Issue - meetings

Cabinet were asked to consider the recommendations of the Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group which was formed to scrutinise the Draft Revenue Budget 2022/23 and Capital Programme 2022-2026 that Cabinet approved on 6 January 2022.

RESOLVED –

(1)          That the Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group, as well as the supporting Officers, be thanked for their work and subsequent recommendations.

(2)          That Cabinet’s responses to the Budget Scrutiny report 2022 and recommendations, as detailed at the meeting, be noted.

Note: a complete breakdown of the scrutiny recommendations and Cabinet’s responses can be found here.

Councillor R Bagge, Chairman of the Finance and Resources Select Committee (Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group) was unable to attend the meeting. The Leader referred to the recommendations following the intensive budget scrutiny process that had taken place over 3 days in January 2022.  The Inquiry had scrutinised the Draft Revenue Budget 2022/23 to 2025/26 and Capital Programme 2022-2026 which had been approved by Cabinet on 6 January 2022.

The Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group had met in public and questioned each Portfolio Holder on their revenue budget and capital programme proposals with a view to making recommendations to Cabinet for consideration prior to submitting the final budget to Full Council for approval on 23 February 2022.  The public had been able to submit questions via email or social media channels. 

The Inquiry Group had recognised the hard work of members and officers in preparing a balanced budget in light of a number of ongoing uncertainties. Members were aware that issues outside of the Council’s control could change key assumptions significantly, particularly if inflation was higher than 5%, Government funding changes, White Papers came forward significantly changing policy, Covid restrictions were re-introduced at any point, or further lockdowns were enforced. However, having recognised this, the Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group acknowledged that the Council must move forward with the ‘new normal as business as usual’.

The Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group recommendations had been developed from studying the proposed budget and capital programme, and through questioning of each Portfolio Holder.  The report also made a number of observations.  The Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group’s key findings and recommendations were set out in Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report.

The Leader and relevant Cabinet Members summarised their responses to the recommendations. The full detailed responses are available to view on the Council website.

https://buckinghamshire.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=337&MId=16785&Ver=4

1.      The Corporate Plan was currently under review, and the intention was to take a refresh of the Plan to Council later this Spring.

2.      A list of strategies were in development and would be shared with Members on a regular basis. This would include key milestones, although recognising these were subject to change. All strategies would also be included on the Forward Plan which set out the anticipated timing for decision making.

3.      Beyond the Better Buckinghamshire Programme all services should be reviewed and challenged - Cabinet Members would consider the potential of outsourcing on a case by case basis where this could deliver better value and improved customer service, but this was not necessarily always the most appropriate means to secure best value for the Council. The Leader referred to the Council’s waste collection in the North of the County and reported that this was in-house and a very successful service.

4.      Greater visibility to Corporate Contingencies - these would be presented to Cabinet in February to ensure visibility. Furthermore, in 2022/23 quarterly budget monitoring reports to Cabinet would include the status of the contingencies, including details of any that have been released to Portfolio areas.

5.      Running  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8