To receive any written questions from Councillors.

Question from Councillor WJS Bowen to the Cabinet Member Resources

 

1.1       What figure does the Cabinet Member for Resources consider to be substantially below 3% and what is the definition of substantially below 3%?  Have adequate and effective plans been put in place for alternative budgets for figures that might be more substantially less than 3% than the currently proposed 2.9%?  What are the odds of being capped by the Government if we actually use 2.9% as our Council Tax increase? 

 

Answer from Councillor H Bramer Cabinet Member Resources

 

1.1             The government has not defined what it believes is “substantially below 3%” and is unlikely to provide any such definition; it is generally accepted that any increase above 3% will bring with it a risk of capping.  The government has previously indicated it will look at the average level of increase across local government and, to some extent, whether any council stands out in comparison with others.  It is for this reason we are seeking an in principle increase in the level of council tax. 

 

A lower level increase would require us to review budgets, as stated in the report before Council today at agenda item 9.

 

No supplementary question was asked.

 

Question from Councillor GFM Dawe to the Cabinet Member Highways and Transportation

 

2.1       The Council have said they will help pay for an east or west bypass (ODR) around Hereford with contributions from developers from the new housing in the next plan period 2011-2026.  What percentage of the cost of the road will come from the housing and what percentage from other sources?  How much will each new house have to contribute?

 

Answer from Councillor DB Wilcox Cabinet Member Highways and Transportation

 

2.1       This Administration remains committed to the delivery of an outer distributer road; the study undertaken jointly for the Council and the Highways Agency made clear there could be no growth within the city without such additional transport infrastructure. Whilst the precise route, and therefore funding requirement, has yet to be determined it is clear that any developers will need to contribute to the costs of the infrastructure required.

 

Given the significant funding that will be required to build the road, all possible funding streams are being explored.  This is likely to include seeking contributions from Central Government, the Council and developers.

Supplementary question:

If developers are required to contribute to the ODR how can the houses be classed as affordable housing?

 

Answer from Councillor DB Wilcox Cabinet Member Highways and Transportation

The amount is not yet defined.  Funding for the ODR would be provided from a range of sources.  Affordable housing is a separate issue which is determined in line with appropriate policies.

 

Question from Councillor GFM Dawe to the Cabinet Member Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources

 

2.2       How much has the Council paid on the wrap-around AdMag and Herefordshire Journal advertisements?

 

Answer from Councillor JP French Cabinet Member Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources

 

2.2       The Council is required to undertake wide consultation in the development of its Local Development Framework and Local Transportation Plan. To ensure that as many people as possible are aware of the issues and can engage in the public events, complete a questionnaire, and give their views during the Shaping Our Place consultation as wide a communication as possible of these opportunities has been undertaken. The total cost of publicity (taking into account discounts secured by the Council) in the Admag and Journal papers has been £8,700. The results so far indicate that this is already the most successful consultation undertaken so far by the Council in terms of participation.

 

Supplementary question

Why was a decision made to advertise over and above the normal rules?

 

Answer from Councillor JP French Cabinet Member Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources

There has been wide ranging publicity of this important consultation to ensure that residents and businesses know of the opportunity and are encouraged to submit their views in order to influence the future of the county.  Views are sought on wide ranging issues, e.g infrastructure planning, roads etc.  The wrap around is an effective way to bring the consultation to the public’s attention and to help achieve the target of 10,000 consultation responses.  All Councillors are encouraged to arrange meetings with the planning teams and to encourage community involvement.  The funding for the wrap around was met by a special provision in the LDF budget.

 

Question from Councillor GFM Dawe to the Cabinet Member Resources

 

2.3       What is the Council’s current level of debt?  What was it in 2001 and 2005?

 

Answer from Councillor H Bramer Cabinet Member Resources

 

2.3       The current level of borrowing is £115.2 million.  It should be noted that approximately £90 million of this total is supported borrowing (that is where the government funds both the interest and the principle element of the loan) that we get funding for in our annual settlement from Government.  We also need to note Herefordshire inherited ex-Hereford & Worcester County Council debt at re-organisation totalling £27.7 million.  The level of borrowing in 2001 was £32.4 million and in 2005 £67.7 million. 

 

The reason we borrow is to fund capital projects and our total borrowing has helped many community and school schemes for example:

 

·        Gym equipment for all Halo leisure centres 

·        Leominster Swimming Pool 

·        Hereford Crematorium

·        CCTV Equipment

·        Mortgage Rescue Scheme

·        Riverside Primary School

 

Supplementary question

Should the publication of Herefordshire Matters (described as propaganda) be stopped, thereby saving the authority £45,000?

 

Answer from Councillor JP French Cabinet Member Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources

On a point of information, the Councillor was reminded of the Code of Conduct in relation to his accusations of officer produced documents.

 

Question from Councillor GFM Dawe to the Cabinet Member Environment and Strategic Housing

 

2.4       Is Herefordshire Council going to match fund the £80,000 offered by English Heritage to the Council in order to look at the Rotherwas Ribbon?

