Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllrs Butcher, Chhokar, Dixon and Fayyaz.

The Chairman noted that Cllr Anthony had resigned from the Council and expressed his thanks for Cllr Anthony’s diligent contribution to the committee.

There were none

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 October 2023 to be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5^th October 2023 were confirmed as an accurate record.

Public Questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee.

The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.

Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

There were none.

To consider the Budget Monitoring Q2 papers as reported to Cabinet on 14 November 2023.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources

David Skinner, Service Director for Finance (Section 151 Officer)

Papers:

Quarter 2 Budget Monitoring Report 2023-24

Appendix 1 – Further detail

Appendix 2 – Portfolio Action Plans

Appendix 3 – Capital Approve Programme

Appendix 4 – Q2 Capital Budget Adjustments and Reprofiling

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Martin Tett, Leader, Cllr John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources and David Skinner, Director of Finance to the meeting.

The Leader introduced the report, making the following key points:

·       The Council had taken finances very seriously and when the 2023-24 Budget had come before the Full Council, it had taken account areas of risk.

·       There was an adverse variance of £15.2 million across all portfolios with a net overspend of £8.6m after taking account of corporate items.

·       The main areas of spend were Children’s Services, Adult Social Care, temporary accommodation and transport for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Every council of a similar size had been struggling to find the budget for statutory services. The Leader had written to Government Ministers to raise his concerns about cost pressures.

·       Action plans had been implemented across all portfolios.

Questions from Select Committee Members were invited. During the discussion, the following points were noted:

· Proposals on the redevelopment of the King George V office in Amersham would be presented to Cabinet shortly and a formal decision would be made. Savings had also been made by consolidating office accommodation, considering the termination of the Capswood office lease and moving out of the Old Library at High Wycombe and the Easton Street offices.

·       The reduction of the Climate Change budget from £35 million to £30 million had been due to several factors, including the variability of the income from the Energy from Waste (EfW) plant.  

·        Members may want to interrogate further the Community Safety variance during the Budget Scrutiny session with the Cabinet Member for Communities in January. Budget reconciliation had been an ongoing exercise and the debt collection process standardised, leading to synergies being realised. For Section 106 and  Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payments, bills had been raised once everything had been agreed. The trigger point for debt recovery action had been the enforcement date. Dates had sometimes moved as housing projects were completed.

·       Out of county placements for children with special needs had provoked discussion and interest from the media and the general public. In some cases, Local Authorities had been bidding against each other for places. Providers of specialist children’s services had been able to command high fees. The Council had been developing in-house provision, three places had been provided and another ten places were planned. Each of the facilities accommodated a small number of children.

·       The budgets for the last two years had been very challenging but income from investments and income generated from the EfW site had helped balance the budget. £4.8 million had been drawn down from the EfW reserve with around £10 million remaining at the start of the year. The EfW income may help balance the budget in future however this reserve was finite and subject to the volatility of energy prices. Cabinet would continue to monitor this situation.

·       Members noted the positive results achieved by the Heath & Wellbeing portfolio and encouraged best practice be shared. In  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Committee will receive a report on progress to consolidate the ICT estate so that duplication is removed, and efficiencies and savings are realised in line with the Better Buckinghamshire programme and to set out progress for the next steps in the Council’s Enterprise Resource Planning journey.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources

Councillor Tim Butcher, Deputy Cabinet Member for Resources

Sarah Murphy-Brookman, Corporate Director for Resources

Tony Ellis, Service Director for ICT

Papers:

Update on the ICT ONE Programme and AURA

The Chairman welcomed Sarah Murphy-Brookman, Corporate Director for Resources, Tony Ellis, IT Service Director and Rachel Shovell, Aura Programme Director to the meeting.

ICT ONE Programme

The Cabinet Member for Resources gave a short introduction to the ICT ONE report, making the following points:

• Consolidating all the Council’s IT systems would bring savings and provide a single, modern platform for the Council.
• The programme would be completed in 2025.
• Project AURA aimed to integrate core finance and HR processes with estimated savings of £2.6 million.

The IT Service Director summarised the project, noting the following:

• The unitary Council had inherited four legacy IT environments, all using different technologies.
• The One programme aimed to provide all staff with the same laptop and login.
• The programme had been delayed by the pandemic which in turn had led to a shortage in transistor chips. IT had needed to provide for the new way of working brought on by the pandemic.
• Six old data systems would be decommissioned.
• A majority of the Council’s IT applications had been rationalised and all applications would be rationalised by 2025.

