Issue - meetings

That the Committee support the portfolio efficiency options, as shown in the report.

            Prior to the introduction of the report, Councillor Patrick Heesom sought clarification on the services now included within the portfolio and asked where questions around funding for Communities for Work and Warmer Homes should be directed.  The Chief Officer (Housing and Assets) clarified that the service areas within the previous Chief Officers portfolio had been disaggregated following her departure.  The Contact Centre and Flintshire Connects service areas now sat within the Chief Officer (Governance) portfolio and would be reported to both this Committee and the Organisational Change Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

            The Chief Officer (Planning Environment & Economy) explained that the service areas under Economy and Regeneration sat within his portfolio and said that he could provide Councillor Heesom with a breakdown of how funding for Communities to Work and Warmer Homes was distributed across the County, following the meeting. 

            The Cabinet Member for Economic Development reported that Communities First did not exist and was now part of Communities for Work which was funded through the Welsh Government (WG).  The work programme for this would be reported to a future committee meeting. 

            The Chief Officer (Housing & Assets) and Chief Officer (Planning, Environment & Economy) introduced a report to advise of the financial pressures and efficiencies identified for the Housing portfolio and parts of the Planning, Environment & Economy portfolio for the 2019/20 budget.  The Committee was advised that that Member workshops were held on 13 and 23 July and 18 September, 2018 where information on the latest local financial forecast in the context of the overall national position was provided.  An additional workshop specifically for the Community & Enterprise Overview & Scrutiny Committee was held on 12 October, 2018 which provided Members with the opportunity to understand the portfolio budgets in more detail and consider the risk and resilience levels of each service area.

The Chief Officer (Housing & Assets) and Chief Officer (Planning, Environment & Economy) provided a detailed explanation around the portfolio pressures and investments, together with the portfolio business planning efficiencies as outlined within the report.     

            The Finance Manager Community Services provided an update on the provisional settlement from Welsh Government (WG) which had increased the budget gap by £1.9m.  Officers were currently working through the detail of the National Government budget announcements and what additional funding could be received by WG as a result. 

            Councillor Heesom asked if the current total budgets of service areas could be shown next to the proposed efficiencies so that Members could make a judgement on whether the proposed efficiencies were acceptable.  He raised concerns around the unachievable efficiency within the Contact Centre and the lack if provision for residents to visit these centres to the west of Flintshire.  He also raised concerns around the high increase in Council Tax that would be needed to meet the funding shortfall.

            The Chief Officer (Planning, Environment & Economy) and Chief Officer (Housing & Assets) provided information on the current total budgets for each of the service areas with proposed efficiencies.  Method statements and resilience statements supporting the 2019/20 budget pressures and efficiency proposals  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32