 

2.4.1   What is the total spend so far by the Council on the archaeology on this site associated with the road so far?

 

2.4.2   What is the total spend on the archaeology associated with the road from all sources so far?

 

Answer from Councillor JG Jarvis Cabinet Member Environment and Strategic Housing

 

2.4      No match funding is required.

2.4.1   To date the Council has spent a total of £500,000 on the archaeology on the site, which includes some £250,000 to examine the find and design and install appropriate protection measures.

 

2.4.2   The total costs spent on archaeology from all sources so far is £502,500 which is the Council’s spending plus £2,500 spent by English Heritage on radiocarbon costs.

 

Supplementary question:

Is the contract for this work out to competitive tendering; if not, why not?

 

Answer from Councillor JG Jarvis Cabinet Member Environment and Strategic Housing

The work has been contracted out by the archaeological group and team for two excavations.  Additional funding would be required for any further work.

 

Question from Councillor PJ Edwards to the Cabinet Member ICT, Education and Achievement

 

3.1       Referring to page 26 of the Council Agenda please could the Cabinet Member confirm the approximate additional number of pupils throughout Herefordshire who will be eligible for free school meals under the National Extended Scheme and additional total approximate cost per annum?

 

Answer from Councillor PD Price Cabinet Member ICT, Education and Achievement

 

3.1       The government’s proposals, which include a 1% inflationary uplift to the household income eligibility level, are subject to Parliamentary approval of the Budget and re-election of the government in May 2010.

 

            Free school meals are funded by Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).  The draft school budgets for 2010/11 are based on an estimated 2,186 pupils entitled to free school meals, with an estimated cost of £789,000.  This is an increase of 287 (15%) pupils and an increased cost of £137,000 from 2009/10. The 2010/11 pupil numbers/costs are estimates as school budgets cannot be finalised until pupil numbers have been confirmed in mid to late February. No additional funding has been added to DSG to cover this.

 

            We are not aware of any plans to extend the pilot of universal free school meals for primary school children to Herefordshire, or of any extension of the eligibility to Free School Meals other than the inflation increase to income thresholds contained in the government’s proposals.

 

No supplementary question was asked.

 

Question from Councillor PJ Edwards to the Cabinet Member Resources

 

3.2       Given that ‘the Shared Services initiative has subsumed the Connects project into the wider Transformation Project’ please inform what % capital and revenue contribution and actual monetary value is being supplied by NHS Herefordshire into the joint budget (Council agenda item 9 page 29 and paragraphs 24 and 25):

 

·        Past

·        Present

·        Future

 

Answer from Councillor H Bramer Cabinet Member Resources

 

3.2       Funding for the development of a shared service strategy of £175K was provided by the Improvement and Efficiency Partnership West Midlands, together with financial contributions from Herefordshire Council and NHS Herefordshire of £12,500 each. All three partners have contributed officer resources for the shared services to the work to date. Work is currently underway to determine the most appropriate governance arrangement and commercial models, including any invest to save requirements, for the next stages of the programme.

 

Supplementary question

How will the Cabinet Member track the savings, which would be of benefit to the public, across the various initiatives and budget headings (shared services, integrated commissioning, change management etc)?

 

Answer from Councillor H Bramer Cabinet Member Resources

The costs would be tracked in accordance with CIPFA regulations.

 

Question from Councillor RI Matthews to the Cabinet Member Resources

 

4.1       The Council’s Connect project in which many millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been invested is still only realising a modest one million of efficiency savings for 2010-11, which is well short of what we were led to believe would be the case a few years ago.  With the Authority’s formula grant due to be considerably reduced in 2011-12, can the Cabinet Member assure us that the forecast savings will be delivered and where it is anticipated that the savings will be made?

 

 

Answer from Councillor H Bramer Cabinet Member Resources

 

4.1       Yes; savings are forecast to be made in the following key areas:

 

·        Procurement.

·        Business process improvement.

·        Decommissioning of legacy systems.

·        Reduction in full time equivalent (FTE).

 

Supplementary question

In excess of £5million has been invested in the Connects project.  When is it expected that this money will be recovered and how long will it take to reclaim the monies invested in the project?  As the Connects programme is now under the general umbrella of corporate efficiencies, is all now working as expected?

 

Answer from Councillor H Bramer Cabinet Member Resources

The comments were noted and a written response would be provided

 

Question from Councillor AT Oliver to the Cabinet Member Environment and Strategic Housing

 

5.1       What is the total amount of section 106 funding lost to the Council since the decision by the Cabinet Member Environment and Strategic Housing to suspend section 106 agreements, as from 1 April 2009?  What effect does this loss have on the Council’s budget for 2010/11 and beyond, and on its ability to deal with the costs to the community arising from permitted development?

 

Answer from Councillor JG Jarvis Cabinet Member Environment and Strategic Housing

 

5.1       It is important to note the suspension, made at a time of severe economic downturn and with the aim of providing a stimulus to the development market, has resulted in 122 planning applications to commence development within 12 months delivering 195 new homes (excluding affordable housing) and 15 new employment sites in the County, and generating an income fee of £66,555.

