Agenda item

As detailed in the recommendations.

Councillor Aaron Shotton introduced the report which introduced Part 2 of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for the three year period 2015-2018 for the Council Fund.

He explained that Part 1 of the MTFS outlined the financial pressures faced by the Council over the three year period to 2018 because of reductions in funding and increases in pressures such as teacher pension costs.  Workshops had been held to help Members understand the areas of pressure.  The Council was facing a significant challenge on what to do to meet the gap to allow compliance with its statutory duty to provide a balanced budget. 

The Chief Executive provided a detailed presentation which highlighted the following key areas:

·         Our journey thus far

·         What do the next three years look like?

·         An efficient and innovative Council

·         Council Annual Efficiency Targets 2008/09 to 2015/16

·         A low funded Council

·         Our three part strategy

·         Business Plan Efficiency Targets 2015/16-2017/18

·         Corporate Finance Efficiency Proposals 2015/16

·         Funding Pressures for Support and Relief

·         Balancing ambition and risk

·         What next?

He spoke of the risks and explained that two of the three parts of the strategy could be undertaken locally but the third part required an open discussion with WG. 

            Councillor Shotton thanked the Chief Executive, Chief Officer team, Corporate Finance Team and Cabinet Members for their work on the strategy.  Page 22 of the strategy document reported a list of services that were under threat if support from WG was not forthcoming and a considerable amount of work had been undertaken on putting a case forward for consideration by WG.  Flintshire was a low funded Council and this had been acknowledged by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and because of the funding formula Flintshire was ranked at 19^th out of 22 authorities for the amount of funding received.  Despite the low funding, Flintshire was a high performing Council and even though Flintshire had areas of deprivation, other authorities in Wales had larger deprivation areas and the funding formula did not recognise that the Council did all it could with low funding to provide services to residents and perform well in the services it provided.  He suggested that an additional recommendation be included that the MTFS be referred to the County Council meeting on 24^th September 2015 to allow a debate with all Members to take place.  Councillor Shotton also spoke of the need to seek support from local Assembly Members and Members of Parliament to support Flintshire County Council in defending services from austerity cuts.  He spoke of ‘co-operative Councils’ and ‘enabling Councils’ and of the proactive work being undertaken on alternative delivery models and with community groups on Community Asset Transfers.  He reiterated earlier comments on the need for early discussions with WG to seek financial support to close the current budget gap. 

            In speaking of the importance of the MTFS, Councillor Attridge said that without help from WG, facilities such as care homes, leisure centres and Theatr Clwyd could be under threat because of lack of funding.  He felt that the budget cuts were a ‘tipping point’ for the Council and that difficult decisions would need to be made without help from WG.  Councillor Kevin Jones agreed and highlighted the cost of pressures in Social Care and Education.  He commented on predicted cuts in the Revenue Support Grant which could result in the significant reduction or termination of public services provided by the Council.  He accepted that WG did not have any new money but did have a choice of how it spent the budgets that it received.

            Councillor Billy Mullin said that the severity of the situation had been highlighted to Members at the recent workshops.  He agreed that the issue should be considered at the County Council meeting but added that it was important that the public were also made aware of the significant issues faced by the Council.  Councillor Derek Butler commented that the Council did perform well despite being low funded and that Flintshire was a vital and vibrant region.  He suggested that discussions needed to take place with WG about collaboration and sharing of services with neighbouring authorities in England and also about policy changes to allow more of the business rates collected by the Council to be retained by the Council instead of being paid to WG. 

            In welcoming the suggestion by Councillor Butler about retention of business rates, Councillor Shotton referred to a recent meeting he had attended where the issue had been raised.  A scheme in England allowed 100% of business rates from new businesses to be retained locally and Councillor Shotton felt that this option could be explored with WG.  He spoke of information from CIPFA which indicated that the unique situation of the porous border of Flintshire and the high level of traffic movements on the A548 and A55 were not recognised.  Councillor Shotton commented on the historical elements to the large number of individual towns in Flintshire and on the replication of services currently provided in each of these towns.  Many other authorities in Wales had one main town where the services for the whole of the County were provided but this was not the case in Flintshire and the funding formula did not recognise this. 

            Councillor Helen Brown reiterated the comments about the importance of engaging with the public to highlight that Flintshire County Council was one of the lowest funded but highest performing authorities and of the discussions that needed to be undertaken with WG.  The Chief Executive confirmed that some ideas were being developed and referred to the last paragraph in the strategy about calling on local communities to stand up for their local services by working with the Council on new local service models.  Councillor Christine Jones felt that Social Services, which included Adult Social Care, Mental Health and Children’s Services, was struggling with the budget available and suggested that an element of the money given to the National Health Service (NHS) was needed and that this should be discussed with WG Ministers.  She also spoke of the financial implications on local authorities of the Social Services Wellbeing Act which she felt should also be raised with Ministers. 

            In response, Councillor Shotton commented on a review of capacity in the Council’s three care homes and said that if austerity cuts forced the Council to shut the facilities, then this could result in ‘bed blocking’ in hospitals if capacity was not available in the private sector.  He felt that there was a need to develop and understand what the review would say and added that it was important to put together a coherent case for public sector spending.  The Chief Executive spoke of the high occupancy rate of 95% in the Council’s residential care facilities and commented on discussions with the Minister on the review of care home provision in Flintshire. 

            Councillor Shotton proposed an additional recommendation that the MTFS be referred for debate to the County Council meeting on 24^th September 2015; this was duly seconded.         

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the second and concluding part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) titled Meeting the Financial Challenge is adopted for consultation and development as the first step towards setting balanced budgets for 2016-17 and 2017-18;

(b)       That the specific proposals set out for service reform, corporate financing options, and national support and relief, be approved in principle for more detailed consultation and development;

(c)        That early engagement be undertaken with Welsh Government, with the support and involvement of the Welsh Local Government Association as our representative body, on the case for national support and relief as set out in Meeting the Financial Challenge;

(d)       That the Medium Term Financial Strategy be referred for debate to the County Council meeting on 24^th September 2015.