Councillors H Smith, Ann McLachlan and Jerry Williams, have called this special meeting of the committee for the following reasons:

• The failure of this administration to refer any budget savings to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny committees for proper scrutiny;
• The decision taken by Council on December 12th to suspend the relevant part of the Constitution in order to avoid any such scrutiny:
• The lack of any detailed Cabinet reports setting out the details of the budget savings, and their consequences:
• The lack in particular of any explanation of the impact of the loss of over 1300 posts, the restructuring necessary to protect services and the costs of that restructuring.

We, the undersigned members of the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee, call for a special meeting of this committee to be held before February 21st to investigate:

• Any planned re-structuring of services within the parameter of this committee, as a consequence of budget decisions, including EVRs and Voluntary Severance, with associated restructuring costs.
• What the impact on the public of any changes or reductions to service will be
• The manner and timescale in which proposals are being handled.
• Whether any areas concerned are covered by statutory requirements for consultation and, if so, whether such requirements have been met.
• Whether individual proposals of a similar nature in the past would have been subject to consultation as a matter of best practice, and, if so, whether that practice is being followed now.
• Whether there are any reductions in Specific Grant affecting the areas covered by this Committee and, if so, what particular plans are in place to allow for those reductions.
• What the impact for services will be of any reductions arising from the reduced formula grant, which now includes a number of former specific grants previously ring fenced to support particular services.
• What the impact on services will be of a zero inflation budget, including on contracts, when inflation is set to rise above 4%
• What the revenue impact will be of any reductions in the Merseyside Local Transport Plan and any plans for dealing with this.
• What the revenue impact will be of reductions in any other public sector bodies that link with Council services provided under this committee.
• What the impact of cuts in other public sector bodies could be where the Council has shared services or jointly funded projects
• The direct and indirect impact of cuts on the voluntary and not for profit sector who may currently be commissioned, or grant aided, to provide services.
• Any proposed increases in fees or charges
• Any changes to contracts with outside providers that may affect levels of service or charges for service
• Any other matters relevant to the budget setting process at a time when the Council faces a £52million reduction in its budget in one year.

The Chair referred to the reasons given by Labour Group members for calling this special meeting:

• The failure of this administration to refer any budget savings to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny committees for proper scrutiny;
• The decision taken by Council on December 12th to suspend the relevant part of the Constitution in order to avoid any such scrutiny:
• The lack of any detailed Cabinet reports setting out the details of the budget savings, and their consequences:
• The lack in particular of any explanation of the impact of the loss of over 1300 posts, the restructuring necessary to protect services and the costs of that restructuring.

He explained that the decisions taken by Council on 12 December, were only part of the Administration’s budget proposals and it was not bound to reveal the full details of its Budget before the Budget Council meeting on 1 March. He therefore proposed  that this meeting should be adjourned until after the Budget Council meeting.

Councillor A McLachlan, Labour Group spokesperson, commented that this committee had a democratic right to scrutinise the decisions taken by the Council on 12 December, bearing in mind that some of the planned redundancies had already been implemented.

On a motion by the Chair seconded by Councillor McCubbin it was:-

Resolved (7:3) – That this meeting be adjourned until Tuesday 8 March, 2011 at 6 pm.

(Footnote: At its meeting on 17 February, the committee subsequently decided to bring forward the date of the adjourned meeting to 22 February, to allow any budget proposals to be presented to the Budget Council on 1 March).