Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

None.

None.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting on 14 September 2023.

That the minutes be approved as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2023 were approved, as moved and seconded by Councillors Attridge and Rush.

Matters Arising

Minute number 25: A response to the request for details on performance indicators in relation to new Council homes, affordable housing and Registered Social Landlord homes under construction remained outstanding.

Minute number 27: It was noted that the cost breakdown for the Delyn Room refurbishment had not yet been shared with the Committee.

On the same minute, reference was made to the remaining earmarked reserves and revenue allocation for the Local Development Plan (LDP).  Councillor Swash raised concerns that the explanation previously given differed from the recent response which stated that the remaining £110K budget in Planning Policy from 2022/23 was not ring-fenced for the LDP in 2023/24.  He and Councillor Ibbotson said that the budget line approved for 2023/24 was for the LDP and that as no further work was planned, details of the remaining allocation should be brought back for Members’ consideration on its purpose.

The Corporate Finance Manager advised that the remaining earmarked LDP reserves from 2022/23 were transferred into contingency reserves as agreed by Members, whereas the response subsequently shared by officers related to the base budget query.  He agreed to include a detailed note in the next budget monitoring report to clarify both elements.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be approved as a correct record.

That the Committee notes the progress which has been made.

The Democratic Services Manager presented an update on actions from previous meetings and advised that the presentation on the work of the Coroner would be included.

The recommendation was moved by Councillors Ibbotson and Attridge.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes the progress which has been made.

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be noted; and

(b)       That the Democratic Services Manager, in consultation with the Committee Chair, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises.

In presenting the current Forward Work Programme, the Democratic Services Manager advised that a further update on the Budget 2024/25 would be included for November.

He advised that the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) training session on Scrutiny Questioning Skills had been well received and would be repeated at a future date, giving an opportunity for other Members to attend.  As requested by Councillor Banks, he would enquire whether the training could be extended to Town and Community Councillors.

On that basis, the recommendations were moved and seconded by Councillors Rush and Marshall.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be noted; and

(b)       That the Democratic Services Manager, in consultation with the Committee Chair, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises.

To receive a verbal update on the current situation on the long term debt with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board since the last report was received.

Information will be shared with the Committee ahead of the meeting.

That the Committee notes the continued proactive budget management of outstanding invoices raised by the Council for payment by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

The Senior Manager (Safeguarding and Commissioning) presented an update on current long-term debt with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) in respect of the delivery of NHS Continuing Health Care packages in Flintshire.  A report on the current position was shared in advance of the meeting.

There were currently no outstanding invoices under one year in age which reflected the improved processes put in place to deal with invoices in a timely manner.  As at 27 September, outstanding invoices totalled £0.456m including £0.183m of invoices one year and over.  Arbitration arrangements were continuing in order to resolve the remaining £0.273m of historic invoices relating to five cases.  She thanked the Committee for giving the matter due attention to reduce the outstanding debt.

In response to a question, the Senior Manager advised that BCUHB contributions were incorporated into financial projections with a follow-up check undertaken to verify receipt of the amounts to ensure accurate budget monitoring.

The recommendation was moved and seconded by Councillors Banks and Thew.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes the continued proactive budget management of outstanding invoices raised by the Council for payment by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

(a)       That having reviewed the cost pressures and options to reduce budgets in Governance, the Committee comments as follows:

·         That the Governance & Audit Committee be consulted on the removal of the vacant post in Internal Audit;

·         That officers review the pressures for the Schools’ IT Technician and Cyber Security Technician to explore the feasibility of (i) uplifting one salary in line with the other to increase resilience by the two posts supporting each other; and (ii) combining the two posts to generate a £32K saving.

(b)       That having reviewed the cost pressures and options to reduce budgets in Corporate Services, the Committee comments as follows:

·         That the Chief Executive and Chief Officer (Governance) liaise with the Chair and Leader of the Council to send a letter on behalf of the Council to the Welsh Government, Home Office and Audit Wales to request the power of precept for the North Wales Fire & Rescue Authority in Flintshire.

(c)       That having reviewed the cost pressures and options to reduce budgets in Assets, the Committee comments as follows:

·         That the Committee does not support withdrawal of the Stonewall membership but accepts that this is included on the list of possible options if required.

The Chief Executive and Corporate Finance Manager presented an update on the additional budget requirement for 2024/25.  The Committee was asked to review the budget pressures and cost reduction options within Governance, Corporate Services and Assets, as detailed in the presentation which covered:

·         Purpose and Background

·         Additional Budget Requirement for the Council 2024/25

·         Ongoing Risks

·         Overall position after initial solutions

·         Cost Pressures and Budget Reductions

·         Next Steps for Budget-setting 2024/25

The minimum budget requirement of an additional £32.386m of revenue resources for 2024/25 took into account a number of ongoing risks including public sector pay, high demand for some services and inflationary pressures which were being monitored.  Taking account of initial solutions would leave a remaining budget gap of £14.042m which presented a major challenge for the Council if there was no movement in the indicative 3.1% uplift in the settlement from Welsh Government (WG).  The presentation highlighted the need for a strategic programme of transformational change to ensure that the Council was developing cost reductions over the medium term to protect its ongoing future financial position and to prepare for inevitable future budget challenges.

Overview & Scrutiny committees were being asked to rigorously review their portfolio cost pressures, efficiency options and associated risks, and to identify any additional areas of cost efficiency.  A summary of outcomes from those sessions would be reported back to this Committee at the November meeting which would be open to all Members.  Following receipt of the provisional settlement on 20 December, Overview & Scrutiny meetings in January would need to consider further budget reductions required to meet the remaining budget gap in order for the Council to meet its statutory obligation of setting a legal and balanced budget in February 2024.

