Agenda item

That the County Council approve the recommendation of the Cabinet from its meeting held on 17 February 2015 as set out in section 9 of the Cabinet report attached to the Council report.

In moving the recommendation Councillor Aaron Shotton, the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance, commented on the significant reduction in the Revenue Support Grant for 2015/16 and the three year challenge faced by the Council in the Medium Term Financial Plan to make savings of £50m.  Efficiencies of £20m had been made in the past two years and the requirement to find a further £18.2m of efficiencies in one year had been unprecedented.  A senior management restructure had been undertaken and there was an urgent need to review the delivery of services and a pragmatic approach had been taken to be innovative and efficient.  Councillor Shotton spoke of the difficult decisions that had been taken and added that the worst impacts had been mitigated by the use of £1m of reserves.  The recommendation to approve the budget was seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge. 

                        The Chief Executive introduced the report to provide Members with the recommendations of the Cabinet for the Council Fund Revenue Budget 2015/16.  He also welcomed the Corporate Finance Manager to his first budget meeting as Section 151 Officer and spoke of the exhaustive process that had been undertaken.  The Executive Summary in the report detailed the work that had been carried out in the past four weeks to bring the budget from a gap of £0.777m in January 2015 to the balanced budget presented to Cabinet earlier in the day.    

The Chief Executive and Corporate Finance Manager gave a joint presentation and commented upon the following areas:-

·         Final Budget Position

·         Roles and Duties of Council

·         Closing the Budget Gap Stage 1

·         Outcomes of Overview and Scrutiny

·         Closing the Budget Gap Stage 2

·         Professional Opinions

·         Implementing the Budget

·         Medium Term Financial Plan

The Chief Executive spoke of the six key service reviews that were to be completed and would be referred to Cabinet for a final decision.  Evaluation of the implementation of these reviews would be undertaken by the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee within its Forward Work Programme.  The budget gap in January 2015 had increased to £0.852m as a result of four amended proposals suggested by Overview & Scrutiny Committees which the Chief Executive detailed.  The Corporate Finance Manager highlighted the three key areas which had enabled the Council to achieve a balanced budget as at 11 February 2015.  This included the use of £0.270m of reserves which had not generally been advised in the past but the Corporate Finance Manager was content to support this level of funding on this occasion due to the scale of the financial challenges faced.

            On the Medium Term Financial Plan the Chief Executive explained that a large number of efficiencies had already been identified but that it was expected that at least two more years of ‘cuts’ and efficiencies would be necessary.  There was currently no indication from Welsh Government of the funding for 2016/17 and it was therefore difficult for the Council to predict the level of cuts required.  He thanked the Corporate Finance Manager and his team for their work on the budget and the significant amount of efficiency savings that had been achieved. 

            Councillor Clive Carver sought clarification on the entries for procurement supplier charging, change to the switchboard arrangements and the difficulty that had been experienced in identifying who was who in the new senior management structure particularly as a newspaper article had referred to the previous Head of Finance.  The Chief Executive responded that changes to personnel may have resulted in difficulties in identifying those currently in post but confirmed that the previous Head of Finance was not a consultant to the Council.  On the switchboard arrangements, he explained that a menu would be put in place to allow callers to choose from a number of options which would direct them to the appropriate call-centre or person but that they would still be able to speak to an operator if necessary.  The Chief Officer (Governance) explained that it was proposed that only larger suppliers would be targeted to establish if they could reduce the costs of how they transacted with the Council for payment of their invoices. 

            In referring to the six service reviews which were yet to be completed, Councillor Mike Peers raised concern as to whether efficiencies from these reviews would be achieved.  He added that the balancing of the budget depended on something that had not yet been completed which included reviewing the car parking strategy which he was concerned about.  Councillor Peers welcomed the process that had been undertaken this year to commence earlier discussions with Members on the budget and was pleased that the concerns raised at Overview & Scrutiny Committees had been considered, resulting in some amended proposals.  He highlighted the issue that he had raised in Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee about self-service of waste receptacles and his concern that recycling figures could reduce as a result of imposing this.  He felt that there were a number of issues that needed addressing which could impact on the balancing of the budget.

            The Chief Executive responded that the reviews had been highlighted as they had not yet been completed but initial work on options had been undertaken.  It had to be accepted that there was a degree of risk with these reviews.  The implementation of the reviews would be tracked by the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  He thanked Members for their feedback during the consultation process and concurred that early consultation had been successful. 

            Councillor Nancy Matthews agreed that the reviews not being finalised was a concern but added that she could support the budget if assurance could be provided that the reviews would be tracked by Overview & Scrutiny.  In response, the Chief Executive indicated that the reviews would be determined by Cabinet but added that any significant review was always discussed with the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

            Councillor Hilary McGuill sought assurance that users of the day care service, particularly those at the Melrose Centre, would be transferred to another centre as a group.  She also raised concern as to whether ideas of how to replace the reserves used in this budget were sustainable.  In response, the Chief Officer (Social Services) said that the day care review would be handled sensitively and that alternative services would seek to maintain the friendship links that residents had built at the day care centre that they currently attended.  He also gave assurance that requests from residents would be taken into account when determining which centre they would attend.  On the issue of reserves, the Corporate Finance Manager explained that the overall level of £1m of reserves included in the budget comprised of £0.730m of one off and time limited costs so would not be required in the 2016/17 budget.  The remaining use of reserves to support recurring costs of £0.270m in the context of the overall budget was a modest amount which he was confident could be replenished either within 2015/16 or as part of the 2016/17 budget process through the identification of efficiencies.  The Chief Executive added that it was a small amount in relation to the total Council Fund budget and that it was necessary to use the reserves to avoid service cuts in this budget.  Councillor Aaron Shotton reiterated his assurance that the policy reviews were required and that discussions on the proposals would be undertaken at the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee first.                                                                             

RESOLVED:

That the County Council approve the recommendation of the Cabinet from its meeting held on 17 February 2015 as set out in section 9 of the Cabinet report attached to the Council report.