To seek the views of the overview and scrutiny committees on the budget proposals to be presented to Cabinet on 15 January 2015.

The Chairman noted that members had asked a number of questions at the earlier meeting of the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee that were relevant to the remit of this committee and he invited further questions.

The Chief Financial Officer provided answers to a number of questions from committee members, the responses included: 

1.       The Projected Breakdown of Council Funding Sources 2013/14 - 2016/17 slide (page 8 of the supplement) showed where sources of funding would need to come from over the next four years; as the government funding proportion reduced, the Council Tax and Business Rates proportions increased.

2.       Assumptions within the budget plans included an increase in Council Tax of 1.9% and an element of growth in Council Tax resulting from new housing.

3.       Attention was drawn to the Budget Consultation slide (page 15 of the supplement) and the statement that ‘On average the results indicated a reduction in Council Tax increase to 0.9% from 1.9%’.

4.       Reference was made to the treasury management details contained in regular budget monitoring reports to Cabinet and it was confirmed that the loan portfolio was being managed actively, with quality assurance provided by external advisors.  It was reported that the authority was taking advantage of low short- and medium-term borrowing rates wherever possible but it was not always beneficial to reschedule existing long-term debts because of the prohibitive penalties involved.  The Chief Financial Officer agreed to provide more detail to a committee member after the meeting.

5.       It was not anticipated that increased savings in terms of Back Office Services from £200k to £420k in 2015/16 would impact on direct service provision as this principally related to changes in arrangements with the council’s back office service provider, Hoople; a related report would be considered by Cabinet in January 2015.

6.       The savings plans for Customer & Library Services were consistent with the changes to service delivery agreed by Cabinet on 23 January 2014 (minute 65 refers).  The Cabinet Member Corporate Services confirmed that the Masters House redevelopment in Ledbury would co-locate customer service and library facilities.  It was suggested that the wording on page 34 of the report be revisited.

7.       In terms of ‘one off costs to achieve improvements and savings’ (page 25 of the supplement), future relief road development work would be capitalised as planned for previously and the reduction in car parking income at Merton Meadow would result from development associated with the link road.

In response to questions from the Chairman:

i.        The Chief Financial Officer advised that gaps in expertise needed to be addressed, especially around change management, but the authority was trying to reduce the use of external consultants over time and this was reflected in the Annual Governance Statement.

ii.       The Leader said that it would not be possible to limit the level of Council Tax increase to 0.9%, as this would require approximately £800k of additional savings.

Responding to a question from a committee member about the recommendations made at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35

To seek the views of the overview and scrutiny committees on the budget proposals  to be presented to Cabinet on 15 January 2015.

The Committee received a presentation from the Chief Finance Officer on the Budget for 2015/16 and the Medium Term Financial Strategy as published as a supplement to the Agenda for the meeting.

The Director of Adults Wellbeing highlighted the following areas:

·         That the emphasis for the Directorate was to change the expectations of the population and to help encourage people to take better care of themselves and to encourage support not just from funded services but also from the community.  Services would be run on a more efficient basis, with a greater reliance on information technology and the efficient use of data.

·         The Care Act 2014 would bring additional service users into the system, as all of the population would have contact with social services in one form or another, and there would need to be alternative ways of commissioning services in the future.

·         That the statutory changes that the Council would be obliged to implement on the 1 April 2015 would mean that the commissioning of advice and guidance would have to change, and a single point of access would be provided that would be designed to connect all aspects of the Third Sector.  This would also change the way social workers undertook their roles.

·         There were certain areas where the Council had not delivered savings, including residential and nursing care, but there was a correlation between the ability to deliver savings and the hospital system.  It was intended that further progress toward savings would be made in reablement and telecare in the coming year.  There had been delays in Day Care commissioning until the Council was confident of the commissioning system.

·         That there had been a great deal of negotiation over how to spend the Better Care Fund monies in the coming year in order to protect Adult Social Care.  To achieve system wide thinking, all partners were financially incentivised to work closely together. 

·         That Public Health had been aligned in the system, and had delivered innovative schemes for demand management within both Adult and Children’s Social Care.

·         The main risk was the implementation of the Care Act, and the ability of the Wye Valley NHS Trust to deal with the issues that would arise from this.

The Director of Children’s Wellbeing highlighted the following areas:

·         That the strategy as agreed by Council forthe current year would continue, with a focus on reducing costs whilst managing demand.

·         That in terms of education and young people, aspects of the Children’s budget were protected. Although the birth rate had increased, older young people were moving out of the County and it was important to protect the education budget as part of the growth agenda.

·         That there was an increase in costs within the County for children with disabilities and special needs.  The demand management slide that had been published as a supplement to the Agenda illustrated the changing models that were needed to meet the needs of the child.  Improved outcomes for children were required at a time when the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38