Meeting documents

Apologies were received from;

Mr B Chapple- Mr C Harriss, Deputy Cabinet Member, attended as substitute

Mr W Whyte - Ms J Teesdale, Deputy Cabinet Member, attended as substitute

Lin Hazel - no substitute present

Mr M Shaw - Mr P Irwin, Deputy Cabinet Member, attended as substitute

Ms S Ashmead - Ms L Forsythe, Deputy Monitoring Officer and Corporate Governance Lawyer, attended as substitute

Ms R Shimmin - Mr N Gibson, Executive Director TEE, attended as substitute

None.

The minutes of the meeting held on 08 January 2018 to be agreed as an accurate record and signed by the Leader.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2018 were agreed to be a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Cabinet’ attention was brought to the following;

·         The Transportation portfolios were aware that roads around the County were not in the best condition currently.  It was advised weather conditions were hindering the pothole repairs. Cabinet were asked to note that this would continue to be a priority over the next few months. All were reminded to continue to report potholes on the website.

·         The County Council continued to be engaged with the Department for Transport and Highways England in delivering improved transport routes between Oxford and Cambridge as well as consulting with local residents to continue to provide services.

None.

For Cabinet to consider the Forward Plan

The report was noted by Cabinet.

The report was noted by Cabinet.

For Cabinet to consider the Select Committee Work Programme

Cabinet highlighted that content for future Finance, Performance and Resources (FPR) Select Committee meetings had not been outlined in the work programme. It was confirmed by Mr D Watson, Chairman for the FPR Committee, that the recommendations outlined in the budget scrutiny report would inform the content for future select committee meetings. Details would be finalised at the FPR Select Committee meeting in March 2018 and the work programme would be updated.

The report was noted by Cabinet.

To be considered by Cabinet

Mr D Watson, Chairman of the Finance, Performance and Resources (FPR) Select Committee attended the meeting to present the report. During discussion points were highlighted as follows:

• 12 recommendations had been devised following the budget scrutiny exercise, as outlined in the report.
• Recommendation 10, E-book Pilot Study; Cabinet noted that E-books were already provided within the library service and therefore were unclear why a pilot study was required. This would be explored in more detail outside of the meeting.

ACTION: Mr Watson

• Recommendation 10, Home to School Transport provision; Cabinet were concerned about phasing out all non-statutory transportation provision and noted it was important that parents were consulted before any service was removed. It was agreed that any change in service would be implemented in phases.
• Recommendation 12, Weed spraying of footways; Cabinet agreed that this continued to be a problem across the County, it was noted that the difficulty in removing such weeds was due to the chemicals required being used in the public domain, as legally organisations were only able to use certain resources to dispose of the weeds. It was suggested that further investigation would be required to determine other options to remove, potentially linking up with District Councils when sweeping pathways and gullys.  
• Recommendation 11, Gully Survey; Cabinet noted that although Gully clearing was part of the flooding issue, there was often a knock on effect from water pooling elsewhere, in ditches and land drainage which would need to be taken into account.   
• It was highlighted that funds had been allocated in the budget (£300k previously plus a further £125k to deal with such issues as gully cleaning/ jet patching of roads) which would help to address the issue. Gully cleaning information was also available via the Transport for Bucks Members Portal.
• Recommendation 3, Liason between County Council and District Council when budgets overlap; It was noted the recommendation asked for a more coordinated approach to financial planning at County Council and Distrcit Council levels when relating to the same revenue stream. Cabinet agreed with the recommendation to liaise with District Councils 
• Recommendation 4, Mandatory Exit interviews; the background to this item was that throughout the budget scrutiny exercise there were a number of interim heads of service. The Committee had agreed that there should be organisational stability and therefore feedback provided by leavers would be essential to highlight recurring issues to improve retention.
• Recommendation 5, ICT and Digital systems; It was noted that a new Technology Strategy was being developed and that the service were currently recruiting to a new Head of Digital and Director of Digital post.
• Cabinet asked that the report be amended, p65, to state that "81% of the Resources external income came from schools"

