Meeting documents

There were no apologies for absence.

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

Michael Brand declared a personal interest as his sister worked for Age Concern.

Adrian Busby declared a personal interest as his wife was Chairman of Rethink, a mental health charity.

Following the examination of the budget in public on 12^th, 20^th and 21^st January 2010, Members of the Task and Finish Group will discuss their findings and formulate recommendations, as the basis of their report to Cabinet on 8 February 2010.

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: None

The Chairman summarised the main points in relation to the budget:-

·         Economic downturn means things will get worse in the next three years

·         Capital budget still very restricted due to lack of government support for borrowing, meaning BCC infrastructure will continue to deteriorate

·         Resident expectations of service delivery are increasing

·         Demographic change means needs of elderly and vulnerable residents are increasing

·         Effect of Baby P case

·         Cabinet Members have huge challenge to deliver the services people expect with limited resources - they did a very good job in presenting the choices they have had to make in service delivery.

Members agreed with these points and made the following comments:-

• Should the level of Council tax be a 2% increase bearing in mind recent pressures?
• What plans could be put in place to help residents do things for themselves, particularly discretionary services e.g. rural areas – if it snows the community could clear pavements and drives.  The Council could look to undertake such work through Local Area Forums (LAFs).
• Resident expectations – the best way to meet them is not to have a high council tax especially on a restricted budget and deliver on statutory services the Council is obliged to provide.
• Council can’t manage an economic downturn.
• Pressure on Councils by external forces e.g. Government announcements on free personal care puts immediate pressure on social services and will residents expect an instant response? It is not properly funded.
• Highest Council tax levied £2,500 a year. £1250 to £1500 – average. Residents should know what they are getting for their money e.g. value of care packages. Communicate to residents the full scope of what the Council does and balance of expenditure.
• Capital budget is very restricted.
• Variance across the portfolio. Allocation of responsibilities in portfolios – make it difficult to challenge some areas.

The Chairman then made the following general comments:-

·         Surpluses in years 2 and 3 undermine overall budget narrative of coping with austerity

·         Public should be provided with more detail about figures "below the line" – transparency is important for effective communication of budget narrative

·         Suggest more realistic medium-term plan is developed in mid-year when some of the macro-uncertainties are resolved

·         Capital budget is largely unplanned – strategy needs to be developed on different funding assumptions.

Members agreed with these points and made the following comments:-

·         There needs to be greater monitoring and planning by Members generally with a 3/6 month review on the overall budget to take account of unexpected pressures.

·         The Council always manage to balance the budget. They were sympathetic towards Cabinet Members in managing the budget in this difficult economic environment.

·         Performance plus (the Council’s performance management software) – Members were looking at figures regularly on performance and risk. The statistics for these meetings were out of date but the Cabinet Member looks at this information weekly. There are performance meetings with the Chief Officer Management Team. OSC Commissioning have this in their terms of reference.

·         Below the line budget information needs to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.