Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest.

(a)       That having considered the stage 2 budget options, the report and options be noted;

(b)       That the remaining stages of the budget process and timescales be noted;

(c)        That the letter to the Cabinet Secretaries for Finance and for Local Government and Public services   and the Resilience Statements be circulated to all Members;

(d)       That the full detail of the assessments of the risks, impacts and consequences of all of the budget options be made available for review in January;

(e)       That the Environment and Education and Youth Overview and Scrutiny Committees be convened in January to review in detail the car parking charges and school budget options respectively, including the risks and consequences of the options, prior to any final decision being taken; and

(f)        That a report reviewing the process for the setting of the annual budget process be prepared for the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee at its meeting on 31^st January 2018.

The Chief Executive introduced thereport to provide the latest financial forecast and to consult with Members on the options for the stage two Council Fund Revenue Budget for 2018/19.

                        The Corporate Finance Manager detailed the provisional settlement which had been received on 10 October, 2017 which had been reported to Members in November, 2017.  Following announcement of the provisional settlement, stage one budget options were approved by County Council on 14 November which reduced the budget gap by £3.1m.  This left a remaining gap of £10.5m, which excluded in-year risks and pressures.

                        The Chief Executive explained that the second stage budget options had been shared at a Member Workshop on 21 November, 2017 and the options had been split into four categories, as detailed within the report.  The Council was mindful of the risks around schools budgets and therefore were considering how to mitigate those risks going forward.  The report also detailed within category 3 the specific asks of Welsh Government (WG) and it was hoped that a meeting with WG would be held before the end of the year. 

            Councillor Ian Dunbar commented on the Apprenticeship Tax Levy and the concern that many companies were not willing to take on any apprentices following the introduction of the levy.  He asked whether any feedback had been received from WG on the Council’s application to recover 50% of the cost.  The Chief Executive explained that the application to WG was specifically to allow the Council to continue to grow the apprenticeship scheme and to employ more graduate apprentices where a gap in need has been identified.

            In response to a question from the Chairman around graduate apprentices, the Chief Executive explained that the employment of graduate apprentices would assist in succession planning and commented on the way in which the scheme had helped apprentices gain successful careers.  

            Councillor Dave Healey appreciated the difficult financial situation the Council had been put in but questioned why stage two budget options had not been submitted for consideration to each of the individual Overview & Scrutiny Committees as this had been the process for considering stage one budget options previously.  He proposed that a report reviewing the process for the setting of the annual budget process be considered by the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee to ensure consistency in the future.  This option was seconded by Councillor Patrick Heesom.  On the options for schools budgets to remain “cash flat”, Councillor Healey raised concerns around the need to protect schools as much as possible and commented on the recent GwE business plan, which had categorised primary and secondary schools as ‘red’ due to the continued impact of austerity.  He felt that the options around schools budgets should be considered by the Education & Youth Overview & Scrutiny Committee as a matter of urgency.

            The Chief Executive agreed that the performance of schools differed across Flintshire and therefore the option was to continue to monitor the impact on schools and provide additional support where critically required and Councillor Aaron  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

There were no members of the public and one member of the press in attendance.