Meeting documents

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 November, 2015, attached as an Appendix.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of 10 November, 2015 be approved as a correct record.

Councillor Mordue

Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Compliance

To consider the report attached as an Appendix.

Contact Officer: Jan Roffe (01296) 585186.

(a)       Decision(s)

That the recommendations of the informal New Homes Bonus Panel, as set out in the Appendix to the Cabinet report, be approved.

(Note: The Committee report can be accessed at http://democracy.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/documents/s2983/NHB%20Decisions%20Report%20Cabinet%20-%20Dec%202015.pdf)

(b)       Reason(s) for Decision(s)

The attached Appendix contains the rationale for the recommendations to Cabinet.

(c)        Alternative Option(s) Considered

            Whether or not to fund the applications and if so, at what level.

(d)       Relevant Scrutiny Committee

Finance and Services.

(e)        Conflicts of Interest/Dispensation(s)

As a Buckingham Town Councillor, Councillor Mordue declared a prejudicial interest in this item as a number of the applications had been submitted by the Town Council.  Councillor Mordue left the meeting whilst this matter was discussed.  The Item was presented by the Leader of the Council.

Members recalled that an informal advisory Panel had been established to consider grant funding applications from Parish/Town Councils utilising funds set aside for this purpose from New Homes Bonus (NHB).  NHB was a national initiative whereby funding from the Revenue Support Grant had been top sliced and allocated to local authorities in proportion to the number of new homes in their area.  The Council’s scheme was designed to help alleviate the impacts of housing growth on local communities.  Twenty per cent of the Government allocation had been set aside for the scheme, which equated to £938,000 being available in 2015/2016, the third year.  In addition, £192,404 had been carried over from the second round of funding, making a total of £1,130,404 available for this funding round.

The advisory Panel had met on 18 November, 2015 and a schedule containing the Panel’s recommendations and rationale was appended to the Cabinet report.  The report also summarised the criteria for the submission and determination of applications.  In total, 13 expressions of interest had been received, 8 of which had resulted in formal applications with a total value of £1,264,826.  The Panel had been unanimous in recommending funding for 7 applications, totalling £1,114,826.

It was reported that if the Panel’s recommendations were endorsed by Cabinet, 99% of the available budget would be committed, leaving £15,578 being carried over into the next funding round.

RESOLVED –

That the recommendations of the NHB Informal Advisory Grants Panel, held on 18 November, 2015, set out in the Appendix attached to these Minutes, be approved.

NOTE:  Councillor Mordue declared a prejudicial interest in this item as a Member of Buckingham Town Council and left the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.

Councillor Sir Beville Stanier

Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste.

To consider the report attached as an Appendix.

Contact Officer:  David Thomas (01296) 585158

(a)       Decision(s)

(1)  That the Annual Health and Safety Performance report, covering the 12 months period up to 31 March, 2015, be noted.

(2)  That the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy 2015 – 2018, attached to the Cabinet report, be approved and adopted.

(b)       Reason(s) for Decision(s)

            To ensure a consistent approach to addressing health, safety and wellbeing risks across the Council.

(c)        Alternative Option(s) Considered

Not to adopt the Strategy.  However this would be inconsistent with the identification by the Council of health and safety as one of the top organisational risks.

(d)       Relevant Scrutiny Committee

Finance and Services.  The Cabinet report has already been considered by that Committee which endorsed the approach being taken.

(e)        Conflicts of Interest/Dispensation(s)

None.

Cabinet received a report submitted also to the Finance and Services Scrutiny Committee on 12 October, 2015, setting out health, safety and wellbeing performance during 2014/15 and a proposed health, safety and wellbeing strategy reflecting the fact that health and safety was one of the top 15 Council risks as identified in a risk management report submitted to Cabinet in October, 2015.  The strategy identified the priorities and work streams for the next three years and the development of annual work plans.

The strategy would also ensure that a consistent approach was taken to addressing health, safety and wellbeing risks across the Council.  AVDC had taken the opportunity to fully embrace "well being" as defined by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, and recognised the importance of having a sustainable work force.  The Scrutiny Committee (whose Minutes summarised the detail of the strategy) had noted the performance report and had recommended adoption of the strategy.

