To inform cabinet of the revenue and capital outturn for 2016/17, including the treasury management outturn report and debts written off, and invite cabinet members to consider performance for the year.

The cabinet member economy and corporate services introduced the report. The focus of the report was on the final budget position for 2016/17 and the successes and challenges for each directorate of the council. The cabinet member stated that careful management of the budget had protected services and that there had been an overall underspend of £600k.

A number of successes were highlighted, linked to the council’s corporate priorities:

Enable residents to live safe, healthy and independent lives

·         177 disabled facilities grants had been funded, a small increase on the previous year, allowing more residents to stay in their own home for longer;

·         more residents over the age of 65 were being supported to live at home;

·         Herefordshire was now ranked 18^th best out of all English authorities.

Keep children and young people safe and give them a great start in life

·         early years outcomes had improved, Herefordshire was now ranked in the top 25% of councils for a key measure;

·         recruitment of foster carers had improved, against a regional trend of falling numbers of foster carers.

Support the growth of our economy

·         good progress had been made on the south wye transport package;

·         the new city link road was expected to open before Christmas 2017;

·         the new economic vision for the county was about to be launched;

·         EnviRecover Energy-from-Waste plant had been completed and was reducing the council’s reliance on landfill for disposing of waste while generating power.

Secure better services, quality of life and value for money

·         the use of agency staff had reduced;

·         the council’s new website had been launched successfully and had been submitted for a national award.

Group leaders were asked to make comments on behalf of their group.

The leader of the Herefordshire independents group raised the following points:

That inspections of adults’ services often criticised a lack of front line support and management and that the director for adults and wellbeing should visit frontline staff more often. In response it was noted that Herefordshire was rated the 5^th highest authority for quality of life provided and that the management team was clearly delivering good results.

That the telecare service was a credit to everyone involved.

The group leader queried why the council had seen an increase in foster carers. The cabinet member for children and young people responded that a targeted approach had been used to recruit more carers and that there was good support and training in place which was valued by carers.

The group leader commented on the inclusion of the Hereford Bypass in the Midlands Connects regional transport strategy and asked what benefits this would bring. The cabinet member for infrastructure explained that the bypass scheme was in the early priority stages of the strategy programme and that the system was complex. More information would be provided as the strategy was firmed up. Funding may be available if the scheme meets the relevant criteria for each stage.

The group leader asked how often neighbourhood plans would be reviewed. It was stated that it was not intended that such plans be reviewed annually, the frequency of review would depend on the circumstances.

The group leader asked whether the rural grant was ring fenced. The chief finance officer confirmed that it was not ring fenced and that it could be used as the council saw fit.

The group leader asked for details of how the write off of business rates compared with other years. The chief finance officer agreed to provide a written response.

The leader of the It’s Our County! group made the following points:

That requests had been made previously for reports to show gross budget figures rather than net figures but this had not been implemented.

That adults and wellbeing directorate had seen a 40% increase in overspend in the final quarter. The cabinet member for health and wellbeing responded that this overspend was regrettable but should be set in context of a gross budget of £20m and the national picture where virtually every council in the country was overspending on adult social care.

The group leader stated that there was a failure to provide suitable short breaks for children with challenging needs. The cabinet member for children and young people responded that the new service for short breaks was providing choice and opportunities depending on the needs of each child. Any councillor who was aware of a family with needs that were not being met was urged to direct them to the cabinet member for children and young people or to relevant officers. The chief executive highlighted positive feedback received from a parent of a young person who had previously used the Ledbury Road centre but was now accessing short break provision through the new system.

The group leader queried why the percentage of pupils in schools rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding had fallen and what the pressures were that schools were facing to cause such a drop. The interim director for children’s wellbeing responded that the drop was due to a single large high school which had fallen in rating. Work was continuing to build on the council’s approach to school improvement which included being clear with schools about expectations.

The group leader queried how effective the delivery of rural connectivity through the Fastershire programme had been. The cabinet member for economy and corporate services responded that super-fast broadband had been rolled out to 83% of the county. The council’s definition of super-fast broadband was a speed of 30Mbps. Work had begun to look at how this could be rolled out to the remainder of the county in a joint programme with Gloucestershire. There was an aim to reach 94% of the county by the end of 2018.

The group leader commented that the report painted a positive picture of the county but that it was wrong not to reflect all challenges and risks. He stated that a list of detailed questions had been sent to the chief finance officer and requested that a written response be provided.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats group commented that the service performance most of the public were concerned about was the state of the roads. He noted that there had been some improvements but felt that the county’s roads were in the worst state they had ever been. The leader of the council responded that this comment could apply almost anywhere in the country and that the council was looking at how to make additional resources available.

The representative of the Green group raised the following points:

Whether the energy-from-waste plant was at full capacity. The cabinet member for contracts and assets responded that it was presently operating at around 90% capacity but it was anticipated that as recycling rates improved, additional spare capacity would be produced.

Whether the reduction in funding for Herefordshire from 2010 to 2020 was correctly calculated at 22%. The chief finance officer responded that the nature of grants had changed over the period and so it was difficult to compare like with like. A reduction of 22% was correct but did not reflect other grants which had been removed and not replaced. The cabinet member for health and wellbeing noted that the pressures on the council’s services had increased and would continue to increase over the rest of the decade.

Resolved:

THAT:

(a)  performance and financial outturn, including debt write off for 2016/17 as set out in appendices A, B, D and E are reviewed and the cabinet identifies any additional actions to be considered to achieve improvement;

(b)  the treasury management outturn report at appendix C be recommended to Council for approval; and

(c)  the annual performance report at appendix F be approved for publication.