Meeting documents
Finance and Best Value Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Tuesday, 11th December 2007
Present
Chair
CM Teggin
Councillors
SA Brown, FM Doyle, DM Elderton, J Hale, AER Jones, ED Prout
In attendance:
RK Moon
Index to Minutes
- Minute 44 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP
- Minute 45 - TECHNICAL SERVICES 2007/2008 BUDGET REPORT
- Minute 46 - REGENERATION DEPARTMENT - SERVICE RE-ENGINEERING 2007/2008
- Minute 47 - ADULT SOCIAL SERVICES - FINANCIAL MONITORING 2007/2008
- Minute 48 - CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S DEPARTMENT - SERVICE RE-ENGINEERING 2007/2008 SUMMARY
- Minute 49 - EXEMPT INFORMATION - EXCLUSION OF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
- Minute 50 - BUDGETARY SAVINGS
Minute 44 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP
Minute Text :
Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were. Members were reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.
No such declarations were made.
Minute 45 - TECHNICAL SERVICES 2007/2008 BUDGET REPORT
Minute Text :
Further to minute 41 (13 November 2007) the Director of Technical Services reported upon forecasted adverse variances in 2007/2008. The parking services budget showed an unfavourable variance of £250,000 in 2006/2007 and current projections were that a deficit of £240,000 was likely in 2007/2008, due largely to reduced Penalty Charge Notices and car parking income, and the effect of inflation on the associated enforcement contracts which commenced in 2003. He reported also that included within the Waste and Recycling budget for 2007/2008 was a sum of £571,000, which related to a profit share from the sale of recyclables at Bidston Waste Management Facility. He reported that the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA) had advised that for legal reasons, the profit share may have to be rebated as part of the 2008/2009 waste disposal levy and may be less than the £571,000 originally indicated. However, discussions were ongoing and the Director was confident that the authority would at least have an IOU from the MWDA by the end of the year. A full report would be presented to the Cabinet as soon as the situation was clarified. In response to a comment from a member, the Director agreed to seek payment of interest from MWDA, accrued since the share of recyclates became payable.
He indicated that the Cabinet had considered a report (minute 380 (29 November 2007) refers) in relation to an extension of the parking enforcement contract with a potential saving of £31,000 in 2008/2009 and a further £8,000 in 2009/2010. The balance of the total shortfall would have to be met from other compensatory variances across other Departmental service areas and he commented that further savings or increased income to offset the adverse variance were continuously being reviewed and identified. In response to a comment from a member with regard to the proposed increase in parking fees resulting in fewer journeys by car being made into town centre areas, the Director referred to the need to encourage the greater use of public transport, hence the consideration of an increase in parking fees of 10%.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 46 - REGENERATION DEPARTMENT - SERVICE RE-ENGINEERING 2007/2008
Minute Text :
Further to minute 41 (13 November 2007) the Director of Regeneration reported that financial monitoring reports during the year had highlighted that not all of the Regeneration Departments Service Re-engineering (SRE) savings had been made. The total saving required by the Department was £1,245,700 and to date, £651,500 had been achieved.
Of the outstanding savings, the bulk related to efficiencies required in areas that were subject to an ongoing in depth Review of Cultural Services. The initial findings of the Review would be presented to the Cabinet in January or February 2008 and he anticipated that the final Strategy would be completed in Spring 2008. However, until the Review was completed, it would not be possible to undertake work to substantially re-engineer the services and identify consequent savings. He had identified potential areas for progress and commented that preparatory works were underway to deliver those aspirations. However, these would need to be underpinned by the study recommendations and user groups consultation in the New Year.
The remainder of the SRE savings required related to the Regulation Division and he referred to delays that had arisen from the difficulties in redeploying staff from the existing service areas in order to realise the required savings. To date, £107,800 had been achieved.
In summary, he indicated that currently, the expected unrealised amount of SRE savings at the year-end would be £594,000. Substantial progress had been made and efforts to minimise the amount outstanding would continue to be made through, if possible, the use of one-off savings to enable the impact of the final outturn figure to be minimised. In response to comments from members, the Director indicated that in order to comply with the requirement to achieve SRE savings a number of options had been proposed by officers which, for a variety of reasons, had not been acceptable, and there was a need for members to fully consider the wider impact of SRE savings proposed.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 47 - ADULT SOCIAL SERVICES - FINANCIAL MONITORING 2007/2008
Minute Text :
Further to minute 41 (13 November 2007) the Director of Adult Social Services provided a summary of the financial pressures being experienced by Adult Social Services in the current financial year and the actions that were proposed to deliver as close to a balanced budget as possible. At its meeting on 8 November 2007 (minute 37 refers), the Social Care, Health and Inclusion Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered a potential overspend of £6m against the Adult Social Services budget. However, as a result of remedial action the projected overspend had been reduced to £3.3m and areas were continuing to be identified where further savings could be made. The Director recognised the adverse impact of such an overspend on the Council's balances and although he did not anticipate being able to deliver a balanced budget, he was confident that the position would continue to improve. However, this required the Council to remain steadfast in making difficult decisions and authorising officers to implement them. He commented that the pressures on Wirral were complex and similar to those being experienced elsewhere in the country. He summarised the key issues and provided a detailed analysis of the overspend. He set out also a number of actions that were being implemented to reduce the overspend and he was confident that by the year end the amount outstanding could be reduced to £2m.
In response to comments from members with regard to the potential write-off of £1.2m out of area PCT debt, the Director commented that the debt had not yet been written off. The Director of Finance commented that if the situation was not resolved by 31 March 2008, the debt would be written off and charged to the departmental budget. The Director of Adult Social Services indicated that although the legal situation was complex, he believed that progress could be made without litigation and he proposed to refer the matter to the Strategic Health Authority for consideration.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 48 - CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S DEPARTMENT - SERVICE RE-ENGINEERING 2007/2008 SUMMARY
Minute Text :
Further to minute 41 (13 November 2007) the Director of Children's Services provided details of Service Re-engineering (SRE) savings of £1,055,000 that had been identified against a target of £1,386,000. Although there was an outstanding SRE balance of £331,000, he reported that one off savings in relation to the Standards Fund and Surestart grant would compensate this in the current year. Those changes had been included in the latest financial monitoring report and overall it was anticipated that the Department’s outturn would be within its budget. Outstanding SRE savings would still be required in 2008/2009, which would need to be added to the Efficiency Plan savings target of £4m.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 49 - EXEMPT INFORMATION - EXCLUSION OF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
Minute Text :
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That in accordance with section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to that Act.
Minute 50 - BUDGETARY SAVINGS
Exempt :
NOT FOR PUBLICATION - Report (A) of the Director of Finance - Exempt by virtue of paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972
Minute Text :
At its meeting held on 29 November 2007, the Cabinet (minute 370 refers) agreed a number of savings and budgetary measures. In order to ensure a smooth delivery of savings and to achieve maximum benefits where savings could be implemented in 2007/2008, the items were referred to relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees for consideration prior to the meeting of the Council on 17 December 2007. The items referred to this Committee for consideration were in relation to Systems Support New Technology (£200,000) and Insurance Fund Revenue Budget (£266,000).
The Director presented his report that had been considered by the Cabinet on 1 November 2007 (minute 337 refers) in relation to the 1Business Partnership, which identified an annual saving of £200,000 because of revisions to technical support arrangements. He also presented his report to the Cabinet on 14 November 2007 (minute 351 refers) in relation to the Insurance Fund Budget 2008/2009, which identified a reduction in costs of £266,000 as a result of progress made in reducing liabilities and exposure to liabilities.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the savings identified be noted.
(Minutes Published: 14 December 2007)