Meeting documents

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 October, 2016, copy attached as an appendix.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 October, 2016, be approved as a correct record.

To consider the attached report.

Contact Officer:  Maryvonne Hassall (01296) 585663

The Committee received a report and presentation on the Connected Knowledge – Technology Strategy 2017-2022 which set out the vision and strategic aims Aylesbury Vale District Council had for its future use of technology and data.

The document was a robust technology strategy and was designed to be the catalyst for technological innovation and change, propelling the Council into the future.  It would provide support and the necessary tools, policies and people, within an environment to help enhance the commercial mind-set and company culture.

The advances we made with our previous five year cloud strategy have created a strong foundation for the next five years. Enabling us to think bigger and more creatively about the challenges and opportunities and how we are best positioned to benefit from them. Primarily we are working to ensure the future happens for us, not to us.

The strategy and its accompanying roadmap set out the necessary detail, the guiding principles and objectives.  It contained the key achievements to meet to ensure that critically important and interdependent milestones were managed to completion. These included:

·                    The creation of the Connected Knowledge platform, a platform data and intelligent systems enabling properly integrated and automated transactions for all customers.

·                    The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI powered voice control, which over time would serve increasingly complex customer demands.

·                    Being 100% cloud software based, it would provide a simplified, lower maintenance Information Communication and Technology (ICT) landscape.

·                    Providing a more strategic approach to what the Council did, including on services provided, who was worked with and what was purchased.

In year 1, the strategy would aim to move more key systems to cloud based software-as-a-service (SaaS), publish new policies and guidance on the use of ICT at the council, have selected partners for the running of the network and telephony, establish strong governance for the execution of the strategy and roadmap.

In year 2, it was the aim to have; a single payroll, Human Resources (HR) and finance system, phased-out desk based telephony with a more mobile solution, create a data and information hub and our staff were consuming all council systems via an Internet browser instead of being dependant on software installed on their computers.  It was also planned to have replaced the current Citrix user computing environment with a lower cost, lower maintenance alternative.

In year 3, the Council would have decommissioned remaining ICT assets in favour of more agile cloud consumption models, used AI and digital voice-control for multiple scenarios, provide commercial services to peers and private sector organisations and considerably reduced the number of software applications used and have successfully integrated the remaining ones.

In year 4 and beyond the aim was to have made home working and remote working the ‘new normal’ for the majority of staff the majority of the time, become one of the smallest tenants of The Gateway Centre.  Staff would deal with high-complexity-high-value demand while AI solutions would meet all other demand.  It was also anticipated that other as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

To consider the attached report.

Contact Officer:  Andrew Small (01296) 585507

The Committee received a report that had been submitted to Cabinet on 8 November and which set out the high level issues facing the Council in developing budget proposals for 2017/2018 within the context of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP).

The current MTFP for 2017/2018 had been agreed by Council in February, 2016.  This had predicted the need to identify £1.6 million of savings in order to balance the budget for 2017/2018, based upon the information available at that time and a set of assumptions around key variables within the budget.  These key assumptions would be revisited and reviewed as part of the budget planning process for 2017/2018 and for the four years thereafter, which made up the MTFP period.

Local government and most of the public sector had been managing the consequences of the Government’s balancing of the public sector funding equation over the last 6 years, whilst at the same time managing the expectations of Vale residents.  With the recent change in Prime Minister and the European Referendum result, there were indications that the Government might soften its stance on austerity.  However, it was currently considered unlikely that this would have any material impact on the targets local government had already been set for the period up to 2019/2020.

Whilst the Government worked to determine its position on Brexit and the implications for austerity longer term, there was likely to be a hiatus.  The New Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 23 November had again confirmed that the need to reduce Government borrowing was unlikely to diminish significantly in the short term and that the Government would not be deviating from the 4 year spending settlement previously announced.

The tone of the report to Cabinet had primarily focussed around the delivery of savings and new income generating targets identified last year.  Members were informed that the budget planning process would follow broadly the same as in previous years and a timetable was submitted.

