Agenda item

The Committee will be asked to receive the Report of the Finance Task Group which will consider the following finance reports:

·         Budget Monitoring Report Period 9, 2015-16 (Appendix C1)

·         Capital Budget Monitoring Report Period 9, 2015-16 (Appendix C2)           

·         Spending Review Update.(Appendix C3)

The meeting of the Finance Task Group will be held on Thursday 17 March 2016 after the agenda is published and the minutes of that meeting will be circulated as soon as they become available.

Task Group minutes of the meeting held 17 March 2016 are now attached (Appendix C4).

The Committee considered the report of the Finance Task Group which had met on 17 March 2016 to consider the three reports attached to the agenda.

The Chair asked the Director of Finance to provide an update first on the Spending Review.  The Director explained that a target of £45m had been agreed; savings of £15m in 2015/16 had already been secured, which left a balance of £30m to find. In order to secure these savings, extra scopes had been added to the list of spending reviews.

Councillor Porter stated that in 2012, the council had received approximately £189m from the government in the Formula Grant, and he asked how the current figure compared when taking into account Revenue Support along with the element of business rates, bus rates top up and new homes bonus etc that the council now received.

The Director explained that the calculations were complex and the changes made it difficult to compare like for like. In addition, the government had also given councils new responsibilities such as public health, which they did not have before. However, the council had approximately £85m less in resources now than they had in 2010. The Director offered to forward information on this to all committee members if they wished to receive it.

Councillor Chaplin asked whether the Deputy City Mayor (Executive Lead for Adult Social Care, Health Integration and Wellbeing), wished to comment on the Health and Wellbeing budget, particularly in relation to the funding for the cessation of smoking and tobacco.  In relation to smoking cessation the Deputy City Mayor responded that the use of E Cigarettes was something that the service had adopted and engaged with very well and the evidence demonstrated that this was the route that people were taking in order to stop smoking.  In respect of the reductions in the public health budget, this was not a cut that the council wanted to make but was indicative at the time that the council budget was set.  This might change at the moment of decision. In the light of this, Councillor Chaplin asked that the recommendations to the Executive, in respect of approval of the reduction of the Health and Wellbeing budget by £1.0m should be amended to include the word indicative. This inclusion to the recommendation to the Executive was agreed.

Councillor Chaplin referred to the Substance Misuse Spending Review and questioned whether this included the Anchor Centre. The Deputy City Mayor responded that the council were coming to the end of the procurement process and this was a key issue in its aspirations to provide a better facility, with better outcomes for people.

Councillor Dempster referred to Legal Support in Children’s Services and stated that a Legal Officer had been recruited to a permanent post but with increasing numbers of care proceedings there was a need to be alert to that officer’s capacity.  Within Children’s Services there were a number of inexperienced and agency staff along with staff turbulence and it was very important that the service was given the right level of legal support. Councillor Dempster suggested that the Children, Young People and Schools’ Scrutiny Commission might like to request a follow up note in six months’ time.  The City Mayor undertook to ensure that officers provided such a note to the commission and stated that it was very important that Children’s Services received the right level of legal support from officers who had expertise in that area.

Councillor Dr Moore, expressed concerns at the rising numbers of Looked After Children and increase in agency staff and stated that these issues would be on the commission’s work programme. Councillor Dr Moore referred to para 14.8 of the Revenue Budget Monitoring Report and sought reassurance on the transfer of £5m of unspent capital monies in 2015/16 to the revenue budget. The City Mayor responded that it was their intention to ensure that the necessary capital funds were available and also stressed the importance of investing in school places. The Chair stated that the budgets for Children Services and Adult Social Care needed to continue to be a priority for the relevant commissions and suggested that they request updates and examine accordingly.

Councillor Willmott also expressed concerns at the increase in the numbers of Looked After Children, and the pressures that this would place on the council budget. The City Mayor responded that there had been significant increases nationwide although this could also be due to some local factors.  The Director of Finance added that generally the increase in numbers related to a general lack of foster parents and increased costs. Part of the work around the spending review would be to consider how this issue could be managed. Concerns were expressed that the costs of out of area placements were very expensive and the City Mayor responded that discussions were taking place with other local authorities with a view for providing for each other. This was still work in progress.   Councillor Dr Moore asked for details of the proportion of the budget that was spent on out of area placements.

Councillor Dr Barton queried the status of the Sports Services review and was informed that this was work in progress and a report would be available in the Autumn.

AGREED:

1)    that the Report of the Finance Task Group be noted; and

2)    that the recommendations to the Executive in 2.1 of the Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Period 9, 2015/16 be amended to include the word ‘indicative’ as follows:

Approve the reduction of the Health & Well-being budget by £1.0m in response to the Government’s in-year reduction of the Public Health Grant, made up of the indicative reductions described, and reduce the specific budget ceilings outlined in Appendix B, section 13