last year would, however, resolve £3m of the deficit and mitigate the in-year pressure through a series of measures including: a revised Special School funding model; a review of high cost out of authority education provision with a view to reducing cost and moving children back into Rotherham provision where possible; and a review of inclusion services provided by the Council. Whilst the pressure would not directly affect the Council’s financial position, it was considered imperative that the recovery strategy was implemented in order to address the position and avoid any risk to the Council in the future.

It was noted that control over spending was critical to maintaining a robust Medium Term Financial Strategy and avoiding unplanned spending impact on the Council’s reserves. All services would continue to develop mitigating actions and alternative savings to compensate for financial pressures and delays in delivering the full amount of savings.

Having regard to the projected overspend for the current financial year, Members queried the reserves position. In response, it was explained that the whole amount of reserves was set out in the Outturn Report for 2016-17, which was elsewhere on the agenda.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Consideration was given to a report which summarised the extensive works that have been completed as part of the pre-development phase and sought Cabinet’s approval for the development agreement, development programme, and the proposed financial arrangements.

It was reported that the approval of the proposal will allow the Council to proceed with the construction stage, which would deliver new homes across the seven sites in Maltby, Canklow, East Herringthorpe and Dinnington. Work was planned to start on the site start from autumn 2017 with completion of the first phase in summer 2018.

It was noted that the Cluster approach supported the priorities set out in the Council’s Corporate Plan to improve the quality and choice of housing and increase the number of new homes built in Rotherham. Through that approach, the receipts from the sales of the market sale properties would be used alongside the Housing Revenue Account resources to build the Council homes, which supported the Council’s corporate priority to build more social rented homes and was in line with the Council’s Housing Strategy.

Members were in broad agreement that the proposals in the report were very positive and welcomed the approach outlined. It was noted that the Council would effectively operate as a developer, but had been prudent in respect of the financial modelling of the scheme.

Resolved:-

That Cabinet be advised that the recommendations be supported.

(Councillor Evans left the room during consideration of this item.)

Consideration was given to a report which detailed the outcome of the review of the Learning Disability Offer and future of In-House Services for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism, which was considered to be integral to the Council’s overall vision for transforming Adult Social Care. The outcome entailed developing a service that enabled people with a learning disability to:

·         Have the opportunity to get a job and contribute to their community

·         Have the opportunity to choose where they live; and

·         Have access to a good quality health service

·         Be kept safe and protected from all forms of exploitation

·         Access services of the highest quality which make a difference in assisting people to be as independent as possible

·         Offer services that are affordable, are personalised and are what people would want to choose

It was noted that previous reports acknowledged the approach would be a three year improvement journey to ensure the success of the future model and to build on the offer for Rotherham, based on feedback received during the consultation period. It was envisaged that changes would continue until 2020. The steps that had been taken over the previous two years had built on the principles of the Care Act 2014 and the need to enhance the Authority’s offer to move away from an offer of traditional based support to a model which promoted independence for young people and adults. However, it was recognised that some customers with significant and complex needs would require support in a safe and secure environment but optimising their independence wherever possible. In order to achieve this, the Council would work closely with users, family carers, and key partners from the Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group (RCCG), Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humberside Trust (RDaSH) and Health Stakeholders.

It was reported that there would be a focus on timely advice and information, technology and the delivery of improved outcomes for people in more cost effective ways, with an emphasis on what people can do rather than what they were unable to do. In real terms, this would mean that people would have access to enablement services to ensure people’s independence would be optimised as much as possible and this would be to ensure their best outcomes. This would include employment opportunities, leisure opportunities and a real choice as to where and how they lived. The current building based offer of day care, respite and residential care tended to restrict the independence, choice and control of current customers and was not cost effective, although it was still considered that such care remained appropriate in the short to medium term for a small cohort of people with complex needs.

In addition, it was reported that the service spent £21.5 million (2016/17) on Learning Disability Services for approximately 725 people. The proposed new service ‘offer’ would have to be supported by proactive and innovative commissioning.

It was noted that the agreed commissioning approach would ensure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Chair reported that he had received a request to change the date of the next Overview and Scrutiny Management Board from 26 July 2017 to accommodate another meeting. To this end, he proposed that the Board’s next meeting take place on Wednesday 2 August 2017 at 11.00a.m.

Resolved:-

That the date and time of the next meeting be Wednesday 2 August 2017 at 11.00a.m.