The on-going work of officers and Cabinet Members under the commercialisation programme to deliver efficiencies, savings and new income again should mean that the process could be condensed.  This was achievable because any strategic choices relating to the level or means of service delivery had already been debated and scrutinised throughout the year and therefore, were not required to be agreed as part of the budget planning process.

The commercialisation programme was being delivered as a 4 year programme of co-ordinated works and services reviews and not as 4 separate annual decision making rounds which presented Members with multiple, equally unpalatable choices around service cuts.  This minimised the amount of decision making required as part of this annual refresh and update of the MTFP.

Members recalled that last year the Government had offered a multi year financial settlement to those councils who wanted it.  Along with the majority of councils across the country, AVDC had opted to accept the offer because of the certainty this afforded.  The Council was awaiting a response to its submission.

With  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To consider the report attached as an appendix.

Contact Officer:  Tony Skeggs (01296) 585273

The Committee received the report on the Council's financial performance for the period 1 April 2016 to 30 September 2016. The current position at the half way point of the year was that the year-end position was showing a contribution from balances of £329,200, which was £238,000 higher than the June position.  The latest Quarterly Finance Digest had been included as an appendix to the Committee report and Members referred to this document whilst considering the report.

The Council had spent £625,795 less on the provision of services than allowed in the budget.  At the same time the contributions from balances had increased due to a few reasons, the main two that were the decision to create a reserve for the Commercial AVDC costs that were being incurred rather than show it against balances and an increase in income.  In the reserves section of the digest (page 14) there was an entry of £1.106m representing the agreed funding of the Commercial AVDC project. This contribution to reserves has been partly offset by an anticipated increase in planning and building control income of around £472,000.

There were a few areas where spend was more than currently budgeted, namely:-

·                    Information Technology, where the cost of agency staff and IT licenses were higher than anticipated.

·                    Industrial / Town Centre Properties, where it was anticipated that income from rents and service charges would be less than expected due to a review of the actual costs for 2014/15 and 2015/16 that were charged and a change in the basis of how the costs are apportioned.

·                    Legal Services, where the contract costs with HB Law continued to be higher than budgeted, particularly around planning advice.

·                    Strategic Finance, which had higher costs as from agency staff and consultants working on the finance staffing review and a working practices review.

·                    Chief Executive’s section, relating to the LGA Conference, training and consultants.

Areas that were currently under budget mostly related to increased income in the areas of Development Management and Building Control plus savings in maintenance costs of the refuse vehicles and the Kingsbury water feature.  Other areas with forecast additional income or reduced costs were Car Parking and Strategic Housing, both of which were expecting increased parking fee income and advertising income, respectively, whereas domestic refuse was expecting reduced costs from a combination of staff and vehicle cost savings.

Budget holders’ were continually asked during the year to review all of their areas and to reforecast their budgets both positively and negatively in order to have as accurate a year end position as possible for the December Digest.

Members were informed that, as already mentioned, it had been decided to move the agreed use of balances for Commercial AVDC Change project to its own earmarked reserve.  The amount of £1,106,000 had been taken from general balances to earmarked reserves to help make the funding of the Change project more transparent and shows a more accurate figure for the level of balances going forward.

As well as the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider the future work programme.  Meetings are schedule as follows:-

·         9 January, 2017 – Budget Scrutiny (proposals for 2017/18), Public Sector Equality Duty

·         6 February, 2017 – Quarterly Finance Digest, Capital Programme, Vale Commerce Business Plan

·         4 April, 2017 – Treasury Management Strategy

·         10 July, 2017 – No items as yet

The Committee considered their work programme for the period up until April 2017.

The agenda items for future meetings would be:-

(i)            9 January 2017 – Budget scrutiny, Public Sector Equality Duty

(ii)           6 February 2017 – Quarterly Finance Digest, Vale Commerce Business Plan, Capital Programme.

(iii)          4 April 2017 – Treasury Management Strategy.

RESOLVED –

That the work programme be agreed, as discussed at the meeting.