Venue: Town Hall, Moorgate Street, Rotherham.
Contact: James McLaughlin, Democratic Services Manager
01709 822477 or Email: james.mclaughlin@rotherham.gov.uk
Items
| No. |
Item |
57. |
Declarations of Interest
Minutes:
There were no declarations of interest.
|
58. |
Questions from Members of the Public and the Press
Minutes:
There were no questions from members of the
public or press.
|
59. |
To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.
Minutes:
The Chair reported that there were no items of
business on the agenda that would require the exclusion of the
press or public.
|
60. |
Budget 2018/19 and Medium Term Financial Strategy Progress Update  PDF 31 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting
and explained that the purpose of the meeting would be to review
income generation and savings proposals from the Strategic
Directors of Regeneration & Environment and Finance &
Customer Services and the Assistant Chief Executive as part of the
budget scrutiny process. A further meeting would be held on 20
December 2017 to review proposals from other Strategic Directors.
|
61. |
Budget Options - Regeneration and Environment PDF 36 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed the Strategic Director of
Regeneration and Environment and other officers, as well as the
Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy, to the meeting.
Members considered the following budget
proposals:
|
Title
|
OSMB Comments
|
Supported
or
Rejected
|
Additional
Actions
|
|
Review of Corporate Health and Safety
(R&E 1)
|
Members received assurances in respect of the
analysis undertaken by the service in respect of the viability of
the proposal
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
Increased income/reduced costs from the Market
Service (R&E 2a)
|
Members sought assurances in respect of what
was empty liability and how much of the £50k and £75k
was attributable to increased income or reduced cost.
Members also queried how the Council would
increase footfall. It was explained there was a broader approach to
this which involved promoting the market, the development of other
schemes and a longer term strategy to redefine the town centre to
bring more people in
|
Supported in principle, subject to additional
clarification being provided
|
Assistant Director for Planning, Regeneration
& Transport to supply information to Members
|
|
Increase fee income from A630 Parkway widening
project for one year only (R&E 2b
– 1)
|
No comments
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
Increase in planning application income or
reduce staffing levels if planning applications do not meet the
additional target (R&E 2b –
2)
|
No comments
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
RiDO –
Deletion of vacant post (R&E
2b)
|
Members sought assurances that there would be
sufficient capacity left within the team if the proposal to delete
a post were to be implemented. It was explained that the focus of
the team was on bigger strategic workstreams rather than lower
level development and it was anticipated that this could be
accommodated
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
Revenue Income Through Property Investment
(R&E 3 – 1)
|
No comment
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
Riverside House Space to Partner (R&E 3 – 2)
|
Members queried whether the proposal was
viable without the landlord’s permission. It was explained
that all such projects carried a degree of risk and the biggest
risk associated with this was that the proposed tenant could find
alternative accommodation. At this stage there was nothing to
formally submit and no plans were in place. Members also sought
assurances in respect of capacity in legal services to expedite any
agreement and the impact on customers in Riverside House. In
response, it was confirmed that there was sufficient resources to
progress the project and that the impact on customers would be
monitored. The proposal was considered to be achievable, but it was
noted that it would not deliver a full year saving in 2018-19
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
Income from Schools for the provision of Asset
Management Services (R&E 3 -
3,4,5,7)
|
Members queried whether this was an activity
that Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) could
deliver in-house and, in addition, whether the Council had
investigated grouping all of the services that could be offered to
MATs into one corporate package. In
response, officers indicated that they ...
view the full minutes text for item 61.
|
|
62. |
Budget Options - Finance and Customer Services PDF 35 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed the Strategic Director of
Finance and Customer Services and the Cabinet Member for Corporate
Services and Finance to the meeting.
Members considered the following budget
proposals:
|
Title
|
OSMB Comments
|
Supported or
Rejected
|
Additional
Actions
|
|
Consolidate Riverside House Customer Services
(FCS CIDS1)
|
No comments
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
To remove the cost of hiring a van for the
Information Governance team to deliver historic paper records to
staff across RMBC (FCS CIDS2)
|
No comments
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
To reduce the Information Governance Team by
one member of staff (FCS CIDS3)
|
No comments
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
Restructure the Management team across the
Digital Service (FCS CIDS4)
|
Members sought clarification as to why the
proposal would deliver the anticipated benefits given the historic
issues with IT in the authority. In response it was confirmed that
the service would be in a stronger position as a result of the
implementation of the proposal. Members sought further clarity in
respect of the number of vacant posts and how long they had been
vacant for. In response, it was confirmed that a large number had
been held as vacant throughout the financial year. Members sought
further information in respect of the reconfiguration of management
in CIDS
|
Deferred
|
Strategic Director of Finance and Customer
Services to provide clarification in respect of the proposal on 20
December 2017
|
|
Revenues & Benefits Service - reduction in
overtime (FCS – Fin 1)
|
Members sought assurances in respect of the
checks and balances in place to prevent the unnecessary payment of
overtime. It was explained that former practices had been
challenged and changes had been made to significantly reduce
overtime since the appointment of the Strategic Director of Finance
and Customer Services. Members also raised the need to move to
e-billing for Council Tax. However, it was also suggested that the
annual waste calendar be issued in the same letter as Council Tax
bills to achieve efficiency on printing and postage
|
Supported
|
That OSMB consider
establishing a task and finish group to review communications to
residents
|
|
Recovery of Housing Benefit Overpayments (FCS
– Fin 2)
|
No comment
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
Staffing savings from the Procure to Pay
service (FCS – Fin 3)
|
Members received assurances that the progress
for purchase orders was managed through an electronic system and
noted the issues that had faced the service in the past two
years
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
Review of Income Collection Arrangements
(CW3)
|
No comment
|
Supported
|
N/A
|
|
63. |
Budget Options - Assistant Chief Executive's Office PDF 31 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
In view of the time taken to review the
proposals from the Strategic Directors of Finance & Customer
Service and Regeneration & Environment, the proposals from the
Assistant Chief Executive were deferred for consideration until
Wednesday 20 December 2017.
|
64. |
Date and time of next meeting
The next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny
Management Board will be held on Wednesday 20 December 2017 at
9.00a.m. at Rotherham Town Hall.
Minutes:
The next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny
Management Board would be held on Wednesday 20 December 2017 at
9.00 a.m. in Rotherham Town Hall.
|