To receive Report No.19/2016 from the Director for Resources.

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

·         The above report was presented at Cabinet on 12 January 2016.

·         Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on proposals before the Cabinet meeting on 9 February 2016 so as to inform the decision-making process.

·         The report and its proposals and the date which it is presented to Cabinet 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. 19/2016, which was previously circulated under separate cover, was received from the Director of Resources.  The Assistant Director (Finance), Mr Della Rocca, introduced the report.   

During discussion the following points were noted:

a)    The Council’s overall financial position had changed since the Quarter 2 financial management report.

b)    The proposed plan to increase Council Tax by 3.99% would be the first increase in 6 years but would still leave a £2.4 million funding gap by 2019/20.

c)    Costs were increasing because of the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, and changes in National Insurance Contributions and the Pension Fund Costs.

d)    The increase in the number of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding cases following the Supreme Court judgement in October 2015 and the rise in the ageing population had caused the budget to be increased from £30k to £150k. 

e)    £399k had so far been saved within the People Directorate.  The target for 2015/16 was £300k.

f)     The 2015/16 ‘over-spend’ in the Home Care budget would be covered by the under-spend in the other services and budgets had been rebased from 2015/16 to cover this.

g)    The recruitment of good quality social workers was important to the service so funding was required to entice people to work in Rutland.

h)   The commissioning of services continued to be a high priority within the Directorate.  It is the intention for contracts to be commissioned on a Payment by Results (PBR) method so ensuring value for money.  The Head of Commissioning, Karen Kibblewhite, specialised in renewing contracts and decreasing costs not just in the People Directorate but across the Council as a whole.

i)     Public health costs were constantly being reviewed to ensure better value for money.

j)      The budget for the Better Care Fund had not yet been confirmed by Central Government so the budget was based on 2015/16 figures.  This would be amended once the actual budget had been confirmed.

k)    The number of vulnerable people requiring support in Rutland was rising so more efficiency was required to provide a good quality service within the allocated budget.

l)     There was an increased cost regarding the specialist support needed for children.  The Long Term Children’s Care Team was now fully staffed – the first time in a long while.

m)  The budget for ‘Youth Housing’ had decreased by nearly £23k.  This was the result of using the provision for other means and the non-replacement of staffing vacancies.  However, changes would still need to be made to the budget in light of the ongoing ‘Youth Services Review’.

n)   There was a ‘high cost’ children’s placement of £100k which was not included in the budget figures as the costs involved were unknown at the time of publication.  The budget figures would be amended in due course.

o)    More schools were becoming Academies and therefore not under Local Authority control so fewer School Officers were needed, leading to a decrease in the budget.

AGREED:

1.    That the Panel NOTED the content of the Report.

2.    That the Panel NOTED the hard work that had gone into the Budget and the Medium Term Financial Plan.

3.    That the budget heading ‘Youth Housing’ (cost centre 4713) be changed to reflect that staffing costs were also included in this cost code.

4.    The wording on Page 21, Question 8 should be amended to read ‘… none of which have an impact on front line services.’

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The Chair adjourned the meeting at 8.09 p.m.

Mr S Tanner, Mr M Fowler, Mr S Della Rocca and Ms D Greaves left the meeting at 8.13 p.m.

The Chair recommenced the meeting at 8:14 p.m.

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