Issue - meetings

(a)       That the committee notes the corporate cost pressures and main areas of income and expenditure under review for 2017/18 and supports the proposals;

(b)       That the committee notes the Corporate Services Portfolio Business Plan cost pressures and proposed efficiencies and supports the proposals; and

(c)       That the committee accepts, in principle, the developing strategy for the 2017/18 budget, and the process and timelines for setting the annual budget , in its wider role of corporate financial governance.

The Chief Officer (Governance) introduced the update report on the financial forecast for the 2017/18 financial year, including the budget pressures and main areas of income and expenditure under review for corporate financial stewardship.  The report also set out the budget pressures and proposed efficiencies for corporate services in 2017/18 as the third and final year of the current portfolio business planning cycle.  The budget process was being started earlier in the year to enable all Overview & Scrutiny committees to consider proposals within their respective areas, prior to public consultation later in the year.

The officers delivered a presentation on proposals for the Corporate Services portfolios for 2017/18 together with the ongoing work on corporate financial planning and stewardship.  The presentation covered:

·         Local context

·         Summary of independent review of corporate services

·         Corporate Services comparative analysis

·         Corporate Services - efficiencies and pressures

·         Efficiency targets 2017/18

·         Efficiency statements

·         Resilience statements

·         Summary of corporate cost pressures

Councillor Richard Jones spoke about differences in operating shared services in larger private sector companies and added that the independent review on corporate services could have been undertaken by Welsh Government (WG) for a more balanced view.  He suggested that areas such as Health & Safety, Performance and Quality could be created as shared services with other Authorities in Wales where the same measures applied.  On the comparative analysis, Councillor Jones stressed the importance of focussing on Legal and Finance where value for money, efficiency and resilience were rated as Amber.

The Chief Officer spoke about the expectation for increasing the pace on collaborative working and for the Council to seek out as many opportunities for efficiencies in the meantime.  The purpose of the independent review was to ensure that efficiency opportunities had been maximised whilst recognising that further work could be done.  For example, in ICT, the business model was seen as good practice and significant savings had already been achieved prior to the business planning stage.  There was potential for more income generation, however further cuts would be challenging at this time due to high demand on the service.  To address this, temporary investment had been earmarked to improve working practices and help deliver the necessary efficiencies.

Councillor Marion Bateman asked about the prospect of increased collaborative working if local government reorganisation did not proceed.  The Chief Officer stated that this was the expectation, adding that officers were exploring a range of shared services with other councils including those across the border with England.

Councillor Aaron Shotton reported that there had been an indication from WG that local government reorganisation on a boundary basis would not go ahead.  He suggested that there could be more regional working with perhaps a greater focus on economic activity.

Human Resources & Organisational Design

Whilst Councillor Paul Shotton commended the efficiencies made to date, he raised concerns about the potential impact of further savings.  The Interim HR & OD Manager pointed out that the current model represented leading industry practice and stated her confidence in achieving the proposed savings, however any further  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14