Agenda and minutes

Councillor Dev Dhillon appointed Councillor Catherine Oliver the Vice-Chairman of the Finance & Resources Select Committee for the 2024-25 municipal year.

Apologies were received from Councillors Bowles, Bracken and Dixon.

There were none.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 July 2024 to be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 18^th July 2024 were agreed as a correct 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 an update report on the council’s overall Capital Programme.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabiner Member for Accessible Housing & Resources

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

The Chairman introduced the contributors:

• Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources
• David Skinner, Service Director for Finance (Section 151 Officer)

The Service Director for Finance introduced the report, explaining that it was a background of progress on the Capital Programme, a summary of the governance which sits around it and details of the investment strategy. The report highlighted the successes and improvements which supported the programme.

The Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources made the following key points:

• In February 2024 the council approved a budget of £666 million, subsequently increased to £675 million to be spent over the next four years. A £199 million spend was allocated to the financial year 2024 to 2025 and the remining £475 million would be spent over the following three years.
• The three portfolios with the largest capital budgets were:

o  Education and Children’s services – spend mainly on new school buildings and the purchase of children’s homes

o  Leader – spend mainly on major road infrastructure

o  Transport – spend mainly on road maintenance

• In the financial year 2023-24, £115 million of the total capital budget had been spent, giving a 94% delivery rate. This was the best performance for minimising capital slippage since the unitary council was formed. No slippage was envisaged for the financial year 2024-25, meaning that a 100% delivery rate was expected.
• Section 4 of the report detailed the top ten programmes by value in the current year, with the first being the Highways Infrastructure Programme at £47.5 million which included the Aylesbury link road and the second being the Strategic Highways Maintenance programme at £22.4 million.

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

• The detail of the breakdown of the budget figures for future year was available in the MTFP and the Service Director for Finance offered to bring this to members’ attention.

Action: Service Director for Finance

• A Member referred to the pie chart on page 16 of the agenda pack, asking if there would be any increase to the S106 funding as a result of new housing developments. The Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources explained that there had previously been a separate Transport Capital Board and IT Capital Board but this had now been subsumed into the Corporate Capital Investment Board (CCIB). The Service Director for Finance added that the report detailed the funding available in the existing capital programme and that additional funding would not be programmed in until the amounts had been confirmed.
• For more detail on sums spent by portfolio to date, it would be useful for the Members to refer to the Q1 Capital Report which showed budgets which had been approved or “released” and those which were “unreleased” and awaiting approval. For allocation, the business case for each spend had to be approved. The Service Director for Finance would circulate a link to the report.

Action: Service Director for Finance

• The Orchard House Ambulance Hub was a property  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee will receive a report on the Better Buckinghamshire Programme detailing progress, improvements, savings and next steps.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources

Richard Ambrose, Service Director for Major Projects

Hannah Thynne, Head of Improvement & Efficiency

The Chairman introduced the contributors:

• Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources
• Richard Ambrose, Service Director for Major Projects
• Hannah Thynne, Head of Improvement & Efficiency

The Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources introduced the Better Buckinghamshire Programme Update, making the following key points:

• The Better Buckinghamshire Programme (BBP) was established in July 2020 with the aim supporting the benefits of the unitary business case and delivering £18 million in savings.
• The last update on the BBP had been presented to the Finance and Resources Select Committee in December 2021. At that point £2.2 million in savings had been delivered despite the challenges of the pandemic.
• Since December 2021, a series of service reviews had taken place to bring the legacy councils together. The remit of the BBP was broadened to include adults’ and children’s services and health services.
• Progress was reviewed in December 2022, leading to a further strengthening of governance. As a result, the membership of the Service Improvement Board (SIB) had been expanded to include senior representatives from all directorates.
• From the reserve, £10.9 million had been spent on the revenue and benefits system, IT projects such as the new web site and consultancy support. An unspent reserve balance of £11.2 million remained, of which £5.6 million was committed but not spent on projects such as the One Uniform programme to unify planning systems, fostering support and further service reviews.
• £5.5 million remained to support delivery of the savings in the MTFP.

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

• A Member noted the £12.228 million savings figure which had been delivered at the end of 2023-24 financial year, shown on page 32 of the agenda pack. The Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources explained that the BBP had been making improvements and efficiencies through a series of service reviews. 35 of the service reviews had been completed and seven were currently in progress.
• The Service Director for Major Projects explained that the format of the report reflected the past three years. The BBP was on track to deliver savings over a number of years and some on these were ongoing, for example office rationalisation. Ongoing annual savings of £18 million were being achieved. The £95 million projected savings figure outlined in the MTFP was separate and required to achieve a balanced budget position in 2024-27.
• A Member asked for detail on the £5.6 million available to the SIB, asking how this could be scrutinised. The Service Director for Major Projects explained that this allocation was being closely monitored by Cabinet Members.
• The Chairman also referred to the £5.6 million, asking what it would be spent on and over what time period. £1.2 million was allocated to the One Uniform planning system, which would make it much more streamlined and efficient. £1.37 million was allocated to support fostering, which in turn would lead to savings in placement costs. The remainder would be spent on service reviews, procurement and customer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To receive an update on the progress of the budget scrutiny recommendations made in January 2024.

Contributors:

Councillor Martin Tett, Leader

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

The Leader introduced the Budget Inquiry 2024 Recommendations 6-month review report. The report was noted by the Committee.

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

Contributors:

All Committee Members

• The Chairman explained that since the agenda had been published, arrangements had been made to bring a report on the debt performance of the Council to the committee in February 2025. The report would include sundry and revenues and benefits debt and debt write-offs. The report would be presented each year.

·       A Member suggested that members of budget scrutiny should meet to consider information requests in advance of the budget scrutiny process

Action: Chairman/Senior Scrutiny Officer

·       A Member referred to the report of the external auditors in February 2024 which made six recommendations that the Audit & Governance felt were within the remit of the Finance & Resources Select Committee. The Senior Scrutiny Officer explained that the recommendations were embedded in the work programme and that the auditor’s report and recommendations had been shared with report authors to inform the content however it was felt that a more specific response was required.

Action: Senior Scrutiny Officer

·       The Senior Scrutiny Officer confirmed that as part of budget scrutiny, the committee would receive briefings for budgetary pressure areas.

The next meeting will take place on 28 November 2024.

Thursday 28^th November 2024 at 2.00pm in the Oculus, The Gateway