Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

There were no members of the public present.

The minutes of the Children and Young People Select Committee meeting dated 8^th December 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Context:

To scrutinise the proposed capital budget for 2017/18 and the indicative capital budgets for the three years 2018/19 to 2020/21.

Key Issues:

Capital Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) issues:

·         The four year capital programme is reviewed annually and updated to take account of any new information that is relevant.

·         The major component of the capital MTFP for the next few years is the Future Schools Programme. The Council has recently approved further funding for this programme at its meeting on the 20^th October 2016.

·         There are a number of other areas where there is a commitment to invest. However, the schemes currently sit outside the programme as work progresses to identify the funding requirements.  These are:

-       Monmouth Pool – commitment to re-provide the pool in Monmouth as a consequence of the Future Schools Programme.

-       Abergavenny Hub – commitment to re-provide the library with the One Stop Shop in Abergavenny to conclude the creation of a Hub in each of the towns.

-       Disabled Facilities Grants – the demand for grants is currently outstripping the budget. Work is being undertaken to assess the level of investment required to maximize the impact and benefit for recipients.

-       City Deal - 10 Authorities in the Cardiff City region are looking at a potential £1.2 billion City Deal. Agreement to commit to this programme is being sought across the region in January 2017 and so would impact on the capital MTFP. The potential impact on individual authority budgets is currently being modelled in advance of decisions on specific projects and profiles in order for authorities to start reflecting the commitment in their MTFPs.

-       J and E Block – the office rationalization programme is being considered to see if there is a solution that would enable the Magor and Usk sites to be consolidated, releasing funding to pay for the necessary investment to bring the blocks into use.

·         A strategy that enables the core programme, Future Schools and the above schemes to be accommodated is being developed. Notwithstanding this, there will still remain a considerable number of pressures that sit outside of any potential to fund them within the Capital MTFP and this has significant risk associated with it.  Cabinet has previously accepted this risk.

·         The current policy is that further new schemes can only be added to the programme if the business case demonstrates that they are self-financing or the scheme is deemed a higher priority than current schemes in the programme and therefore displaces it.

·         In summary, the following other issues and pressures have been identified:

-       Long list of back log pressures – infrastructure, property, DDA work, Public rights of way, as outlined in Appendix 1 of the report.  None of these pressures are included in the current capital MTFP, but this carries with it a considerable risk.

-       Capital investment required to deliver revenue savings – this is principally in the area of office accommodation and looking at alternative delivery models for leisure and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Context:

·         To scrutinise the draft proposals on the budget savings required to meet the gap between available resources and need to spend in 2017/18, for consultation purposes.

·         To scrutinise the 2017/18 budget within the context of the 4 year Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and the emergence of priorities to guide forward activities through Future Monmouthshire.

Key Issues:

The Select Committee scrutinised the Children and Young People Directorate’s budget proposals, as outlined in Appendix 3B of the report, which equated to a saving in the sum of £245,461.

Member Scrutiny:

·         It was considered that there were no significant pressures identified within the Children and Young People Directorate.

·         It was noted that a year ago it had been assumed that there would need to be an increase in Council Tax in the sum of 4.95%.  However, this had been reduced to 3.95%.  It was noted that an increase in the Council Tax to 4.5% would eliminate the budget deficit of £243,000 for the whole Council. 

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s question regarding external and independent challenge, as outlined in paragraphs 3.8 and 3.9 of the report, it was noted that a company was used that had been engaged via the work undertaken through Future Monmouthshire which helped to outline the 2017/18 budget proposals. Working together, a good piece of work was produced and ensured that the Authority was not missing opportunities going forward. This process helped in identifying work that is likely to come on stream in later years.

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s question regarding reference to a reduction in expenditure on professional fees, it was noted that this referred to the legal costs associated with some of the processes that are run internally. Officers are looking to ensure that staff have the right skills which will be provided internally.

·         In response to questions raised by a Select Committee Member, the Assistant Head of Finance stated that he would provide the member with a copy of the Treasury Management update which is presented to Audit Committee every six months.  The net borrowing at the end of this year will be in the region of £88,000,000 which is a variety of loans. The Councils collective rate of borrowing is in the region of 4.5%.  However, a number of these loans will be historic in nature and will reflect the fact that interest rates in the past were higher than they are now.  Therefore, the combined rate across the Council is in the region of 4.5%.   Per year, the Authority is paying back £3.4m in principle and £2.9m external interest.

·         The removal of the training budget - It had been considered that the way the training budget was structured in the Directorate could be used more effectively.  Therefore, the budget in the sum of £8000 has been removed. Team budgets within the Directorate will now meet the needs of staff training.

·         Further savings in Support Services can be achieved by bringing these services together to create savings.

·         Early  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

We received and noted the list of actions that had been completed arising from the Children and Young People Select Committee meeting held on 8^th December 2016. 

In doing so, it was noted that Nick Ramsay, AM, had attended a forum meeting within Children’s Services in November 2016, in which the lack of funding in children’s services was discussed. The Finance Manager stated that she will release the minutes of this meeting in due course.

We resolved to receive the Children and Young People Select Committee Forward Work Plan.  In doing so, the following points were noted:

·         A Joint Select Committee meeting of all four select committees will be held on 31^st January 2017 to scrutinise the budget proposals.

·         A special meeting of all four select committees will be held on 27^th February 2017 at 2.00pm to scrutinise the Alternative Service Delivery Model.

·         A Joint Select Committee meeting of the Children and Young People Select Committee with the Adults Select Committee will be held on the 6^th February 2017 at 10.00am to scrutinise the draft Population Needs Assessment for Monmouthshire.

·         An ordinary meeting of the Children and Young People Select Committee will be held on Thursday 16^th February 2017 at 2.00pm.  The following reports will be added to the agenda for this meeting:

-       The final performance report for last year regarding Key Stages 4 and 5 figures.

-       The Education Achievement Service’s Business Plan for 2017/18.

We resolved to receive the Council and Cabinet Business Forward Work Plan and noted its content.

The next ordinary meeting will be held on Thursday 16^th February 2017 at 2.00pm.

The next ordinary meeting will be held in the Council Chamber, County Hall, Usk, on Thursday 16^th February 2017 at 2.00pm.