During the Member discussion, the following points were made:

• The IT department had gained experience in moving network links from King George V House in Amersham. If the Walton Street Office were to close in the future, it would be possible to relocate IT Services.
• The most complex part of the IT One Programme was still ahead however it was not possible to provide a definitive month in 2025 when the project would be finished. Flexibility had been built into the new system and the plan which was constantly being revised.
• One Member congratulated the IT team on the progress made so far and another Member highlighted the importance of cyber training to Councillors. The IT Service Director fully supported working with the Member Development Working Group on this issue.

·       A Member asked if the IT Service had encountered any resistance to standardising IT Applications. The IT Service Director confirmed there was none and that if a service requested a new IT function, there was a vetting process to check whether the requested function was already being provided thereby saving costs.

• The Microsoft platform had been maximised and this had reduced the number of customised packages that services used. If a service requested a new IT function, there was a vetting process to check whether the requested function was already being provided thereby saving costs.

The Chairman thanked the IT Service Director for the report.

AURA

The Corporate Director for Resources made the following points about project AURA:

• AURA has focussed on the Council’s use of SAP, a system which was implemented in 2005 and had undergone signification customisation.
• SAP had been used for the unitary Council’s financial processes making it more complex. The system was old but stable and reliable.

·       There had been a need to investigate the maintenance and possible future replacement of SAP. Also, SAP needed to be made more user-friendly and better able  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To committee will receive an update report on absence and absence management following consideration of a detailed report in April 2023.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources

Councillor Tim Butcher, Deputy Cabinet Member for Resources

Sarah Murphy-Brookman, Corporate Director for Resources

Sarah Keyes, Service Director for HR & OD

Papers:

Update on Buckinghamshire Council Absence Management

The Chairman welcomed Sarah Keyes, Service Director for Resources to the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Resources gave a short introduction to the update report on Absence in the Workplace, noting:

• The Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for sickness days had reduced from 9.0 days per FTE to 8.5 days per FTE for 2023-24. Staff sickness absence had reduced whilst still slightly above the KPI.
• The highest level of sickness absence was in the Adults and Health and Communities directorates but this had reduced. Absence levels in the Deputy Chief Executive and Resources directorates were comparable to absence in the private sector.
• Buckinghamshire Council compared well to other authorities for staff sickness absence.
• In September 2023, 93% of staff had no sickness absence.

The Service Director for Resources made the following points:

• The Council had completed work on reducing sickness absence with other local authorities of comparable size and some levels of sickness absence at the Council had compared favourably with private sector benchmarks.
• There had been a positive impact from HR and Organisational Development (OD) working alongside managers to put in early interventions to lower levels of sickness absence.
• The Council had received awards for its efforts to help employees stay at work.

During the following discussion, the following points were made:

·        A number of Members complimented the report and the progress made.

·        Some Members stated that the Council should aspire to sickness absence levels more comparable with the private sector.

·        There were no specific targets for sickness absence in each directorate however Corporate Directors reviewed absence within their directorates. Once the report was completed, work could be done to compare sickness absence with vacancy levels in each directorate.

·        The Resources team was working to make the reasons for absence as clear as possible. Fewer staff were taking time off for mental health reasons and shorter times were being taken.

·        There had been more illnesses such as colds and covid during the winter months but this was the only effect of seasonality on short-term absence.

The Committee will discuss and agree the budget scrutiny inquiry group proposal.

Papers:

Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group Scoping Paper and Timetable

It was explained that a core group of members from the committee would need to take part in the Budget Scrutiny sessions in January 2024.

Lunch would be provided and any dietary requirements should be given to the Scrutiny Officer.

Action: Members/Chris Ward

There was a short discussion which made the following points:

• In keeping with last year’s arrangement, the Scrutiny Officer had invited Corporate Directors and the Head of Finance.
• The timetable for Cabinet papers would be tight but consistent with previous years.

·       An assumption should be made that Members of the budget scrutiny committee had read the papers in advance and that Cabinet Member introductions should be as streamlined as possible to maximise questioning.

·       Members agreed the budget scrutiny scoping paper.

The Committee will discuss the work programme and note the items for the next meeting.

Contributors:

All Committee Members

Papers:

Work Programme

The Chairman noted that further topics for the work programme may emerge from the budget scrutiny process.

Budget Scrutiny will take place week commencing 8 January 2024.

The next meeting will take place on 22 February 2024.

Thursday, 22^nd February at 2.00pm in The Oculus