Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Tim Butcher.

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

NiknamHussain declared a personal interest as he worked as a consultant and gave advice to Home to School Transport providers.

Context:         Will the proposed budget for 2010/11 and the medium-term plan for subsequent years enable the Council to continue to provide the level of services expected by Buckinghamshire residents?

Issues to be addressed with each Cabinet Member will include:

1.     The impact of service reductions and efficiency savings

2.     The impact of a possible prolonged economic downturn

3.     The balance of statutory and discretionary service provision

4.     The effect on service delivery of forthcoming reductions in staff due to Transformation

5.     The potential for reducing vacant posts and/or reducing use of agency staff

6.     Major corporate risks affecting services within the portfolio

7.     Performance outturn for 2009/10 and the implications for 2010/11

8.     The adequacy of the capital programme

Background Papers:-

Appendix 1: Revenue Budgets

a) Recommended Revenue Budgets 2010/11 – 2013/14 and 2009/10 approved budget

b)  Detailed breakdown of Council's revenue budget in each year

c) Detailed analysis (for transport portfolio) highlighting the key items that make up the totals for increased income, efficiencies, service reductions and service developments. 

Appendix 2: Capital Budgets

Appendix 3: Quarter 2 Risk Information

Appendix 4: Quarter 2 Performance Information

The Chairman welcomed Mrs Valerie Letheren and Mr Ian Boll Commissioning Manager to the meeting and invited her to provide an overview of her budget situation.

Mrs Letheren made the following points:-

• The capital budget was very tight this year. As there had been an overspend on the Aylesbury Hub by £1.7 million this put pressure on the capital programme and particularly maintenance issues.
• The recent extreme weather caused more damage to roads and potholes which also put pressure on the budget. 6 extra gangs had been employed for 3 weeks to address the potholes caused by the snow which cost £3,000 per gang and this makes 15 gangs altogether.
• There had been a roadslip in Gerrards Cross which cost £200,000.
• The Civil Enforcement Areas had not delivered savings. Work had been undertaken in partnership with District Councils and business plans had been developed. Funding for this initiative was reliant on charging for on-street parking in the third year, however in the Chiltern area residents were not in agreement in having on road parking meters and therefore this impacted on income generated. Options now needed to be considered with District Councils about the best way forward e.g enforcing signs and lines more efficiently. If Councils carried on as they were the County Council would risk up to £1 million overspend in 5 years and the Districts proportionate losses themselves.
• The partnership with Ringway Jacobs had produced savings of 7.5% which was their target for their first year. They had achieved this through a single supplier of professional services (reducing work costs) and in-house delivery so they could deliver more for less.
• Because of pressures the portfolio would have to cut the ‘We’re Working On It’ road maintenance programme by half and this would affect service standards. Concern was raised about the impact this would have on rural areas.
• Maintenance of street lights was also a problem – only £100,000 pa was available for this area when £600,000 pa was required to repair them. The portfolio would need to give careful consideration to how many street lights could be installed in new estates and whether street lights would have to be switched off more often. Many of the 27,000 street lights were now old and needed replacement.
• The Head of Transport had made a calculation that £120 million to bring the roads up to a good standard by resurfacing rather than patching. £4 million had been allocated for next years budget.

During discussion the following points were made:-

Revenue budget

• A Member expressed concern about rural areas and safety issues generally if the grass cutting budget was reduced. The Cabinet Member commented that weed spraying would be more effective next year to control growth as the contract started late this year once weeds had already starting growing.
• In terms of managing the contract with Ringway Jacobs the Strategic Client included 4 Senior Managers and support staff. The Strategic Transport Board made decisions in partnership with Ringway Jacobs and followed the Service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Comments from Members were as follows:-

• There should be a common sense approach to Prudential Borrowing, particularly as borrowing costs were negligible. Undertaken patching work on roads rather than resurfacing them stored up problems for the future e.g legal challenges, long term maintenance costs increases. There should be investment now to reduce pressures.
• It would be helpful to have further information and debate on solutions e.g detail on how £120 million could be used to repair all the roads in the County.
• More strategic solutions should be identified to combat the problems that will be experienced in later years with clearer links between the budget and the corporate plan. However, ideas cost money. A Member suggested looking at other countries and particularly EU funding.
• There should be clear responsibility of where the cost implications fell in relation to client transport when there were policy changes to ensure the best use of taxpayers money.
• Infrastructure was a key priority for this Council and if this was deficient would have serious economic implications for the County. The County has major motorways in its vicinity but there needs to be better access, especially bearing in mind growth areas. The perception of the Council nationally was important to attract quality contractors.
• Low level of maintenance would have safety implications.
• Possible redistribution of the budget amongst portfolios.

These comments would be taken into account in the discussion on the budget overall.

The next Budget Task and Finish Group will be held on 20 January 2010 at 9am in Mezzanine Room 2, County Hall, Aylesbury.

20 January 2010.