Governance

Councillor Bernie Attridge raised concerns about the impact of the proposed removal of a vacant post in Internal Audit.  The Chief Officer (Governance) explained that the Internal Audit Manager had offered this long-term vacancy as an efficiency following changes within the team structure and that she would fulfil her duty in giving an annual audit opinion based on the level of resources available.

On shared services, the IT Infrastructure Services Manager gave examples of the Council’s participation in a national forum as well as other collaborative work on cyber security.  He said that the Cyber Technician pressure was to support a post that was funded for 2023/24 and advised against a shared post due to the heightened risk around cyber threats in the UK.

Councillor Alasdair Ibbotson asked whether the Governance & Audit Committee had been consulted on the removal of the Internal Audit post and questioned the potential liability of losing the post.

The Chief Officer anticipated no impact on fraud and error cases from the removal of the post as fraud prevention was the responsibility of individual services.  When questioned, he said that this represented a green risk in the resilience of the service as it could reduce capacity for any unplanned work and potentially impact on planned work.  Councillor Ibbotson requested that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

That having considered the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2023/24 (month 5) report, the Committee confirms that there are no specific matters to be raised with Cabinet.

The Strategic Finance Manager presented the 2023/24 month 5 position for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) prior to consideration by Cabinet.

On the Council Fund, the projected year-end position was an operating deficit of £3.660m (excluding the impact of the pay award to be met from reserves) which reflected an overall in-year overspend of £6.387m at this stage.  A contingency reserve balance of £3.027m was reported for year-end (after the estimated impact of pay awards).  To assist with managing the risks and mitigating the overall projected overspend, a moratorium was being imposed through the review and challenge of non-essential spend together with the continuation of the vacancy management process.  The projected position across portfolios was summarised including details of significant variances.

An overview of risks included the estimated impact of pay awards, the latest position on the waste recycling infraction charge and continued high demand for homelessness services and out of county placements.  Based on the current position, it was projected that 99% of planned efficiencies would be achieved by year-end.  An update on earmarked reserves anticipated that remaining commitments for the Hardship Reserve would leave a year-end balance of between £3m-3.2m.  A detailed review of earmarked reserves had identified £0.648m for release to the Contingency Reserve, with the overall breakdown showing an estimated year-end balance of £14.758m.

On the HRA, net in-year revenue expenditure was forecast to be £0.006m higher than budget with a projected closing balance of £3.191m.  This took into account the proportion of the cost incurred for the fleet renewal contract.

In response to queries from Councillor Bernie Attridge, the Corporate Finance Manager advised that in addition to the ongoing review of non-essential spend, officers were currently working on the principles of the moratorium which would apply across portfolios to increase reserves and mitigate the estimated financial impact on the 2023/24 budget.  Clarification was also given on the additional cost for the fleet contract extension which had been reported to Cabinet and was held in a centralised fund by Streetscene.  The Chair commented that each portfolio should assume responsibility for its own fleet.

Councillor Attridge expressed concerns about the significant movement in the budget at this stage and said that a breakdown for each year was needed to identify the root causes, particularly in Social Services.  The frustrations were acknowledged by the Corporate Finance Manager who spoke about forecasting challenges due to volatile demand in some services.

On earmarked reserves, Councillor Alasdair Ibbotson queried the allocations for Flintshire trainees and Solar Farms.  On Organisational Change/Alternative Delivery Models, he asked whether the projected year-end increase would result in any release to general reserves and sought clarity on the expected decrease in reserves for the North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Plan.

Also on earmarked reserves, the Chair referred to some balances which remained unchanged from year to year and queried why they remained on the list when there was no depletion.

The Corporate Finance Manager provided clarity on the amount for Flintshire trainees and would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting as the following item was considered to be exempt by virtue of paragraph 18 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Exclusion of the press and public was moved and seconded by Councillors Bernie Attridge and Allan Marshall.

RESOLVED:

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting as the following item was considered to be exempt by virtue of paragraph 18 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

(a)          That the Committee notes the risk of cyber-attacks against the Council, and endorses the steps taken to ensure that the Council’s computer systems and the data they hold, remain safe and resilient;

(b)          That an email be sent to all Members, advising them to complete the ‘Cyber Ninja’ course by year-end to help reduce the risk of cyber breaches; and

(c)          That officers give consideration to the formation of a Cyber Resilience Strategy.

The Chief Officer (Governance) presented a report to consider the implications of the Audit Wales national report on cyber resilience which had been shared with all local authorities to summarise learning from recent cyber-attacks and the results of follow-up work across Wales.  The report, which did not contain any specific recommendations for Flintshire, had been considered by the Governance & Audit Committee and referred to this Committee for oversight of the risks.

The Chief Officer and IT Infrastructure Services Manager highlighted the key considerations and responded to questions on collaboration work and various policies supporting cyber resilience.

As suggested by the Chair, officers agreed to engage with Audit Wales on the feasibility of developing an over-arching cyber resilience strategy for the Council.

The recommendations, which were amended to reflect the debate, were moved and seconded by the Chair and Councillor Allan Marshall.

RESOLVED:

(a)          That the Committee notes the risk of cyber-attacks against the Council, and endorses the steps taken to ensure that the Council’s computer systems and the data they hold, remain safe and resilient;

(b)          That an email be sent to all Members, advising them to complete the ‘Cyber Ninja’ course by year-end to help reduce the risk of cyber breaches; and

(c)          That officers give consideration to the formation of a Cyber Resilience Strategy.

None.

None.