Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of the Youth Council Representatives.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

No declarations of interest were made.

The Director of Finance submits a report, which sets out the Council’s financial performance against its revenue budget in the financial year 2015/16.

The Director of Finance submitted a report which set out the Council’s financial performance against its revenue budget in the financial year 2015/16.

The Chair made reference to the serious budget pressures within the Children’s Services and Adult Social Care Departments. Issues around the increase in the number of Look After Children (LAC) and the difficulties in the recruitment of social workers were recognised.  The Chair added that the budget deficits were due to legitimate reasons but hoped that the shortfalls were being addressed in the 2016/2017 budget.

The Director of Finance responded that within Adult Social Care and Children’s Services there were increasing numbers of people in need of support and the Council had a statutory duty to provide help. The budget was however robust in its response to meeting those needs, taking into account the best data the Council had at the time the budget was set.

The Chair referred to the overspend on the Housing Benefit budget. The Director of Finance explained that this was due to a number of issues. Overpayment in Housing Benefit could be made to people who failed to report a change in their circumstances and such overpayments were difficult to recover as people receiving housing benefits were on some of the lowest incomes. It could take time to recover such overpayments; they might for example be repaid through an attachment to earnings.  Universal Credit started to roll out in January 2016 in Leicester and had started with single people. Couples and families would be included by 2018 and pensioners would remain on Housing Benefit.

A Member noted that there had been difficulties in recruiting suitably experienced staff in Revenues and Customer Services and queried the implications of this, particularly in the light of the continuing Universal Credit roll out The Director of Finance responded that there was a lack of experienced benefit staff generally, but the Council were trying to train and develop their own staff as much as possible. 

The Director of Finance added that Directors in all divisions were achieving savings by managing staffing issues carefully and considering options where a vacancy arose.  A Member praised efforts to make financial economies but expressed concerns that savings came with a cost to staff and services. Officers were asked whether there was any follow up to those staff made redundant.  The City Mayor responded that unfortunately, because of the financial pressures and the numbers of staff involved he had concerns that this would not be realistic, nor could such a follow up be carried out with any credibility. He would however raise this with colleagues. 

A Member referred to section 5.1 of the report which stated that there were difficulties in recruiting to vacancies in Legal, Registration and Coronial Services, and queried whether such vacancies affected Children’s Services, where there was a need for experienced solicitors. The Director of Finance responded that the private sector offered higher rates of pay to Solicitors than Local Government did and an option was to either  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Director of Finance submits a report, which shows the position of the capital programme for 2015/16 at the end of the financial year.

The Director of Finance submitted a report which showed the position of the capital programme for 2015/16 at the end of the financial year.

Members discussed the report and a query was raised in relation to the Anchor Centre. The City Mayor stated that the Council owned the site but the building needed major refurbishment. There had been a number of interests expressed in the site and the Council needed to consider careful how they could dispose of the property subject to an alternative site for the Anchor Centre being located.

It was noted that Extra Care had been granted planning permission for two new-build extra care facilities but the schemes had been put on hold pending an announcement from the Government on whether rents eligible for housing benefit would be capped. If this happened the scheme would become financially unviable. In response to a query, the meeting heard that this was a national issue and schemes across the country had also been put on hold. It was an issue that was causing concern and which the Local Government Association was taking very seriously.

A query as raised as to whether the capital monies set aside for flood management was sufficient. The City Mayor responded that this reflected the Council spend, but the bulk of the money came from the Environment Agency, with whom the Council had an excellent working relationship. Recent work on the main river, where a wider flood plain had been developed, had been of a very high standard. There were parts of the city where there was a risk from pluvial flooding; the Knighton area presented a particular challenge because of the Holbrook. Officers were very aware of these issues and a recent patch walk had taken place.

It was noted that there was slippage of £283K for the improvement works to a property on New Walk, to be leased to IBM, and the reason for the slippage was queried. Members heard that there was a need to meet some exacting specifications required by IBM and their Parent Board. It had taken longer than anticipated to complete the work.

A query was raised in relation to a proposal for a specialist dementia care centre which had been put on hold pending further analysis of the service needs.  The City Mayor explained that discussions were being held as to whether this was the best way forward and the best use of resources for a very small percentage of service users. Consideration was being given as to whether there were more effective ways of providing general support for a wider group of people. The Chair of Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission reported that this item was already on their work programme and added that the best place for people with dementia was in their own home, supported

with good service provision.

It was noted that slippage had incurred on the Haymarket Bus Station and Waterside projects. The City Mayor responded that the Haymarket development had taken longer than  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Director of Finance submits a report further to the outturn reports elsewhere on the agenda.  The report concludes the suite of financial reports and looks ahead to the Council’s position in 2017/18 and beyond.

The Director of Finance submitted a report which looked ahead to the Council’s financial position in 2017/18 and beyond.

A Member drew attention to the Spending Review Programme and expressed concerns that reports did not always come to Scrutiny in such a way that those Commissions could make a difference. A request was made for the Executive to consider how Scrutiny could be involved at an earlier stage; as in terms of making savings, it was in everyone’s interest that Scrutiny was involved earlier.  The City Mayor undertook to arrange an informal discussion in the near future to discuss how the Scrutiny process could be improved.

AGREED

1)    that the report be noted; and

2)    that an informal discussion between the City Mayor and Scrutiny Chairs be arranged, to discuss the Scrutiny process.

The Director of Finance submits a report, which details progress made in collecting debts raised by the Council during 2015-16, together with debts outstanding and brought forward from the previous year.

The Director of Finance submitted a report which detailed progress made in collecting debts raised by the Council during 2015/16, together with debts outstanding and brought forward from the previous year. The Chair presented the report and commented that overall the Council were in a good position, though there were some concerns relating to the overpayment of housing benefit.

A Member noted that some of the debts were more than12 months old and questioned the reasons for the delay in recovery. The Director of Finance responded that there were a number of reasons, but the hardest debt to recover was where people were late in reporting a change in their circumstances and an overpayment in benefits was made. A Member commented that sometimes it was difficult for people to know when a change of circumstances might affect benefits.

AGREED:

                   that the report be noted.

The Director of Finance submits a report which presents the Council’s new Debt Policy. Members of the Committee are asked to note the content of the report and comment on the new policy.

The Director of Finance submitted a report which presented the Leicester City Council’s new Debt Policy to the Committee. The Policy had already been considered by the Executive, but had not yet been adopted as the views of Scrutiny were sought.

The Chair commended the policy and the steps that were taken prior to legal action.

A Member expressed concerns that the policy might be too complicated. She suggested that telephoning the debtor might be more effective than communicating by letter.  Officers explained that the primary means of debt recovery was by a telephone call, and options of telephoning people outside of office hours were being considered. However there may also be a need to write to the debtor and the letter would refer to the Council’s Debt Policy.

Members commented that the policy was welcome, well written and offered support and guidance but also explained that the Council and service users had a mutual duty. The Policy contained strong messages written in a non-threatening way and it was suggested that some key phrases should be displayed on posters in housing offices. The Director of Finance stated that she welcomed Councillors’ views on the possibility of using of key phrases and running a debt campaign. Views were expressed that there was a need to  avoid using threatening messages and a Member also commented that she hoped that officers would work with the Executive and the Press to remind people of their responsibilities and also of the need to communicate with the Council in the event of any difficulties.

AGREED:

                   that the report be noted.

The Director of Finance submits a report, which reviews how the Council conducted its borrowing and investments during 2015/16.

The Director of Finance submitted a report that reviewed how the Council conducted its borrowing and investing during 2015/16.

AGREED:

                   that the report be noted.

The meeting closed at 8.40 pm.