Agenda item

That the report be noted.              

The Head of Finance introduced a report to provide an update on the Finance Workstream within the Flintshire Futures Programme.  

The Head of Finance detailed the background to the report and explained that the report provided information on progress made on the various projects within the Finance workstream.  Several issues around the aspects within the workstream had developed significantly and were being built into the wider organisational change programme.  The work undertaken on the four areas of the workstream were detailed in the report and the Head of Finance reminded Members that the areas were of a corporate nature and extended beyond the Finance directorate.  New and innovative approaches were being taken to identify ways of funding key capital priorities and a Member-officer board was to be established with the first meeting to be held in June/July 2013 which would consider a wide range of options.  She added that the Capital Programme review would inform the development of a capital strategy.  Significant progress had been made in identifying efficiencies and cost effective internal processes and these were detailed in the report however the work on internal charging processes was yet to be planned.  Stretching existing finance programmes included Invest to Save and income maximisation which had included the introduction of new fees and charges in areas where the Council had not previously done so.  Significant progress had been made in the area of Corporate Debt with the introduction of the Corporate Debt Policy followed by the Fair Debt Policy.  The objective of the Value for Money Strategy was to develop a strategic programme which would enable the Council to be clear about the relative cost and performance of its range of services.  The Head of Finance concluded that this was a significant piece of work. 

Councillor Patrick Heesom welcomed the report and said that there was a need to get the balance right and that the workstream highlighted the concerns raised on the issue of recharging between departments.  He also raised concern about the future funding of public services and he hoped that the local authority could offer a platform to allow the protection of those services. 

The Leader of the Council responded that it was a multi-faceted approach and that each area of the workstreams would be debated and discussed but he reminded Members of the difficult and challenging times ahead.  He said that the Finance Workstream was not just about efficiencies but was about building growth too and added that capital was under extreme pressure.  The Leader referred Members to paragraph 3.04 where it was reported that a specific piece of work to look at possible ways to fund affordable housing was due to be reported to Cabinet in July 2013 and spoke of the aspiration of providing new council housing.  He commented on the need to provide growth and social needs and indicated that a report on the issue would be submitted to a future meeting of Cabinet. 

Councillor Arnold Woolley referred to the challenging review of base budgets in paragraph 3.15 and asked whether the budget process had been based on a base budget or an annual incremental calculation.  The Head of Finance responded that it was a mixture of both adding that there was not a zero based approach for each aspect of the budget but that it was important to have an ongoing challenging review of budgets. 

Councillor Paul Shotton welcomed the high collection rate of monies owed to the Council for business rates and looked forward to the development of the Value for Money Strategy. 

Councillor Alex Aldridge raised concern about the practice to recharge departments within the Council for work undertaken by other parts of the authority.  He welcomed the report as a vehicle for moving forward but commented on the issue of sustainability of provision of services and spoke of the significant challenges ahead. 

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.