Agenda item

A verbal update will be provided. 

            (a)       That the update be received; and

(b)       That a letter be sent to Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee, or its equivalent, at Wrexham County Borough Council about a joint meeting to discuss possible savings through collaboration.

The Chief Executive provided a verbal update on the national and local budget position and gave a broad indication of the issues to be discussed at Cabinet on 20 January 2015. 

                        He commented on the discussion that had taken place at the previous meeting about the Chancellor’s Annual Statement and the support provided by the Committee to lobby for Flintshire’s share of the funding.  He advised that a letter that had been requested by the Committee at that meeting had not been sent.  However, a positive meeting had taken place on 19^th December 2014 with Leighton Andrews, the Minister for Public Services, on issues including Community Asset Transfer and what could be done to protect front line services.  Work would be undertaken to establish whether funding for such issues was available from Welsh Government along with applying for any available funding from the balance remaining from the monies referred to in the Autumn Statement. 

                        On the issue of local budget consultation, the Chief Executive thanked Members for their support and explained that the first budget Overview & Scrutiny budget meeting would take place on Thursday, 22^nd January 2015.  He spoke about the budget proposals which had been shown on the Council’s website and the small number of comments received compared to the significant number of ‘hits’ to the website.  The public consultation responses would be available for Members to consider at the budget meetings.  A verbal update and presentation was to be provided to the Cabinet meeting on 20^th January 2015 to provide details on closing the budget gap.  Substantial progress had been made on this issue and the Chief Executive thanked all those who had undertaken work on the budget proposals. 

                        The Deputy Leader echoed the words of the Chief Executive and welcomed the questions submitted by Members and their involvement in the process.  He commented on the Cabinet meeting on 20^th January 2015 and the work that was still ongoing on the budget proposals.  He reminded the Committee that the budget for 2015/16 would also be considered at the County Council meeting scheduled for 17^th February 2015. 

                        Councillor Richard Jones spoke about the national budget position and the extra funding in the Autumn Statement.  He commented on the £40m that was being used for rate relief and was therefore not available for Council’s to apply for to use for other purposes.  He spoke of concerns in the Health Service and suggested that a request be made to WG for funding for specific portfolio areas that the Council wanted to retain.  In response, the Chief Executive said that the Council had not been consulted on the use of the extra funding and he commented on positive discussions with the Director of NHS Wales on the interrelation between health and social care issues. 

                        In response to a comment from Councillor Marion Bateman, the Deputy Leader said that he felt that savings could be made by collaborating with neighbouring authorities even if Councils did not merge.  It was important to protect front line services and he spoke of the discussions and work that needed to be undertaken to assist in this.  The Chief Executive spoke of the Medium Term Financial Plan and the need for Councils to be made aware of indicative funding for future years.  He expressed concern that future cuts similar to those faced this year could result in difficult choices being made.  He commented on the work by the Minister for Public Services on the White Paper for Local Government and his positive comments at the meeting in December 2014 on the future of local government.  The Deputy Leader spoke of a meeting that the Leader of the Council was attending with the First Minister to discuss issues such as Local Government Reorganisation and said that he would be making representations about the need for the Council to receive indicative budget proposals for future years to allow early works on budgets for 2016/17 and the following years. 

                        The Chair asked whether the White Paper would include financial details behind possible mergers between Councils.  The Chief Executive responded that the scope of the White Paper was not yet known but it was anticipated that a significant amount of detail on the governance of Councils would be included but it was not expected to include financial planning.  He spoke of a document published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) on the proposed costs of a Local Government Review and the benefit of cost reductions. 

                        Councillor Robin Guest spoke of the gap between Welsh Government and Local Government and the recent comments about reducing the number of Councillors but increasing the number of Assembly Members.  On the issue of the letter requested at the previous meeting outlining Member’s concerns on hypothecated funding, he raised concern that the letter had not been sent and queried what had changed to make the letter irrelevant.  He also sought clarification on whether the Chair had been involved in the decision not to send the letter, which the Chair confirmed she had not.  The Deputy Leader felt that the Leader would be discussing the concerns that had been raised at the 11^th December 2014 meeting, and therefore what would have been included in the letter, when he met with the First Minister.  He agreed to speak to the Leader and send Members a note about issues that had been discussed at the meeting.  The Chief Executive explained that the concerns had also been raised with the Minister for Public Service when he visited the Leader and Chief Executive in December 2014 but added that a letter could still be sent if the Committee requested it. 

                        Councillor Richard Jones was disappointed that the letter had not been sent and added that WG had had an opportunity to provide some of the additional funding, referred to in the Autumn Statement, to Councils for local choice but this had not been taken.  The Chief Executive said that it was his understanding that the amount for the ‘consequentials’ would be a recurring amount that would be built into budgets and would therefore be available for future years. 

                        Councillor Paul Shotton welcomed the drop-in sessions for Members on the budget proposals.  On the issue of working with Wrexham Council, he suggested that a letter be sent to the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee, or its equivalent, on possible savings that could be made by collaborating.  Councillor Richard Jones suggested that they be invited to a joint meeting to discuss such issues.  The Deputy Leader suggested that a press release be sent out about the suggestion but it was agreed that this not be undertaken.  Following a comment from Councillor Bateman, the Chief Executive confirmed that savings had been identified for collaboration on areas such as Planning, ICT and Human Resources.  Councillor Richard Jones requested that a list be sent to Members of the areas where collaboration with neighbouring authorities was taking place; the Chief Executive confirmed that this was possible.       

            RESOLVED:

            (a)       That the update be received; and

(b)       That a letter be sent to Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee, or its equivalent, at Wrexham County Borough Council about a joint meeting to discuss possible savings through collaboration.