Agenda, decisions and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

1. Council Fund

·         To review the feedback in relation to the proposals for the Council Fund 2015/16 from individual scrutiny meetings held between 22^nd and 26^th January 2015.

2. Capital Programme

·         To consider the proposals for the Capital programme for 2015/16.

That the presentation be received and that the Member’s comments and the responses thereto be incorporated into the budget consultation section of the report to Cabinet on 17^th February, 2015.

The Chair welcomed Members and the contributors to the meeting.

The Leader outlined the budget consultation process to date, which included briefing meetings with Group Leaders and Chairs of Overview & Scrutiny Committees.  Regular updates had been given to Members over recent months and the Leader commented on the unprecedented financial challenges facing all Councils across Wales.  The draft budget report, presented to Cabinet on 16^th December, 2015 highlighted a £16.4m budget gap for 2015/16.  Following intensive work a balanced budget had been achieved.  The risk to frontline services was a unique challenge with no magic formula and no additional money available.

The Leader commented on the consequential revenue provision and briefed Members on his lobbying of Ministers and the Welsh Government (WG).  He expressed his disappointment following the Autumn Statement that no additional funding for service protection was being allocated to Local Government.

Council Fund

            The Chief Executive and Corporate Finance Manager gave a brief presentation which covered the following areas:-

·         Summary of process

·         Member Involvement

·         Background documents shared

·         Whole Council budget position

·         Reserves and balances

·         Revised local position

·         Up to date Strategy position

·         Remaining Strategy actions

·         Final steps in the budget

·         Medium Term Financial Plan review

The Chief Executive, Chief Officer (Social Services), Chief Officer (Community and Enterprise), Chief Officer (Education and Youth) and Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) each gave a detailed presentation on the budget proposals within their respective portfolios, which had been challenged through the Overview & Scrutiny process. 

Capital Programme

            The Chief Executive and Corporate Finance Manager gave a detailed presentation on the following areas:-

·         Core Capital Programme 2015/16

·         Funding the Capital Programme

·         Capital Receipts & Core Programme

·         Allocating the Core Programme

The comments and questions which were raised by Members of the Committee on the presentations, together with the responses given, are detailed in Appendix 1 (attached).

During discussion, the Chair thanked Officers for the openness in which the workshops and verbal updates had been delivered to Members.  She felt members of the public were better prepared for the year ahead.

            RESOLVED:

            That the presentation be received and that the Member’s comments and the responses thereto be incorporated into the budget consultation section of the report to Cabinet on 17^th February, 2015.

There were one member of the public and three members of the press in attendance.