Agenda, decisions and minutes

                        No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2014.

            That subject to the foregoing, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 11 September 2014 had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

Accuracy

Councillor Arnold Woolley referred to the second paragraph on minute 24 and suggested that the words ‘he extent’ should be changed to ‘the extent’.  In referring to the fourth paragraph on the same page, he felt that the word ‘Conservation’ should be changed to ‘Conversation’.  On being put to the vote, the amendments were agreed. 

Councillor Richard Jones indicated that comments from Councillor Peter Curtis and Councillor Billy Mullin had not been included in the minutes.  The Member Engagement Manager explained that the minutes were not a verbatim record and on being put to the vote, the amendments were not agreed.   

Matters Arising

                        Councillor Jones referred to the last paragraph on page 6 and indicated that he had not received the draft Terms of reference for the Task and Finish Group.  The Member Engagement Manager confirmed that this had been sent to Members by email earlier that day.  In response to a further comment from Councillor Jones that his comments about local companies had not been included, the Chief Officer (Governance) explained that this was shown on page 8 and that he had agreed to discuss this further with Councillor Jones following the meeting.       

                        Councillor Paul Cunningham thanked the Member Engagement Manager for the information on the work of the staff in the Flintshire Connects office in Flint in relation to Police issues.    

            RESOLVED:

            That subject to the foregoing, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

            (a)       That the update be received; and

(b)       That the Leader be thanked for the update. 

The Leader of the Council explained that workshops to provide Members with details on the budget proposals were being arranged ahead of the formal budget setting process.  He suggested that the workshops take place during week commencing 27^th October 2014 but appreciated that this was school holidays and may not be convenient for some Members.   

                        Details of the settlement had been received the previous day and the reduction for Flintshire County Council was 3.4% which was in line with the Welsh average.  This meant that there would be a budget gap of £16.4m.  He referred to the work that needed to be undertaken based on demographic and statutory pressures and referred to discussions earlier in the year with the Minister, who had indicated that the reduction in funding could be as high as 4.5%.  The Leader commented on the pressures for Supporting People and Education along with a cut in the Sustainable Waste Grant of 3%.  A briefing note was being prepared for all Members which would provide a breakdown of what the reduction meant for Flintshire.  He felt that it was important that the workshops took place as soon as possible.  He commented on the costs for subsidising of bus services and social care for the elderly and vulnerable. 

                        The Leader explained that departments had been asked to plan for a  30% reduction in funding over three years and it was anticipated that the pressures on service areas would continue.  He referred to the ringfencing of budgets for health care and in referring to a report by the Nuffield Trust, said that it was important for the authority to commission its own report on the pressures being applied to social care.  He provided details of the cuts in funding for leisure, libraries and social care if the 30% reduction was undertaken and said that ringfencing some budget areas could result in larger than 30% reductions in other areas. 

                        The Chief Officer (Governance) advised that a Group Leader’s meeting would be held during week commencing 20^th October 2014 to provide more details on how the work would progress.  It had been suggested that the budget workshops would be allocated during week commencing 27^th October and 3^rd November 2014 to outline the approach and proposals so far.  The formal Overview & Scrutiny budget process would take place during December 2014 or January 2015. 

                        The Chair proposed that the workshops be held during the half term holidays and this was duly seconded. 

                        Councillor Clive Carver sought clarification on the ‘black hole’ referred to in the press.  He also asked about the Flintshire Shuttle Bus and whether it worked exclusively for Flintshire County Council.  The Leader explained that it was a demand led service and that he would provide a response to Councillor Carver following the meeting.  He added that he had not referred to the ‘black hole’ when providing a comment for the media.  He spoke of the 3.4% cut and the pressures of increased costs, which were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

            That the reports be noted.  

            Revenue Budget Monitoring 2014/15 (Month 4)

                        The Chief Officer (People and Resources) introduced a report to provide Members with the latest Revenue Budget Monitoring 2014/15 (Month 4) for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account which was to be submitted to Cabinet on 16 October 2014. 

