Agenda, decisions and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

A presentation will be provided by the Chief Executive and Head of Finance. 

That the presentation be received and the Leader of the Council and officers be thanked for their contribution.

The Chairman welcomed the Leader of the Council and officers to the meeting who were in attendance to provide an overview of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and advise on the ongoing development work. 

            The Leader of the Council thanked the Committee for the opportunity for himself and officers to provide an understanding of the robust plan currently in place to develop the Council’s priorities over the coming weeks/month prior to the announcement of the provisional settlement from the Welsh Government (WG) in October, 2012.  He commented on the National Government Comprehensive Spending Review and the uncertainties around how this would affect the allocation of funding across Wales and the potential financial impact of Welfare Reform.  He said that the presentation to be given by officers would enable the Committee to consider how it played its part in protecting front line services through having a robust financial strategy in place.

            The Chief Executive explained that the MTFS was a critical part of the Council’s overall Governance Plan and set out the financial strategy by which the Council would deliver its vision and strategic objectives sustainably over the medium term.  Its purpose was to enable the Council to plan ahead by identifying where new investment was required, where activity might increase or decrease and which new policies or targets would affect the organisation financially. 

The Head of Finance gave a detailed presentation which covered the following areas:-

·         Background

·         MTFS includes the Financial Plan (MTFP)

·         MTFS Contents

·         Key Financial Objectives of the MTFS

In response to questions on grant funding and the capital programme, the Head of Finance explained that £30M of the Council’s revenue funding was covered by specific grants which were mainly received from the WG to support Council services.  The Leader of the Council explained that grant funding could bring additional revenue implications in the future in order to maintain a service where the grant was no longer accessible.  The Chief Executive said that work was continuing on a development strategy to deal with the disposal of land and assets declared ‘surplus to requirements’ which would increase the resources for the capital programme from capital receipts.     

The Corporate Finance Manager continued with a detailed presentation which covered the following areas:-

• Financial Planning & Operating Principles
• Our Commitment
• Drivers
• MTFP – The Hub of our Forward Planning
• Whose responsibility is it?
• Key to Success Will Be
• What have we got so far?
• Financial Pressures
• Delivering Financial Efficiencies
• Actions Needed
• Outline Timeline
• Achieving Value for Money
• Value for Money Model
• What Next?

In response to a question on collaboration, the Chief Executive provided examples of recent collaborative projects outlining the cash savings from the collaborative projects and the increased efficiency in providing services.  The Leader of the Council said that work was on-going on a regional basis to identify opportunities for future collaborative projects but it was important to ensure that collaborations did not put services at risk and that they were sustainable over the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

                        The meeting commenced at 10.00 a.m. and ended at 11.44 p.m.

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