RESOLVED –

(1)  That the Annual Health and Safety Performance report covering the twelve months period to 31 march, 2015, be noted.

(2)  That the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy 2015 – 2018, attached as an Appendix to the Cabinet report, be adopted.

Councillor Mordue

Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Compliance

To consider the report attached as an Appendix.

Contact Officer: Andrew Small (01296) 585507.

(a)       Decision(s)

(1)  That the following, relating to the budget for 2016/2017 and the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), be approved for consideration by the Finance and Services Scrutiny Committee:-

(a)  To take into budget planning the £1.953 million of realised savings as set out in paragraph 4.6 of the Cabinet report (available to view on the Council’s web site).

(b)  To increase Council Tax by an annual amount equal to £2.71 for a Band D property, equivalent to 1.99% from 1 April, 2016.

(c)  To agree to use or contribute to balances any difference created within the budget arising from the Government’s grant settlement figures being different from that assumed within the Cabinet report.

(d)  To agree the revised list of fees and charges attached as Appendix E to the Cabinet report.

(2)  That no change be made in the current year’s level of Band D Special Expenses charge for Aylesbury Town for 2016/2017.

(3)  That a sum of £600,000 be ring fenced from General Working Balances to fund the AVDC change programme and that the Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Compliance be given delegated authority to approve a budgetary framework and allocations form within this sum.

(b)       Reason(s) for Decision(s)

            The Council is required to set a budget for the next financial year and to maintain a financial plan for succeeding years.

(c)        Alternative Option(s) Considered

The Cabinet report contained details of the key elements of choice within the budget proposals.

(d)       Relevant Scrutiny Committee

Finance and Services.  Cabinet’s proposals will be considered by the Scrutiny Committee whose views will be taken into account as part of the formulation of final proposals for recommendation to Council.  As such, Cabinet’s decisions at this stage are not subject to call-in.

(e)        Conflicts of Interest/Dispensation(s)

None.

The report to Cabinet on 10 November, 2015, had set out the context for 2016/17 budget planning and had explained the significant difficulty created by a variety of high value factors, the greatest of which being those associated with retained business rates, further reductions in Government Grant and New Homes Bonus.  The latest report sought to bring together an indication of those factors that could be predicted with some degree of certainty, and proposed a strategy for those factors that could not be predicted at this stage.  The Cabinet report had been written just after the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s spending review statement made on 23 November, 2015, but prior to the announcement of detailed grant allocations for councils.  The report divided the main elements of budget planning between pressures, savings, Government grant and business rates and considered options for Council Tax.  Work would continue on refining the elements of uncertainty between the date of this meeting and Cabinet’s final budget decisions.

Savings and Income Identification Options

As had been set out in the November Cabinet report, the approach adopted for setting the budget for 2016/17 was similar to that followed in recent years and relied primarily on capitalising on the savings achieved via reorganisation and restructuring during 2015/16 in anticipation of the Government Grant reductions.

Since the prospect of significantly reduced Government Grant had first been mooted in 2010/11, the Council had devoted considerable effort and resources to identifying and delivering a smaller net budget requirement.  This had been achieved by reconsidering what it did, what it could do and who should pay.  This work had been badged "New Business Model".  As had previously been mentioned, this had not specifically been about income generation, but had instead been a review of what customers wanted and needed, who was best placed to provide those services, the most efficient and effective way of delivery, who should pay for the service and how much, and potentially for some services, whether they needed to be provided at all.

The work undertaken over the last 12 months in recognition of the forecast financial pressures had delivered significant savings and many of these were already accruing in the current financial year, thereby contributing in part to the current forecast underspend for 2015/16.  This work had been carried out with the expectation that these transformational and efficiency measures would replace the need for a crude annual cost cutting exercise.  This planned response to budget reductions represented a cornerstone of the budget development process.

In addition to the major transformation exercises, a number of other savings had been generated as a result of service managers reviewing budgets for efficiencies and taking the chance to restructure as and when the opportunities presented themselves through natural turnover.  The Cabinet report contained a list of the most significant savings to be incorporated into budget planning.  These totalled £1.93 million.  Of this sum, £1.4 million was attributed to service redesign, restructuring, new income generation or service cessation delivered as part of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.