                        For the Council Fund, the projected net in year non pay expenditure was forecast to be £0.019m lower than budget.  Extensive work had been undertaken to rebase all workforce budgets to reflect the actual new costs arising from the new pay and grading structure following the implementation of Single Status.  Due to the continuation of this significant piece of work, no pay variations were included in the report.  It was anticipated that the rebasing work would be concluded in time for the next monitoring report. 

The variances of £0.622m between months 3 and 4 were detailed in appendix 1 and consisted of an overall net reduction in Social Services, an increase in the anticipated surplus on the Council Tax Collection Fund and variances totalling £0.241m in Central and Corporate Finance.  Section 3.05 detailed the efficiencies and it was currently projected that £8.444m of the £8.84m (96%) would be achieved.  It was reported in paragraph 3.06 that a significant efficiency was included within the Functional Value for Money targets for the administrative support across the organisation.  This was subject to further review and though currently assumed as achievable, it remained an additional risk.  The 2014/15 budget also contained £3.1m of workforce efficiencies.  The Chief Officer (People and Resources) explained that an initial Voluntary Redundancy Programme had identified a number of efficiencies and a second programme had commenced on 1 September 2014 and was running alongside the next phase of the Management Review.  A full analysis was included in appendix 3. 

                        Section 4 detailed the inflation included in the budget and section 5 included the budget assumptions and risks.  It was reported that taking into account amounts needed to be used from the unearmarked reserves and the current projected outturn at month 4, the projected balance on the contingency reserve at 31 March 2015 was £2.960m and this was summarised in appendix 4. 

                        The HRA was projected to have an overall underspend of £0.038m and a projected closing balance at Month 4 of £1.203m which at 4% of total expenditure satisfied the prudent approach of ensuring a minimum level of 3%. 

                        Councillor Richard Jones referred to the changes in the way the Budget Monitoring information had been reported which included much less detail in the  table for the Council Fund latest forecast.  Earlier reports had included the original budget which this report did not.  He also said that non-pay expenditure had not been included as a risk for this period which he felt was a concern and he asked that both of these elements be included in future reports to allow for transparency and easier understanding.  The Chair commented that the detail was included in appendix 1 to the report.  Councillor Jones also felt that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be approved as submitted;

(b)       That an update report on appraisals would be incorporated into the Improvement Plan monitoring report to be submitted to the November 2014 meeting of the Committee; and

(c)        That the Committee agreed to the budget workshops for Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee being held on 27 October and 3 November 2014.      

            The Member Engagement Manager introduced the report to consider the Forward Work Programme for the Committee. 

            He detailed the items which were due to be considered on 13 November 2014 and explained that the Workforce Information update report would also be submitted to that meeting.  The Member Engagement Manager advised the Committee that a letter had been sent to invite them to a meeting of Housing Overview & Scrutiny Committee to consider Welfare Reform rather than both Committees considering it separately. 

The People Strategy workshop which was due to be held on 20^th October 2014 would now be held in November or December.  The Chief Officer (People and Resources) explained that it had been postponed due to the ongoing work on the business plan process. 

The Member Engagement Manager explained that it had been agreed by the Leader and Chief Executive that budget workshops were to be held during week commencing 27^th October and 3^rd November 2014.  He would discuss possible date options with the appropriate Chairs of Committees and suggested that the workshop for Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee be held on 27^th October 2014. 

Councillor Richard Jones asked that an update on appraisals be submitted to the November 2014 meeting of the Committee prior to the full report being considered in February 2015.  The Chief Officer (Governance) indicated that the information would be included in the Performance Monitoring report which was to be submitted to the November 2014 meeting.  

            RESOLVED:

(a)          That the Forward Work Programme be approved as submitted;

(b)       That an update report on appraisals would be incorporated into the Improvement Plan monitoring report to be submitted to the November 2014 meeting of the Committee; and

(c)        That the Committee agreed to the budget workshops for Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee being held on 27 October and 3 November 2014.       

There were no members of the public or press in attendance.