To provide the Committee with information on the draft budget proposals and to give an opportunity for the Committee to comment on the Budget report to be presented to Cabinet on 23 January 2014.

(Councillors BA Durkin and DB Wilcox declared an interest, and Councillor Wilcox left the meeting)

The Committee noted a report on the Budget for 2014/15 and Medium Term Financial Strategy.  In the ensuing discussion, the following points were raised:

·                That there were no plans to close town libraries in the next financial year.  That the mosaic data in the report showed that the highest usage of libraries was by the elderly and the young.

·                A Member pointed out that the draft savings proposals on p33 of the report stated that discretionary rate relief for charities would only be provided for those that were locally based.  This would impact those charities that were local, such as the Haven, but had branches elsewhere in the country.  It was agreed to recommend that an additional line should be included in the draft savings proposals so that mandatory relief top up should be available to those locally based charities that provided benefits for the community of Herefordshire.

·                A Member said that the impact of the reduction of subsidies to cultural services partners would be considerably greater on the services and the community than the money that was saved.  He asked that the Task and Finish Group report on Cultural Services should be taken into consideration when this decision was taken to Cabinet.  The Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate said that he would discuss the report with the Cabinet Member (Contracts & Assets).

·                That the library in Belmont was part of a larger community centre, and to withdraw funding from it could cause the community centre to close. The Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate reassured the Member that the report did not propose closure of the library, but more work would be undertaken with the parish council and the South Wye Community Council to consider the matter.

·                Concern was expressed over the withdrawal of funding from the Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB), and a Member questioned whether there had been sufficient analysis of the impact this would have on Herefordshire. The Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate replied that there was no intention to move to a zero funding basis for the CAB in the coming year, and that the Council wanted to work with the organisation in order to ensure that funding should continue.

·                Concern was expressed over the devolution of services to the community, and it was agreed that full and proper consultation should take place on this matter at the earliest opportunity. 

·                That energy from landfill waste had been considered as part of the waste solution for the County, but that there was insufficient gas being generated to make this a commercial option for the County. The expected lifetime of the Energy from Waste plant was 26 years.

·                That the reduction in capital spend on the road infrastructure repairs was sustainable.  The capital programme included an additional £20m (£15m in 2014/15 and £5m in 2015/16) to be spent on road improvements which would reduce the need to spend on road maintenance.  Spending  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60