 

There will be no effect to the Council’s budget as section 106 contributions are ‘windfall’ payments to support delivery of specified schemes or projects which would not otherwise be realised.

 

It is estimated that the total amount of potential S106 agreement contribution in respect of applications processed since 1 April 2009 could have amounted to some £309,000.

 

Supplementary question

What is the definition of ‘commence development within 12 months’?

 

Answer from Councillor JG Jarvis Cabinet Member Environment and Strategic Housing

That there are signs of the development being started and that footings have been put in place

 

Question from Councillor AT Oliver to the Cabinet Member Resources

 

5.2       Is the suggestion that there will be a 5% per annum cut in the formula grant from central government after 2010/11, the result of a direct line to the Tory election manifesto, or an educated guess?  If the grant is cut by this amount what services is it proposed are dropped or cut from 2010/11 onwards, and how many redundancies or job losses might be involved?

 

5.3       The financial resource model indicates that there may be inflation uplifts to key contracts.  Which contracts and what is the cost of the potential uplift in each case?  Do the contracts entered into by the Council specify such inflationary uplifts?

 

5.4       It is stated that there is a backlog of £17,750,000 of maintenance required across all service areas, with £595,000 stated to be urgent.  No provision has been made within the Council’s budget for this work.  I assume that this £595,000 will have to be spent before 31 March 2011.  If so can it be accommodated within additional prudential borrowing, or will it have to be offset against revenue budgets?

Can the rest of the backlog be postponed indefinitely or is this potential substantial cost going to impact on our budgets for the next two years?

 

5.5       The net borrowing requirement is projected to rise from £115,000,000 at 31 March 2010 to £142,000,000 at 31 March 2011, an increase of nearly 25%.  What new infrastructure will Herefordshire have as at 31 March 2011 to justify this increase?

 

Answer from Councillor H Bramer Cabinet Member Resources

 

5.2       The Council’s financial strategy covers three years and reflects the general consensus that the public sector will have much tighter funding settlements in the future.  We have certainty about government funding for 2010/11 but no information on future levels of grant.  As a result we have included a 5% per annum reduction in the level of future funding for 2011/12 and 2012/13, taking into account the general view amongst the local government community and statements made by organisations such as the Audit Commission.

 

            The planning for such a scenario is ongoing and will include efficiencies such as shared services.  The Council has been clear that the shared services agenda will lead to a reduction in the number of jobs across the three partner organisations of some 140 posts.

5.3       It is not possible in the time available to produce a list of the relevant contracts and cost of potential uplift in each case. I can confirm that a number of existing contracts do contain a specification for uplift and have asked officers to contact you to provide you with a more comprehensive briefing.

 

5.4       The significant issue of maintenance backlog is one of the key reasons why we have agreed to a new joint accommodation strategy.  The council’s intention is to rationalise its estate and for example, in Hereford alone this will reduce the number of office locations from 11 to one at Plough Lane.

 

            The £595k could be funded from unallocated Prudential borrowing in 2010/11 that is being held back pending completion of the review of the existing capital programme; alternatively the work could be funded from existing property maintenance revenue budget (£1.197 million) depending on whether the works required meet the definition of capital expenditure.

 

5.5       Capital funding will be directed to support priority capital projects identified in the Capital Programme (currently under review) and to deliver Highways, Footways and Bridges works as supported by specific government funding allocations

 

Supplementary question

Does the urgent backlog of maintenance (£595k) include the refurbishment of the tennis courts at Bishops Meadow?

 

Answer from Councillor H Bramer Cabinet Member Resources

A written response will be provided.

 

Question from Councillor AT Oliver to the Cabinet Member Highways and Transportation

 

5.6       Have all liabilities from the construction of the Rotherwas relief road now been settled?  If not what provision has been made in the 2010/11 budget for any liability which may become due?

 

            One of the conditions attached to the planning permission for the relief road, was that the Holme Lacy Road be upgraded.  Has the scoping document for any proposed improvements to the road yet been produced, and is there any provision in the 2010/11 budget for the cost of any road works necessary?

 

Answer from Councillor DB Wilcox Cabinet Member Highways and Transportation

 

5.6       All contractor costs associated with the construction of Rotherwas Access Road have been paid from this year and previous years’ budgets. There are a range of other payments to affected landowners and to potentially affected households which are still under negotiation.  The Rotherwas Futures budget contains an allowance for these costs in 2010/2011 financial year.

 

            It is pleasing to note that, following construction of the relief road, Holme Lacy Road has seen a 90% reduction in HGV usage. Following preliminary consultations with Lower Bullingham Parish Council, a draft Holme Lacy Road improvement scheme has been developed. It is intended to undertake wider consultation on these proposals this spring. Funding will be made available through the Council’s Local Transport Plan, with the implementation of the scheme being phased over a number of years.

 

Supplementary question

What is the actual provision for the outstanding liability of the Rotherwas Futures project?

 

Answer from Councillor DB Wilcox Cabinet Member Highways and Transportation

The detail of the final amount would not be disclosed, however the total cost of the project has been around £14million.