Agenda and minutes

Contact: Katie Nellist 

Items
No. Item

1.

Election of Chairman

To elect a Chairman for 2021/22

Minutes:

(Director of Legal and Governance in the Chair)

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor Clarke OBE be elected Chairman of the Committee for 2021/22.

RESOLVED –

That Councillor Clarke OBE be elected as Chairman of the Committee for 2021/22.

(Councillor Clarke OBE in the Chair)

2.

Appointment of Vice Chairman

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for 2021/22

Minutes:

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor Hopkins be elected Vice Chairman of the Committee for 2021/22.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That Councillor Hopkins be elected as Vice Chairman of the Committee for 2021/22.

4.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 504 KB

To approve, and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 24 March 2021 (Item 4)

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on Wednesday 24 March 2021, be approved (subject to two typographical corrections), and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

6.

Matters Arising from the Previous Meeting

The Chairman to invite officers to provide verbal updates on any actions noted in the Minutes from the previous meeting.

Minutes:

The Chairman asked for updates on the previous minutes, and was advised:

 

Minute EX46 - Gender Pay Gap Report 2020, it was confirmed that the Gender Pay Gap Report 2020 had been submitted to the Government’s website.

 

Minute EX47 – Firefighters’ Pension Scheme, the Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that the Authority made the decision that it would start paying immediate detriment, so arrangements were put in place but there had not yet been a case to process due to timing, but there would be one due in September. In terms of advice, the Authority was limited in the advice it could give but would always advise pension members to take their own professional advice, but they would be helped as and when necessary, in terms of process and making sure they do seek the correct advice and the Authority works closely with its pension administrator to do so.

8.

Budget Monitoring Report April 2020 - March 2021 (Provisional Outturn) pdf icon PDF 552 KB

To consider Item 8

Minutes:

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that the report in Appendix A set out the Authority’s revenue and capital spend position as at 31 March 2021, together with the projected outturn position for the financial year. The report at Appendix A was a provisional position pending final audit recommendations and confirmation of any accounting adjustments to go through before the final position was reached. The audit was due to take place in September and hopefully it would be completed before the November Overview and Audit Committee meeting where the Statement of Accounts would be presented.

 

The provisional outturn figure for the year was a net underspend of £966k, which represented a 3.08% variance against the budget. It was recommended that the £966k be transferred to the revenue contribution to capital reserve in line with the approved medium term financial plan.

 

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that Table 1 showed the budget and provisional outturn for each Directorate as at 31 March 2021. The budget of £31.339m compared to the provisional outturn of £31.202m gave a year end underspend of £138k. Furthermore, the level of funding was showing a favourable variance of £829k which had resulted in an overall net underspend of £966k. Table 3 showed the spend analysis of all the Authority’s Covid-19 related costs since the start of the pandemic. In terms of Covid funding, over the three tranches, the Authority had received in the region of £800k, of which it had only spent £665k as at 31 March 2021. The residual balance of £145k had been carried over into the 2021/22 financial year and would be utilized in this financial year.

 

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised that Table 6 showed the reserves position. This figure included £586k which was held by Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and represented the Authority’s share of the Thames Valley joint control room renewals fund in order to fund the refresh of ICT hardware equipment for the control room as and when necessary. The Authority needs to report its share of the contributions, but these funds were specifically assigned for the capital refresh of the control room.

 

A Member asked as a result of new recruits joining the organisation and joining the 2015 pension scheme and not the 1992 pension scheme, what savings was the Authority able to realise for the next two financial years before any potential increases of revised employer contribution rates were implemented from 1 April 2024. The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised that the Authority was currently building the budget for next year based on moving everyone into the 2015 pension scheme and having no one on the 1992 pension scheme. From April 2022 the Authority was looking at savings of £150K. If the employer contributions increased in 2024, it would be a short-term saving.

 

A Member asked at the end of March 2021 the spend on Covid-19 related activity was £665k, what was the latest spend  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Exclusion of Public and Press

To consider excluding the public and press representatives from the meeting by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as the minutes contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of a person (including the Authority); and on these grounds it is considered the need to keep information exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information:

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

It was moved and resolved that the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972 as the report contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of a person (including the Authority); and on these grounds it is considered, at this moment in time, that the need to keep information exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

10.

Exempt Minutes

To approve, and sign as a correct record the Exempt Minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 24 March 2021 (Item 10).

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That the Exempt Minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on Wednesday 24 March 2021, be approved, and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

11.

Date of Next Meeting

To note that the next meeting of the Executive Committee will be held on Wednesday 15 September 2021 at 10 am.

Minutes:

The Committee noted that the date of the next Executive Committee meeting would be held on Wednesday 15 September 2021 at 10.00am.

 

 

 

 

 

                     THE CHAIRMAN CLOSED THE MEETING AT 11.15 AM.