RESOLVED: Cabinet responded to the recommendations as follows:

1 - AGREED IN PART

2 - AGREED IN PART

3 - AGREED

4 - AGREED

5 - AGREED

6 - AGREED

7 - AGREED IN PART

8 - AGREED IN PART

9 - AGREED IN PART

10 -  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To be considered by Cabinet

Mr J Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources and Mr R Ambrose, Director of Finance and Assets presented the report.  During discussion key points were highlighted as follows:

Revenue Budget

• Draft budget was initially agreed 18 December 2017.
• Provisional Local Government settlement was released 19 December 2017; which highlighted a rise in Council Tax referendum limit from 2% to 3%.
• Budget scrutiny review took place 09 - 12 January 2018; this led to recommendations and extra funding agreed as outlined in the reports pack.
• The report outlined the deteriorating funding position around Children’s and Adults Social Care which resulted in release of corporate contingencies.
• Appendices 1-3 and 5 of the report incorporate all of the above points into consideration in the final proposals being recommended to Council for both the Revenue and Capital budgets.
• The Final Local Government finance settlement was released 6 February 2018; this included an additional sum £1.045m to be used for Adult Social Care services in 2018/19 only.
• Appendix 6 highlighted a schedule of fees and charges, which Cabinet would be asked to agree within the recommendation.
• Cabinet noted that whilst the County Council were reluctant to increase the Council Tax, unfortunately this was required to address the enormous pressures within Childrens and Adults Social Care Services. 3% of the rise in Council Tax would be used strictly to address the Adult Social Care pressures and the remaining 2.99% increase would relate to the general increase in line with inflation. Therefore, for 2018/19 the County Council were reluctantly proposing an increase in Total Council Tax of 5.99%.
• It was proposed by Mr N Brown, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health and supported by Mr M Tett that the proposal to implement further reduction in library hours be reversed and that a budget of £105k in 18/19 with full year effect of £140k to be restored, as libraries were an integral service which provided a valued interface with residents.   Following discussion it was agreed funds were available in the budget and could be allocated as outlined above.
• Details on business rates retention were outlined in the report, splits in two-tier areas have yet to be agreed therefore the figures in the budget remained an estimate.

·         It was advised that during pilots other Councils had experienced 50/50 splits, 60/40 splits and 70/30 splits in favour of the County Council.

Capital Budget

• An unexpected pressure of £3.4m had risen relating to the Stoke Hammond bypass.
• The budget for the Aylesbury library project had risen due to unforeseen  electrical works which were required. 
• Resources budget; £14.5m over 4 years had been allocated for ICT to ensure fit for purpose ICT system and to provide a robust and secure system, able to embrace new technologies.
• Within the education and skills portfolio  large amounts of money had been spent, from central Government grants, contributions from developers as well as  the County Council. The restriction of funding from the County Council would result in it proving difficult to provide enough school places  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To be considered by Cabinet

Mr J Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources and Mr R Ambrose, Director of Finance and Assets, presented the report. During discussion key points were highlighted as follows:

Revenue Budget

• There had been a slight forecast underspend of £338k, which masked the forecasts overspends in Health and Wellbeing £1.3m and Childrens Services £1.6m
• A huge amount of work was undertaken within the Health & Wellbeing Portfolio whilst the overspend within Childrens services was due to an increase of looked after children and complex cases. Work was ongoing to manage these pressures.

Capital Budget

• As outlined on page 259 of the report  overall slippage was forecast at just over £20m, with £2m relating to two cancelled programmes. This £2m  would be carried forward into the next financial year.
• As outlined on page 274 of the report there was a forecast General Fund balance of £25m, which was a significant improvement on previous years.
• Cabinet suggested that the traffic light system highlighting pressures be revised as significant slippage is not highlights as a risk.

ACTION: Mr Ambrose

RESOLVED

Cabinet NOTED the current financial position. 

19 February 2018

19 February 2018.