Issue - meetings

That the Committee informs the Cabinet that it has noted the Medium term Financial Strategy (MTFS) – Forecast 2019/20 Report and specifically raises concerns at the impact which it might have on the poorest communities in Flintshire.

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced the report to provide an update on the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) – Forecast 2019/20.  He provided background information and advised that the Cabinet report which was appended  provided the first detailed overview of the financial forecast for 2019/20 with further work on forecasting up to 2021/22 to follow.  He reported on the main considerations which were detailed in the report.

The Chief Executive advised that the potential budget gap of £10.6m for 2019/20 remained challenging and referred to the limited options to address the gap.  He commented on the teachers’ pay award and said that a full pay modelling impact report would be brought to the June  meeting.  He said there was a need to encourage a serious national debate in Wales around funding for Education.

Councillor Richard Jones commented on Domiciliary care costs for the terminally ill and asked how many service users were affected.  The Chief Executive said he would pursue this information with the Senior Manager – Integrated Services and Lead Adults. 

In response to Councillor Patrick Heesom’s comments on the impact of the teacher pay award and the need for early representations to be made, Councillor Aaron Shotton referred to the commitment from headteachers and governing bodies.  He said that discussions were continuing in earnest.  Representations had also been made by teacher unions seeking opportunities to start lobbying.  He recognised that Education was a key national pressure.   

  Councillor Mike Peers said there was a lack of detail in the report around the spending requirement and a need to review it.  The Chief Executive commented on the need to detail the allocation of spend to portfolios.

Councillor Paul Johnson said that monitoring of the consequences and the impact of changes to service provision on the residents of Flintshire, and on the poorest communities in particular, was important.  He  asked if impact assessments were being undertaken.   The Chief Executive agreed that an impact assessment would be a useful exercise and explained that an item on the integrated impact assessment model and its application had been included on the Forward Work Programme for the Committee.

In summing up, the Democratic Services Manager asked whether the Committee wished to raise its concerns on the impact the Medium Term Financial Plan might have on the poorest communities in Flintshire.  The Committee agreed to this.  Councillor Patrick Heesom requested that his abstention on the vote be recorded.

RESOLVED: 

That the Committee informs the Cabinet that it has noted the Medium term Financial Strategy (MTFS) – Forecast 2019/20 Report and specifically raises concerns at the impact which it might have on the poorest communities in Flintshire.