To receive Report No. 4/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Members are requested to bring their copy, distributed under separate cover.

·         The above report was presented to Cabinet on 15 January 2019 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·         Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on proposals before the Cabinet on 19 February 2019 so as to inform the decision-making process.

·         The report and its proposals may be amended following the outcome of the Scrutiny Panel. Scrutiny is therefore asked to consider the report and provide feedback to the Portfolio Holder and Director.

Report No. 4/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources, the purpose of which was to present a draft budget for consultation prior to the budget being formally set in February 2019.

Mr Della Rocca provided a presentation on the draft budget for Members.

During discussion the following points were noted:

      i.        The Government believed Rutland could generate most of its income from, Council Tax and therefore the Council received less funding per head compared to other Unitary Council’s. When Government declared Rutland County Council’s spending power as c£35million, most of the funding came from Rutland’s Council Tax.

    ii.        Directors and Heads of Service at the Council had been through every line of the budget to identify savings.

   iii.        48% of the budget went into social services where the Council had a  statutory requirement to protect and support vulnerable residents

   iv.        Additional funding had been received nationally from Government for the improvement of the highways network. Mrs Stephenson confirmed that annual ongoing road assessments would be completed and funding would be focused on areas which would have the longest impact. A paper regarding the Highways Capital Maintenance Programme would be received by Cabinet in March 2019.

    v.        There had been roughly a 75% take-up of the Green Waste Bin collection service.

   vi.        Capital funding could be spent on academies to facilitate the creation of school places as the Council had a statutory duty to make sure there were enough school places within the county.

  vii.        The £455k allocated to schools maintenance was given to schools as and when needed.

viii.        The Government’s plan to give 100% of business rates to Local Authorities would require primary legislation, which was unlikely to happen until 2020 and would result in grant funding being reduced and replaced with retained business rates.

   ix.        The Government were reviewing the new homes bonus to ensure incentives were given to encourage house building.

    x.        No reductions in the budget were being made to frontline services.

   xi.        Money had been saved by putting more focus on Early Intervention, rather than waiting for people coming to the Council for help.

  xii.        It was noted that Councillor Waller had forwarded questions to the Strategic Director for Resources. These questions with answers would be appended to the minutes.

xiii.        The Collection Fund was a statutory requirement. The Council collected council tax on behalf of the Leicestershire Police and the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service which was then distributed to them.

RESOLVED

That the Panel NOTED the report.

To receive Report No. 4/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Members are requested to bring their copy, distributed under separate cover.

·         The above report was presented to Cabinet on 15 January 2019 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·         Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on proposals before the Cabinet on 19 February 2019 so as to inform the decision-making process.

·         The report and its proposals may be amended following the outcome of the Scrutiny Panel. Scrutiny is therefore asked to consider the report and provide feedback to the Portfolio Holder and Director.

Report No.4/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Mr Della Rocca, Strategic Director for Resources delivered a presentation (appended to the minutes) which provided Members with a context to the report.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·         Government funding had reduced substantially since 2015/16 and although this was a national problem, Rutland received significantly less funding per head than other Local Authorities. The reason for this was because RCC was able to generate a lot of money through Council Tax compared to others, and also because of the practice of ‘damping’, a process adopted by Government whereby some authorities were given additional funding at the expense of others.

·         Overall funding was insufficient to meet the rising costs of services including inflationary demands.

·         The Council had delivered significant savings in order to compensate for funding cuts and was continuing to work on savings and income options to allow it to set balanced budgets in the future.

·         The future however was challenging as the Government position on funding was still unknown and likely to remain so until December 2019.

·         Officers and the Portfolio Holder had written to the Rutland MP, Sir Alan Duncan, urging Government to let authorities have a decision on funding sooner rather than later.

·         The earliest the Council would see Council tax revenue from the St George’s Barracks project was 2024/25. This funding would support delivery of services to new residents.  Typically, the Council would expect an increase in demands on Council services e.g. Adult Social Care or Children’s Services.

·         Members had had feedback from residents who felt that Council Tax should not be increased as the Council was receiving extra funds due to the amount of new housing developments in Rutland. However council tax revenue growth from new homes was needed to maintain services and was insufficient, in any event, to meet inflation and other costs.

·         The Council’s main expenditure was on Adult Social Care and because of the County’s demographic, demand for services was likely to increase going forward. However continued focus on early prevention and intervention had delivered savings and had distinguished Rutland from other authorities as one of the best performing Adult Social Care teams in the Country, delivering excellent value for money.

·         It was noted that Cllr Waller had submitted questions to the Director of Resources, in particular on the challenge of meeting Special Educational Needs (SEN) requirements. Cllr Waller’s questions and the responses to them would be appended to the minutes.

·         Children services were working hard with parents and the Courts to keep children out of care and this has had had a positive impact on finances and resulted in savings.

·         The Portfolio Holder for Safeguarding – Children and Young people noted that work with the Changing Lives and Troubled Families programme, including working with RALS to increase employability and Citizens Advice to maximise benefits, had also helped to keep children out of care.

·         £700k would be invested in Special Education Needs so that children requiring this service could be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 533

(KEY DECISION)

Report No.4/2019

Report No.4/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Mr Gordon Brown, Portfolio Holder for Finance, introduced the report the purpose of which was for Cabinet, as it is required, to set a balanced budget and agree the level of Council tax for 2019/20 in the context of its Medium Term Financial Plan. The report presented a draft budget for consultation prior to the budget being formally set in February 2019.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·         It was important that this budget was taken in the context of the uncertainty that the Council currently faced due to Brexit, a potential general election and possible recession, and the fact that future funding beyond 2022 was unknown. These factors necessitated prudence going forward.

·         The Council was however in a better position than originally anticipated as a result of a great deal of work done by officers that had resulted in significant savings and identified future savings.

·         The funding split was significant as Rutland‘s budget was funded 72% by Council tax and 28% by Government. Rutland received less funding per head than any other unitary authority.

·         The Council was predicting a gap in funding and unless there was a change to Government funding the Council would have to run down reserves if the Council tax and adult social care precept were not increased.

·         St George’s Barracks was an issue but also an opportunity as the Master Plan continued. There were no significant risks in the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) as the revenue stream would start after the term of the MTFP.

·         Inflation had been higher than the 2% target and so had had a negative impact on finances.

·         Rutland had a higher proportion of its population aged over 55 so there would be a pent up demand for adult social care going forward.

·         The Council’s reserves position compared favourably with other unitary authorities.

·         The expenditure chart on page 45 of the report referred to looked after children. This should have read children looked after.

·         The Council had been actively making its voice heard in respect of the level of funding that Rutland received. Although urban areas often had greater needs, rural areas had greater costs. The Government was looking at the needs issue but also looking at the fairness of that approach. The Leader and Portfolio Holder had written to Rutland’s MP, Sir Alan Duncan, and had been assured that he would be making strong representations on the Council’s behalf. Talks had also been held on this issue with the Local Government Authority.

DECISIONS:

Cabinet:

1)    APPROVED for consultation:

·         The Revenue Budget for 2019/20 detailed in Appendix 1, section 3 including savings proposals

·         The Directorate budgets per Appendices 4-6 including savings and pressures

·         An increase Council Tax by 2.99% with a further 2% for the Adult Social Care precept

·         The Capital programme as detailed in Section 4 of Appendix 1

2)    NOTED:

·         That the funding position may change when the NNDR (business rates) tax base and local government  ...  view the full minutes text for item 497